Maternal sensitivity in adolescent mothers. Documentation of an experience with Brazilian teenage mothers lived in multi-problematic contexts

Abstract

The authors address the issue of maternal sensitivity in adolescent mothers who are victims of mistreatment and abuse. The purpose of the study is to explore the quality of the dyadic relationship; in particular, the quality of maternal sensitivity in adolescence and its relationship with early traumatic experiences. For this purpose, the research team was selected a sample of 4 young Brazilian adolescent mothers aged between 16 and 17 years, with children aged between 6 and 12 months. The mothers were observed together with their children in spontaneous play situations and evaluated through the CARE-Index. The tool offers a interesting phenomenology of behavior indices that allows an relevant qualitative analysis. The mothers, observed in the relationship with their child, were often disoriented, in need of recognition, not attuned, with evident feelings of inadequacy, but not of renouncing to play their maternal role. This discontinuity, this non-deterministic relationship between early trauma and maternal sensitivity, represents the most interesting aspect of the experience presented, favors a deepening of the issue and an experimentation of psychoeducational interventions.