Social support and resilience: a look at adolescent motherhood

Objective: To verify the influence of social support on the resilience process of adolescent mothers. Methods: Exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. There were 48 adolescents research subjects, who attended Primary Care Centres, in the state of Sao Paulo, in 2016. Data were collected from the following instruments: a) sociodemographic questionnaire; b) Resilience Scale developed by Wagnild and Young (1993), adapted by Pesce et al. (2005); c) Social Support Scale used in the Medical Outcomes Study, adapted by Griep et al. (2005). Results: The results showed high scores on the Resilience and Social Support Scales of the adolescents. Of these, 70.83% had significant school delays and 75% did not work. Significant associations were found between the factors of the Resilience Scale and the dimensions of the Social Support Scale. An inverse correlation was identified between the "Independence and determination" factor of the Resilience Scale and the "Affective" dimension of the Social Support Scale. Therefore, the greater the "affective support" perceived by teenage mothers, the less "independence and determination" they present. Conclusion: The study deepens the knowledge about the influence of social support on the resilience process of teenage mothers. Gender issues and the importance of intersectoral policies focused on teenage mothers and fathers that strengthen social support were highlighted.