Parenting Against the Odds

This book examines individual strengths among adolescent mothers within the framework of Attachment Theory. The author extends attachment theory to examine how it informs our understanding of resiliency to negative childhood events among adolescent mothers. She provides a theoretical and research paradigm for understanding the role that psychological mindedness plays in resiliency. Begining with a review of the theoretical and empirical work on infant caregiver attachment relationships, the author then provides empirical and theoretical reviews of psychological development in adolescence, focusing on the development of psychological mindedness and the experience of parenthood. In addition, empirical and theoretical work on the resilient child are summarized, conceptual and methodological weaknesses are addressed in relation to the aims of this study, and pathways to resiliency are proposed. Finally, a method for examining the relation between psychological mindedness, experiencing negative childhood events, and security of infant attachment is described, tested and discussed.