Significant other Social Support as A Moderator in the Relationship between Parenting Stress and Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescent Mothers

Previous research has focused on the main effects of parenting stress on anxiety and overlooked the possible moderating processes. The main aim of this study is to examine the buffering role of significant other social support in the relationship between parenting stress and anxiety symptoms. Participants comprised 571 adolescent mothers aged 13-19 years (M = 18.21, SD = .94) residing in Lusaka Zambia. They were invited to complete survey measures of parenting stress, significant other social support, and anxiety symptoms. Results from a moderated multiple regression analysis using SPSS PROCESS Macro (after controlling for sociodemographic factors) indicated that significant other social support significantly dampened the positive relationship between parenting stress and anxiety. A simple slope analysis indicated that when significant other social support was higher, the effect of parenting stress on anxiety was weaker. These findings suggest that significant other social support may be a crucial protective factor for mental health in adolescent mothers. High significant other social support has policy implications for adolescent mothers’ mental
health.