Young Mothers in Appalachia: Meanings of Help from Family

The present study employed interpretive phenomenology analysis to explore the lived experiences of young mothers as it pertains to intergenerational family support within the Appalachian context. Informed by symbolic interactionism, the life course perspective, and the kinscripts framework, the present study sought to uncover the meanings attributed to help from family for young mothers. Nine women (ages 18-28; M= 23.33) who had children between the ages of 15 and 19 were interviewed for present study. Through detail-rich narratives, meanings ascribed to help were uncovered. Help was equated with love, and it was presented as a paradox. Help was also conceptualized as a pathway to facilitate young mothers’ autonomy in their new parental roles. Having autonomy, that is defined as the ability to make parenting decisions, along with support from family was associated with feeling confident and adequate as mothers. Mothers who were refused autonomy described distress and struggled with identifying in their new parental role. These findings and their implications are discussed further.

Name thesis:degree_name

M. S.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Child and Adolescent Development

Department dc:contributor.department

Human Development and Family Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• McGregor, Casey

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Arditti, Joyce A.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Dolbin-MacNab, Megan L.
• Shivers, Carolyn

• young mothers
• intergenerational families
• young parenting
• phenomenology

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/89593

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/89593