Mother-Grandmother and Mother-Father Coparenting Across Time among Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers and Their Families.

Abstract

The current study examined mothers' reports of coparenting relationship dynamics (i.e., conflict, communication) within and between mother-father and mother-grandmother subsystems from 10 months post-partum to 5 years post-partum among 178 Mexican-origin teen mothers (M age = 16.78 years; SD = 1.00). Specifically, within subsystems, more frequent mother-father coparenting conflict was associated with less frequent mother-father coparenting communication from 10 months to 5 years post-partum, and more frequent mother-father coparenting communication was associated with less frequent mother-father conflict from 3 to 4 years post-partum. Further, more frequent mother-grandmother coparenting communication was associated with less frequent mother-grandmother conflict from 10 months to 2 years post-partum. Regarding relations across subsystems, more frequent mother-father coparenting conflict was associated with more frequent mother-grandmother conflict from 10 to 24 months post-partum, as well as from 3 to 4 years post-partum. Findings have implications for future interventions focused on coparenting relationships within the context of adolescent parenthood.