Adolescent mothers' successful participation in a well-baby care program

Previous research suggests that adolescent mothers and their infants may benefit from participation in specialized well-baby care programs. Yet the literature has not addressed the issue of predictive factors related to continued program participation. In a retrospective study, stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to explore this issue in 61 mothers from one well-baby program. The results were partially cross-validated using 59 other mothers. Mothers ranged in age from 13 to 17 years. Most were Black, single, and receiving public assistance. Twenty-two percent of the variance in the number of routine clinic visits made and 34% of the variance in the number of visits made for specific health problems were accounted for by the predictive equations. Cross-validation supported these results, with the most significant predictive variable for both measures of program participation being inconsistent appointment keeping.