Research Reaction
Psychosocial Development Based on Age of First Birth
PS315
Theories of Personality

Summary

Topic area:

Teenage pregnancy is one of the most common problems that are growing worldwide. This condition is most predominant in developed countries like the U.S. There are a number of factors responsible for teenage pregnancy. For example, higher rates of poverty, lower education levels, etc. This research reaction paper examines the psychological status; social relationships; and home, work, and parenting stress and satisfaction in their young adulthood for a sample of rural women who were teen mothers compared to their cohort who had their first child in their twenties. Service providers need to understand …show more content…

This study has been limited in four important ways:

• First, it lacks information about socioeconomic variables such as parental education, occupation, family income, and welfare receipt. The effects of the family structure on child development can affect their behavior and educational problems.

• Second, it would be interesting to see further work on the subject to track further psychological consequences of the timing of first childbirth in larger samples and past early adulthood to see whether the absence of differences in psychosocial outcomes is replicated over time.

• Third, it would be also critical to find out whether these findings were similar for samples living in urban or suburban areas.

• Fourth, it would be fascinating to see further study about the role of factors such as perceptions of appropriate behaviors in contributing to teen pregnancy.

Relationship of Study to Personality Theory:

The personality theories that I consider are the most useful in this study are Erik Erikson’s eight stages of the life cycle and Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages. Much like Freud, Erikson’s theory describes eight stages of psychosocial development through which people progress throughout their lifespan. Each stage plays a major role in the development of personality and psychological needs. Unlike