An evaluation of self esteem, social support and maternal-fetal attachment in the pregnant adolescent

The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to evaluate any association between self esteem, maternal-fetal attachment and social support of the pregnant adolescent. The study used the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI), the Cranley Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS), the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ) and a demographic questionnaire for assessment. Dorothy Johnson's System Theory of Nursing provided the theoretical framework for the study. A non-probability convenience sample of forty primigravida subjects ages 16-18 years old in the third trimester of pregnancy were surveyed. Data were collected during a four-week period at the Knox County Health Department, Knoxville, Tennessee, where the subjects were receiving prenatal care. Data analysis included the Pearson product moment correlation, measures of central tendency, and frequency distributions. The subjects were found to have an average self esteem (mean of 71.45 on the CSEI), a moderate amount of functional social support (mean of 160 on the NSSQ), and participated in fetal attachment behaviors (mean of 3.96 on the MFAS). Based on correlational analysis, two of three null hypotheses were accepted as having no association. An alpha level of p≤.05 was selected as the level of statistical significance. There was significant correlation found between self esteem and social support of the pregnant subject. There was no statistical evidence of association between self esteem and maternal-fetal attachment. While there was no statistically significant level of association found between the total maternal-fetal attachment and total functional social support, there was a positive correlation between the number of people in a social network and the frequency of attributing characteristics to the unborn child.