Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive health
Volume 34, Number 1, January/February 2002

 

Early Childbearing and Children's Achievement And Behavior over Time
TABLES

TABLE 1. Mean scores (and standard deviations) on children's achievement and behavior-problem tests, by data set, according to mother's age at first birth, Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and National Longitudinal Survey of the Labor Market Experience of Youth (NLSY)
Data set and test N All mothers Teenage mothers Adult mothers
PSID
Letter-word identification 1,721 105.8 (18.0) 97.5 (13.5) 107.9 (18.9)
Passage comprehension 1,221 106.4 (16.2) 98.2 (12.9) 108.6 (16.7)
Calculation 1,214 103.3 (17.8) 95.5 (15.4) 105.4 (18.0)
Applied problems 1,711 109.1 (17.5) 100.0 (13.7) 111.5 (18.0)
Behavior-problem index 2,144 8.3 (5.9) 9.3 (5.6) 8.0 (6.0)
  Internalizing 2,144 2.5 (2.7) 2.8 (2.5) 2.4 (2.7)
  Externalizing 2,144 5.8 (3.9) 6.5 (3.6) 5.5 (4.0)
NLSY
Math 2,855 103.6 (13.6) 98.3 (11.2) 105.1 (14.1)
Reading recognition 2,847 106.2 (14.5) 100.5 (12.7) 107.8 (14.7)
Reading comprehension 2,307 103.0 (13.0) 97.1 (11.1) 104.9 (13.2)
Picture vocabulary 1,880 97.9 (17.6) 89.3 (15.5) 100.2 (17.7)
Behavior-problem index 3,064 103.5 (15.0) 106.7 (14.5) 102.6 (15.1)
  Internalizing 3,224 102.1 (15.2) 104.0 (14.5) 101.5 (15.5)
  Externalizing 3,138 103.0 (14.7) 106.3 (14.3) 102.1 (14.7)

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TABLE 2. Coefficients from logistic regression models using different sets of controls to assess the effect of maternal age at first birth on children's achievement and behavior-problem test scores, PSID
Age, period and interaction between age and period Achievement test Behavior-problem index
Letter-word identification Passage comprehension Calculation Applied problems Total Externalizing Internalizing
Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model
A B A B A B A B A B A B A B
Teenage first birth -6.4** 0.1 -8.0** -15.6** -7.0** 8.5 -8.7** -7.6 0.9** 7. 9** 0.8** 4.9** 0.2 3.0**
Period of first birth†
Early 1970s na 8.2 na -0.3 na 1.1 na -0.2 na -0.0 na -0.5 na 0.4
Late 1970s na 0.2 na -4.9 na -1.8 na 3.0 na 1.4 na 1.0 na 0.5
Early 1980s na 2.7 na -2.4 na 3.0 na 6.1** na 0.2 na -0.1 na 0.4
Late 1980s na 7.9** na 3.6 na 6.0* na 5.8** na 0.5 na 0.0 na 0.4
Early 1990s na 3.4 na -7.1* na 2.0 na 5.0* na 0.9 na 0.5 na 0.4
Period of teenage first birth†
Early 1970s na -13.5 na 7.5 na -14.2 na 4.0 na -7.3** na -4.4** na -2.8**
Late 1970s na -5.0 na 11.5 na -11.6 na -0.1 na -9.2** na -5.8** na -3.4**
Early 1980s na -5.0 na 8.2 na -14.1 na -2.0 na -7.4** na -4.3** na -3.1**
Late 1980s na -10.5 na 6.8 na -19.5* na -2.2 na -6.1** na -3.7** na -2.5**
Early 1990s na 1.5 na -1.7 na -3.5 na 3.3 na -6.7** na -4.0** na -2.8**
Intercept 88.3** 83.2** 100.5** 99. 6** 105.0** 99.5** 104.6** 98.9** 9.0** 8.3** 7.9** 7.5 1.1** 0.7**
*p<.10. **p<.05. †The reference period is the late 1960s. Notes: Both models control for race, gender, age, grandmother's education and employment, number of maternal siblings and family structure. Model B controls for period of first birth and the interaction between age at first birth and period of first birth. na=not applicable.

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FIGURE 1. Predicted scores on letter-word identification test among children of women who first gave birth during their teens and children of women who first gave birth as adults, by period of first birth, PSID

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FIGURE 2. Predicted scores on passage-comprehension test among children of women who first gave birth during their teens and children of women who first gave birth as adults, by period of first birth, PSID

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FIGURE 3. Predicted scores on calculation test among children of women who first gave birth during their teens and children of women who first gave birth as adults, by period of first birth, PSID

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FIGURE 4. Predicted scores on applied-problems test among children of women who first gave birth during their teens and children of women who first gave birth as adults, by period of first birth, PSID

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FIGURE 5. Predicted total number of behavior problems among children of women who first gave birth during their teens and children of women who first gave birth as adults, by period of first birth, PSID

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