eprintid: 11941 rev_number: 17 userid: 618 dir: disk0/00/01/19/41 datestamp: 2012-07-02 14:08:08 lastmod: 2016-11-15 13:57:45 status_changed: 2012-07-02 14:08:08 type: thesis_degree succeeds: 11701 metadata_visibility: show contact_email: katie.horowitz@gmail.com item_issues_id: thesis_degree_versioning item_issues_type: thesis_degree_versioning item_issues_description: ETD 11941 is using versioning. item_issues_timestamp: 2013-09-11 17:48:04 item_issues_status: discovered item_issues_count: 1 eprint_status: archive creators_name: Horowitz, Katharine Rose creators_email: krh64@pitt.edu creators_id: KRH64 title: Social Contexts of Young Moms in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin: Adolescent Motherhod, Gender and the Challenge of Social Pressure ispublished: unpub divisions: sch_gsph_behavioralcommhealthsci full_text_status: public keywords: Mexico, adolescent motherhood, gender, social pressure, qualitative, social context, focus groups abstract: While quantitative and risk-centric literature on adolescent motherhood has long examined potential adverse health outcomes for mother and child, qualitative research has only more recently endeavored to represent the social contexts and lived experiences of young mothers themselves. This study conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) and participant observations in Erongarícuaro, México in June 2011 with women from the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin. Twenty women from 5 towns comprised 3 FGDs, each meeting twice. Participants were 18 to 27, 80% having given birth to their first child before 20. Focus group guides included questions related to adolescent and present perceptions and experiences of motherhood; family/community reactions; sexual health confidants; family planning; gender meanings; and social support. Audio-recorded data were transcribed and analyzed using open and guided coding. Final quotations were translated into English. Four major themes emerged from analysis: La familia, expected gender roles, social pressure, and contestation and coping. Participants reported the importance of la familia to their social contexts, living with either family of origin or partner’s family after the baby was born. Women living with their partner’s family described increased stress in navigation of new roles. Traditional gender roles were described as more strictly expected once they became mothers, especially by mothers-in-law and other older women. Social pressure, in the form of gender role policing, criticism from mothers-in-law, and stigma around adolescent motherhood, was said to cause great stress for young women. Participants said that through a fluid combination of coping and contestation, they found strategies to deal with the challenges they faced. The public health significance of these regionally-specific findings is their utility in elaborating social determinants of health in this context. Enriching understandings of adolescent experiences, related social contexts, and contexts of transitioning to motherhood will strengthen current efforts to improve reproductive and psychosocial outcomes for adolescents and their children. Interventions should seek to support pregnant and parenting teens. In the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, programming should seek to address social pressures and gender challenges facing young mothers, as well as an understanding of la familia and the kinds of coping and contestation that represent young mothers’ strength. date: 2012-07-02 date_type: completed pages: 95 institution: University of Pittsburgh refereed: TRUE etdcommittee_type: committee_chair etdcommittee_type: committee_member etdcommittee_type: committee_member etdcommittee_name: Guadamuz, Thomas etdcommittee_name: Documet, Patricia etdcommittee_name: Cremer, Miriam etdcommittee_email: tguadamu@hotmail.com etdcommittee_email: pdocumet@pitt.edu etdcommittee_email: cremerm@mail.magee.edu etdcommittee_id: etdcommittee_id: PDOCUMET etdcommittee_id: etd_defense_date: 2012-04-16 etd_approval_date: 2012-07-02 etd_submission_date: 2012-04-04 etd_release_date: 2012-07-02 etd_access_restriction: 2_year etd_patent_pending: FALSE assigned_doi: doi:10.5195/pitt.etd.2012.11701 thesis_type: thesis degree: MPH citation: Horowitz, Katharine Rose (2012) Social Contexts of Young Moms in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin: Adolescent Motherhod, Gender and the Challenge of Social Pressure. Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished) document_url: http://d-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu/11941/1/Horowitz_Thesis.pdf