Parenting Behaviors Among Mainland Puerto Rican Adolescent Mothers: The Role of Grandmother and Partner Involvement

Abstract

Relations between grandmother and partner involvement (coresidence, social support, child care) and Puerto Rican adolescent mothers' parenting behaviors were examined. Few associations between grandmother involvement and behavior emerged, and these were moderated by coresidence. In contrast, partner involvement showed a number of significant (positive) direct and moderated relations with behavior. For both providers, the direction of the relations between social support and behavior during teaching was the opposite depending on coresidence: Greater social support was related to the display of more positive behavior among coresiding mothers but to less competent behavior among non-coresiding mothers. The relations between child care support and behavior differed across providers. For grandmothers, greater child care was related to less positive behavior during teaching among coresiding mothers but to more competent behavior among non-coresiding mothers. For partners, greater child care was more strongly related to positive behavior during play among non-coresiding than coresiding mothers. Results are discussed in light of Latino cultural values, developmental issues, and implications for intervention.Much of the literature on adolescent parenting has focused on African American and European American mothers, and relatively little is known about factors related to parenting competence among Latino families. Understanding these factors is particularly important in light of the fact JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 14(3), 341-368

Potential Positive and Negative Consequences of Coresidence for Teen Mothers and their Children in Adult-Supervised Households

“…However, there was not a main effect for positive affect, authoritarianism, or permissiveness. Contreras (2004) replicated the finding of increased negative affect among coresiders with a sample of Latina young mothers. It has also been suggested that non-coresiders have greater mealtime warmth toward their one-year-old children than coresiders (Black and Nitz 1996).…”

“…In the same study, social support was related to more positive parenting among coresiders. However, social support was related to less positive parenting among non-coresiders (Contreras 2004). The opposite was true for African-American teen mothers (Wakschlag et al 1996).…”

“…One might assume that coresidence would be linked to positive outcomes for teen parents who have a supportive mother and/or family with which to live, and that coresidence would be linked to negative outcomes for teen parents who must live in an unsupportive environment. Indeed, among Latina women, social support was related to more positive parenting among coresiders but to less positive parenting among non-coresiders (Contreras 2004). This findings is consistent with research on the mental health of white and African-American mothers that indicates coresidence is related to less depression when family relationships are positive, but coresidence is related to more depression when family relationships are negative (Kalil et al 1998).…”

“…Although it has been well-documented that African-American teen mothers are more likely that white teen mothers to coreside (e.g., Henly 1997), the TANF regulations may present a challenge that African-American families are not up for (McDonald and Armstrong 2001). Despite the comparatively small amount of research on Latino coresidential living arrangements, there is some evidence to suggest that young Puerto Rican mothers, in particular, may be successful at negotiating coresidence, possibly due to Latino traditions that emphasize reliance and interdependence (Contreras 2004).…”

Mother-daughter conflict and adjustment in Mexican-origin families: Exploring the role of family and sociocultural context

“…Little attention has been paid to normative developmental and family processes among ethnic minority youth (McLoyd, 1998), and we know even less about normative development among ethnic minority adolescents who are facing the transition to motherhood in combination with the transition through adolescence (Contreras, 2004). With regard to the occurrence of confl icts over everyday topics, such as chores, Mexican-origin girls in both samples reported low to moderate levels of disagreements with their mothers.…”