1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The objective of this study was […] to evaluate the association between trauma symptoms and the occurrence of early motherhood by considering factors previously found to influence the likelihood of early motherhood such as ethnicity, placement instability, maltreatment, and risky sexual behaviors.» (p. 3)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«From January 2008 to October 2009, all of the adolescent girls who had been admitted to two residential centers in the greater Montreal area and placed under the responsibility of the Director of Youth Protection of Québec (Canada) were invited to participate in a longitudinal study (the Montreal Study on Adolescent Girls in Residential Youth Centers, Lanctôt, 2011).» (p. 3) «The sample for the present study comprised 112 of the original participants who completed follow-up assessments in their mid-twenties […] to retrospectively document their pregnancies and early motherhood.» (p. 3)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

The results show that the «rate of early motherhood among young women who had contact with CPS [child protective services] has been reported to be twice that of their peers in the general population (Courtney, Dworsky, Ruth, Keller, Havlicek, & Bost, 2005; Courtney et al., 2007). Furthermore, these young mothers and their children are more likely to be affected by a wide range of psychosocial difficulties. Our data indicate that, after controlling for personal characteristics such as ethnic origin and personal history, such as maltreatment, placement instability, and risky sexual behaviors, a number of trauma symptom dimensions were associated with the risk of early motherhood in young women who had contact with CPS. To our knowledge, the only other study to examine the association between trauma symptoms and early motherhood in a similar population (female youth at high risk of maltreatment) was conducted by Thompson and Neilson (2014). However, they did not specifically investigate these variables in young women who had contact with CPS. Therefore, theoretical models may be useful when interpreting the association between trauma symptoms and early motherhood.» (p. 5)