Article Analysis Essay on Single Mother Parenting and Adolescent Psychopathology

Introduction

“Single Mother Parenting and Adolescent Psychopathology" is an article that underscores the prevalence of psychopathology in children raised by single mother parenting. That is owing to the likelihood of single mothers to engage in harmful parenting behaviors than cohabiting mothers. That may subsequently result in a prediction of a prospective adolescent psychopathology (Daryanani, Hamilton, Abramson, &Alloy,2016). It is also worth noting that single-parent mothers have a higher probability of engaging in psychologically controlling behaviors that may lead to a prediction of their children who are adolescents experiencing more upper externalizing disorders but also higher rates of depressive symptoms (Daryanani et al.,2016). The big question is, are adolescents raised by single mother parenting more likely to experience psychopathology than cohabiting mothers? Single mothers, therefore, are more likely to engage in rejecting parenting behaviors resulting in higher rates of adolescent externalizing disorders, following the compromised parenting practices of the single mothers by a myriad of stressors and vast demands, parenting responsibilities, less involving parenting, coupled with low socioeconomic status.

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Discussion

Girls raised in single-mother families have a higher prevalence of developing depressive symptoms during adolescents following the psychologically controlled parenting than boys. Adolescent children raised in two-parent families or cohabiting families are less likely to experience anxiety symptoms and rejection as compared to single-mother families. Single mother families, albeit not inferior, their parenting skills may be jeopardized by huge stressors and demands, coupled with a low socioeconomic status that may subsequently inform their negative parenting behaviors. The perceived parenting behaviors underscore interrelated factors among others psychological control, punitiveness, monitoring and support in relation with the self-esteem of the youth across vast divides in varied types of family structures (Plunket, Williams, Choke, & Sands, 2007)

Similarly, Following an Actor Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIM), parent-child quality of relationship and depressive symptoms of parenting in adolescent adjustment may vary between co-parenting and single mother parenting. That is in the realms of adolescent externalizing and internalizing problems that create vital partner effects ranging from teenage externalizing problems and the quality of parent-child relationship (Coates, Tran, Le, &Phares,2019). Coparenting has always been depicted as a definite sphere of parenting following the excellent quality of externalizing behavior in both parents as compared to single mother parenting in the realms of adolescent adjustment perception.

Consequently, single-mother families regularly experience economic disadvantages through familial pathways of parenting styles that subsequently affect the positive developments of adolescents through the filial piety of most families. There is, therefore, the need for fostering care, coupled with the pursuance of demandingness in parenting in single-mother families instead of focusing on their deficiencies and broken homes. That would subsequently promote filial piety and positive adolescent development. Similarly, in the realms of family structures, single-mother families, represent the second most common after cohabiting families. That is seen in the spheres, whereby one out of four children are raised by single mothers (Daryanani et al.,2019).

The majority of children from single-mother families are at a higher risk of experiencing externalizing and internalizing psychopathology than children raised by two-parent families. The differences are attributed to the inherent systematic disadvantages faced in single motherhood. A hypothesized study of the above is informed by the established risk factors stemming from maternal depression, neighborhood crime, negative parenting, and low income. That accelerates higher risks of adolescent psychopathology among single mothers as compared to partnered mothers. The exposures of adolescents to proximal risk factors would not only encompass stress among adolescents but also underscore reduced emotional support. Adolescents of single mothers are, therefore, more prone to experience externalization disorders and prospective depressive symptoms than the adolescents of partnered mothers.

However, a close study and analysis of African American families indicates that although adolescents from single-mother families are vulnerable to adjustment risks and behavioral problems. Most African American adolescents from single mother parenting have often displayed positive youth developments despite the elevated risks. There was a study using a resilient ecological perspective to examine ng protective factors associated with the positive development of the youth among most African American single-mother families (Kicaid,2012). A cross-sectional finding of the study underlined higher levels of behavioral control maternally, coupled with fewer levels of psychological control maternally, which is in close association with fewer behavioral problems among the youths and, consequently, lower levels of parental mental control. And higher levels of self-esteem among the youth are in close association with fewer difficulties in internalizing. It is also worth noting that the relationship between parenting behaviors and behavioral problems among the youth have both been moderated by gender (Kincaid,2012).

Analysis

In the spheres of discrepancies in parent-adolescent reports, parental practices are vital for parent-adolescent quality relationship. One of the identified factors for explaining between parent and adolescent parenting relationship underscores youth attachment security through the use of non-optical analytic strategies in the discrepancies of modeling. The patterns of mother adolescent divergence in the scale of parenting delves in the realms of gender, age, and psychopathology, coupled with their associations between discrepancies and attachments. Living in two-parent households has vast benefits on adolescents as there exist parental depressions and economic disadvantages in parenting behaviors of single mother parenting.

Children living in single-mother parenting households between the ages of 9-15 are vulnerable to experience depressive disorders following the economic disadvantages and parental depressions of single-mother houses (Hoffman,2017). Such adolescent children in single-mother families typically report significant depressive symptoms following the socioeconomic variables stemming from the low income of the parent, single mother’s marital status, and inadequate parental education of their mother’s ion ways of parenting, besides overburdened responsibility of the single parent. The individual mother parental depression symptoms and socioeconomic variables my juxtapose withdrawn parents in varied analyses and high levels of harshness by the parent, resulting in disrupted parenting. There is, therefore, the need to consider the economic context of single-mother families, particularly their socioeconomic disadvantages that may occur to depression of the single mothers and subsequently informing their negative parenti9ng behaviors like harshness and withdrawal.

Similarly, the decline of most families has informed the increase of most single-parent families over time. The family type and socioeconomic status have enormous impacts on adolescents' psychological well-being and academic performance. Following the California Survey Interview of Health, among adolescents aged between 12-17, there was a result that the type of family has psychological impacts on Adolescent youth’s well-being, especially in Latino (Hoffman,2017). Also, the study depicted the presence of a significant relationship between economic performance and socioeconomic status. Additionally, the increased number of adolescents living in single-mother households have reported despaired relationships in the family structures, coupled with major depressive episodes among adolescents.

The United States 2016 Census Bureau indicates an increase in the increase of single-parent homes with women as household heads since 1960, with 23% of children aged 18 and below living in households led by single females (Lozano,2018). That is a representation of the fastest growing family structures in the United States. Single mothers often face immense and unique challenges impeding successful parenting stemming from economic factors, lack of social support, among other obstacles. Such problems make adolescents vulnerable by putting them at risk of both developmental issues and poor academic outcomes attributed to poor parenting skills in an increased stress of parenting, coupled with affect disciplines in parenting styles at home. However, there exist evidence-based programs like Parent Management Training (PMT) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), together with Behavioral Parenting Training (BPT). The models that can be used by single mothers in the quest of intervening and preventing against such issues (Lozano,2018).

Consequently, single-mother families prevalent in the United States are vulnerable to unique challenges that increase their risk of depression. The quantities of maternal trials and miseries may be quantitative, making the adolescents fail to voice their experiences of growing up with depressed mothers (Brawer,2018). Additionally, the lived experiences of adolescents who turn into adults in single-mother families frequently portray their mothers as sad. Growing yup with mothers as primary parental figures results in the said mothers' inadequacies in participation in caregiving, lack engagement and that subsequently makes the adolescents more responsible and protective of their mothers besides having difficulties in concentrating bin school performances. Worse still, single motherhood is vulnerable to face stigmatization and stereotyping representation stemming from the society, academic literatures, and media, which depict them as inferior, immorality, and being overburdened. Such stereotypical images and stigmatization often affect the single mother's lived experiences and quality of life, especially of their adolescent children who are prone to psychopathology. The stereotypic representation and stigmatization consequently illuminate on the future lives of their adult children.

Heading a family as a single mother may be energetically costly entailing trade-offs between taking care of self and taking care of adolescent kids who are very sensitive. The cost of parenting teenage children may be high through energetic costs, behavioral and practical changes that are associated with single motherhood, coupled with the morphological, psychological, and affective conditions in single mothers who are compelled to rear offspring without the help of their mates. Cohabiting parenthood, therefore, reduces the effects of blood glucose levels, reduces the overburdens and stressors associated with single motherhood, and subsequently enhances the well-being of adolescent youth who may be prone to psychopathology under individual mother households.

Conclusion

Single-mother families have a higher risk of psychopathology among adolescents as compared to cohabiting parent families due to the negative parenting behaviors that are associated with low socioeconomic status, parental responsibilities, stressors, and less involvement in parental behaviors. Single motherhood families are prevalent ii nth societies, and adolescents from such families are prone to externalizing disorders owi8ng to negative parenting beha...