Adolescent maternal competence and a postpartum home-based nursing intervention
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Abstract
A 2-by-2 repeated measures design was used to determine the effectiveness of a postpartum home-based nursing intervention on adolescent maternal competence. Competence was operationalized as the score of Scale 5 of the Postpartum Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (PSQ), Confidence in Ability to Cope with the Tasks of Motherhood, and the total score of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (0-3 Years) (HOME). A second purpose was to determine the relationship between maternal competence and selected intervening variables. A convenience sample of 50 adolescent mothers, 13-19 years, participated by completing the PSQ and the HOME at 2 and 6 weeks postpartum. At 2 weeks postpartum the intervention group (n = 25) received an assessment of physical and psychological postpartum health status with interpretation of results from the nurse-client interaction using the Verbal Postpartum Nursing Assessment/Intervention Guide. At the same visit, the intervention group received information about and demonstration of infant interactive capabilities using the modified Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale.
Demographic information at 2 weeks postpartum was used to describe the sample. Scores (M = 43.78, SD = 6.59; M = 45.12, SD = 6.09) of self-reported measures of maternal competence (Scale 5, PSQ) were significantly related to perception of labor and delivery experience at 2 and 6 weeks postpartum (r =.4063, p