Isabel Soares (*)

Inês Jongenelen (**)

RESUMO

As autoras começam por rever a investigação empírica acerca da maternidade na adolescência, especificamente as questões de natureza parental, tradicionalmente centradas na comparação das mães adolescentes e adultas. São analisadas algumas das limitações que emergem deste tipo de investigação, salientando-se a necessidade de focalizar a atenção na variabilidade existente no seio do grupo das mães adolescentes e discutindo-se, em seguida, a inexistência de um quadro conceptual que organize os resultados produzidos pela investigação. Neste âmbito, é apresentado o contributo e as implicações no plano conceptual da abordagem desenvolvimental, para a compreensão desta variabilidade intra-grupo. Em seguida, discute-se a necessidade de perspectivar o fenómeno da maternidade adolescente como um processo de interacção social, apresentando-se para tal uma adaptação do modelo de Schellenbach, Whitman e Borkowski (1992). Por último, discute-se o impacto do apoio social nas suas múltiplas facetas ao nível da maternidade adolescente.

Palavras-chave: Maternidade, adolescência, perspectiva desenvolvimental, apoio social.

ABSTRACT

The authors review the empirical research on adolescent parenting, traditionally focused on the comparison between adolescent and adult mothers. Some limitations of this kind of research are analysed, pointing out the need to focus on the intra-goup variability of adolescent mothers and the absence of a conceptual framework integrating the empirical results. Within this framework, the contributions and conceptual implications of the developmental perspective to the understanding of the intra-group variability are presented. Afterwards, the need to conceive adolescent motherhood as a social interaction process is discussed, and an adaptation of the Schellenbach, Whitman and Borkowski (1992) model of adolescent parenting is presented. Finally, the role of social support in adolescent motherhood is analysed in its different aspects.

Key words: Motherhood, adolescence, developmental perspective, social support.

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(**) Psicóloga. Universidade do Minho, Departamento de Psicologia, Instituto de Educação e Psicologia, Campus de Gualtar, 4700 Braga, e-mail: ijongenelen@iep.uminho.pt