Cooperative, Compromising, Conflictual, and Uninvolved Coparenting Among Teenaged Parents

• Published in: Journal of family issues Vol. 40; no. 11; pp. 1534 - 1560
• Main Authors: Mallette, Jacquelyn K., Futris, Ted G., Brown, Geoffrey L., Oshri, Assaf
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-08-2019; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent mothers; Adolescent parents; Childrearing practices; Communication; Conflict; Human capital; Investments; Latent class analysis; Mothers; Parent-child relations; Parents & parenting; Pregnancy; Social capital; Teenage parents; Well being; social capital; human capital; financial capital; adolescent parents; father involvement; latent class analysis; coparenting
• ISSN: 0192-513X; 1552-5481
• DOI: 10.1177/0192513X19842239

Adolescent parents often maintain a coparenting relationship that is characterized by frequent conflict and unhealthy communication. However, in relationships with less conflict and more cooperation, adolescent mothers display well-being and greater self-acceptance, while young fathers are more likely to be involved with their children. Based on human, financial, and social capital theory that reinforces the influence of parents’ investments on family processes and well-being, we examined how capital was related to coparenting behaviors, and how coparenting related to parental functioning. We examined data from 125 adolescent mothers who attended a program for pregnant/parenting teens. Using a latent profile analysis, we (1) identified patterns of coparenting; (2) examined social, financial and human capital resources; and (3) evaluated between-group differences in parental functioning. Results indicated four unique patterns of coparenting based on adolescent mothers’ reports, which were associated with indicators of social, financial, and human capital and between-group differences in parental functioning.