# PRECURSORS OF RETARDATION IN CHILDREN WITH TEEN MOTHERS

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME · 1994 · $186,672

## Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Adapted From The Applicant's Abstract) Children of teenaged
mothers are at risk for one or more of the following disabilities:  (1)
mild mental retardation (MR); (2) learning disabilities (LD); or (3)
conduct disorders.  The goal of the proposed research is to understand the
unique and common factors that precipitate various school-related delays.
Salient characteristics in adolescent mothers, subsequent to and following
delivery, will be identified.  In combination with infant and child
characteristics.  They will be used to predict development during the
preschool years, thus setting the stage for identifiable delays during the
elementary school years.  A secondary purpose of the research is to examine
the life course of adolescent mothers, particularly in their socioemotional
and intellectual development.  Teen mothers with borderline IQs are likely
themselves to slide into mild retardation and to encounter major life
stresses as they progress through adolescence into young adulthood.

Measures of maternal and child functioning for 150 days will be taken when
each child is three and again at 5 years of age, with a focus on gathering
proxy variables for later problems in MR, LD, and behavioral disorders.
Measures of intelligence, learning skills, and social/emotional adjustment
were selected as criterion variables, whereas other measures (e.g., current
levels of intellectual and emotional functioning in the mother) were
selected as additional predictor variables.  All of the measures gathered
at ages three and five will be considered within the context of data
already gathered during pregnancy and infancy, specifically maternal and
infant assessments.  Continuity of functioning within maternal and child
domains will be assessed and relationships between maternal and child
measures examined from both cross-sectional as well as longitudinal
perspectives.  The central focus is on tracing and predicting children's
intellectual, emotional, and social development based on maternal, child,
and social-environmental characteristics.  Secondary interests lie in
understanding maternal development and in interrelating maternal and child
development.

Although cross-sectional analyses of the data will be carried out, the
primary focus will be on the longitudinal aspects of the data.
Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), will be used to study average
intraindividual changes in the sample over time as well as interindividual
differences in change.  HLM will allow study of both static and dynamic
correlates of developmental trajectories.  The significance of the project
lies in the attempt to unravel the "new morbidity" phenomenon in a
carefully-chosen sample of adolescent mothers and their children, from the
perspective of a multivariate, prospective, longitudinal design.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2199949
- **Project number:** 5R01HD026456-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
- **SAM.gov UEI:** FPU6XGFXMBE9
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHN G BORKOWSKI
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $186,672
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1991-04-01 → 1996-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2199949

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2199949, PRECURSORS OF RETARDATION IN CHILDREN WITH TEEN MOTHERS (5R01HD026456-04). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2199949. Licensed CC0.

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