Factors related to successful outcomes among preschool children born to low-income adolescent mothers

The purpose of this study was to describe how the experiences and circumstances of the most successful children born to low-income adolescent mothers differed from the experiences and circumstances of the least successful children over the first 54 months of their lives. Success was defined as scoring in the top quartile for this sample on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) when the children were 54 months old and about to make the transition to kindergarten. The experiences of the 22 children with the highest scores on the PPVT-R were contrasted with rite experiences of the 22 children who had the lowest scores on the PPVT-R for this sample. The two groups differed markedly on measures of caregiving and home environment assessed when the, children were 12, 24, 36, and 54 months old. In addition, mothers of the most successful children achieved more years of education, were more likely to be employed had fewer children on average, tended to live in more desirable neighborhoods, and were more likely to be living with a male partner. Case studies are also presented on four families (two from the most successful group and two from the least successful group) to further illustrate how: the experiences and circumstances of children in the two groups differed.