Teen Mothers' Experience of Intimate Partner Violence: A Metasynthesis

ANS Adv Nurs Sci. 2016 Jul-Sep;39(3):272-90. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0000000000000129.

Abstract

Pregnant and parenting teens suffer higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) than older mothers. This qualitative metasynthesis explores teen mothers' experience with IPV during pregnancy and postpartum. Organized by the metaphor of a web, findings highlight how pervasive violence during childhood contributes to teen pregnancy and the risk of IPV as violence is normalized. The web constricts through the partner's control as violence emerges or worsens with pregnancy. Young mothers become increasingly isolated, and live with the physical and psychological consequences of IPV. Trauma-informed nursing practice is needed to support teen mothers in violent intimate relationships to spin a new web.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Intimate Partner Violence / psychology*
  • Mothers / psychology*
  • Postpartum Period / psychology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy in Adolescence / psychology*
  • Risk Factors
  • Sexual Partners / psychology*
  • Stress, Psychological