| Abstract: | Anxiety is prevalent in adolescents and may be particularly problematic in pregnant adolescents. The purpose of this structural equation modeling analysis was to test a biobehavioral model in which postpartum self‐competence mediated pathways from anxiety and cortisol during pregnancy to anxiety 3 years later. Self‐reports of anxiety and self‐competence and salivary cortisol samples were obtained from 78 healthy primiparous and 57 nonpregnant comparison adolescent girls matched for age and socioeconomic status. Assessments were done during the first half of pregnancy, 3–4 weeks after childbirth, and at a 3‐year follow up. For pregnant girls, linkages from initial anxiety to self‐competence to follow‐up anxiety were significant and negative, as hypothesized. Direct and indirect pathways between initial and follow‐up anxiety were significant. Cortisol levels did not predict self‐competence or anxiety. For nonpregnant adolescents, the model fit poorly. Findings suggest self‐competence may play a mediating role in young mothers' anxiety across time. |
