Nastoletnie macierzyĔstwo – rozwaĪania o sytuacji psychospoáecznej máodocianych matek
About teenage maternity – reflections on psychosocial functioning of adolescent mothers

Summary/Abstract: Pregnancy in adolescence significantly complicates life situation of a young girl. Although a teenage girl achieves her physical maturity and procreation potential, it does not always mean that she is mentally mature to have a baby. Therefore pregnancy constitutes a source of enormous stress, that has unfavorable impact on comfort and self-esteem of a teenage mother, and her presence in a social group, either close family, peer group, and further – school, local environment. Pregnancy does not make a teenage girl automatically adult. She still remains under protection of parents or protectors, but on the other hand she is also to undertake a role of a mother responsible for herself and her baby. However, pregnancy does not liberate from crisis of the adolescence: search for identity, acceptance, their own path of life. Additionally, often the unpleasant aspect of early motherhood is also the so called social opinion. The present paper hereby makes an attempt to present this phenomenon. The author mentions the scale of the teenage maternity in Poland and worldwide, cites the authors that examine psychosocial functioning of teenage mothers. The issue is very complex and its analysis is worthwhile.

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