A COMPARISON OF ADOLESCENT AND ADULT MOTHERS' MATERNAL SEPARATION ANXIETY

Maternal separation anxiety was compared for twenty adolescent and twenty adult mothers. The adolescent mothers were recruited from a high school teen parent program. Adult participants were recruited from two university day care programs. The Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale was used to assess the level of anxiety experienced by employed or school enrolled mothers when separated from their children. Analysis of variance indicated a group difference for separation anxiety with the adolescent mothers being significantly more anxious when leaving their children.

Anthropological Contributions for Social Work Education

A few years ago, as a student in a Master of Social work program, I listened to a presentation given by the former director of a two-year "Teen-parent" program. The talk was intended to provide insights into the process of program planning and implementation, which it did. At the conclusion, and really more as an off-the-record remark, the speaker said she had come to realize that the program, in spite of its having met its goals and objectives, was not really needed. The teens had little difficulty during their pregnancies and, as time showed, they were capable of doing a reasonably adequate job of mothering.