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Teen motherhood and child school readiness: Evidence from Chile
Methods: This study uses cross-sectional data from the Chilean Encuesta Longitudinal de la Primera Infancia (ELPI), a nationally representative sample of about 15,000 children and their families. Using targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) and multivariate linear regression, we examined the association between teen motherhood and the child's school readiness, as measured by the Spanish adaptation of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT).
Results: On average, the children of teen mothers (age 14-19) scored 0.17 standard deviations below the children of adult mothers (age >19) on the PPVT. Using TMLE, the association between teen motherhood and child school readiness appears significant (RR, -0.112; Bootstrapped CI, -0.161, -0.55). However, the sensitivity analysis suggests the association witnessed remains confounded by socioeconomic position. Using multivariate regression and controlling for indicators of socioeconomic position, including wealth and maternal education, the association between teen motherhood and child school readiness remains non-significant. Indigenous status, geographic residence and wealth do not modify the association of teen motherhood and child school readiness.
Conclusions: Socioeconomic position appears to play a major role in the association between teen motherhood and child school readiness. Interventions that address poverty could minimize the school readiness gap.
Learning Areas:
EpidemiologyLearning Objectives:
Analyze the association between adolescent motherhood and child school readiness.
Describe if and how the relationship between adolescent motherhood and child school readiness differs depending on indigenous ancestry, location of residence, and wealth profile.
Identify interventions that best support adolescent mothers and their children.
Compare results from the traditional statistical and causal inference approaches.
Keyword(s): International MCH, Adolescents
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a doctoral candidate in Epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley. My area of focus includes reproductive health with an emphasis on adolescent childbearing and the evaluation of public health programs and policies. I have worked on numerous projects related to safe motherhood, family planning, and child development internationally and domestically.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.