Child maltreatment risk among adolescent mothers: a study of reported cases.

A large random sample of reported child maltreatment incidents are analyzed in terms of the research question: Is there a higher incidence of maltreatment by women who were adolescent mothers than by older mothers? Results from the official records studied indicate similar dynamic variables reported for both groups of mothers. The nature and limitations of the data are discussed, and implications and suggestions for further research are presented.