Semiotics of being an adolescent mother: identity construction of adolescents in pregnancy-childbirth cycle

Abstract

Adolescent motherhood as a cultural phenomenon represents an excellent test for human understanding, when studied through a network of meanings. This study aimed to identify the semantics regularity used by adolescents in pregnancy-childbirth cycle about motherhood at this stage of life. Descriptive study with 317 free word association tests with adolescents in pregnancy-childbirth cycle, analyzed through descriptive statistics and correspondence factor analysis. Ethical precepts were followed. Signs assumed principles with multiple, but complementary, characteristics according to how participants signified them, identifying with representational bias. The word was the unit for apprehending the content in context. The educational model of motherhood at this stage of life was structured as positive, neutral, or negative. Feelings of happiness and affection permeated evocations of being a mother, giving the idea of virtue with motherhood. In contradiction, it was anchored by the difficulty of developing this role in adolescence. Thus, there is urgent need for proper monitoring of adolescents, from prenatal to postpartum, since it carries knowledge that, when included in everyday life, provides congruent care in identity construction of being an adolescent or expectant mother.

Keywords

• Maternidade
• Adolescência, Cuidado intracultural
• Identidade social