Multigenerational Coresidence and Childrearing Conflict: Links to Parenting Stress in Teenage Mothers Across the First Two Years Postpartum

Abstract

We examine the associations among multigenerational coresidence, intrafamilial conflict over childrearing, and parenting stress in 190 young adolescent mothers at 6, 12, and 24 months postpartum. Analyses assessed the association between coresidence and conflict on parenting stress in 2 ways. To investigate associations between coresidence and conflict at specific points postpartum, 3 cross-sectional analyses were conducted. To assess the association between postpartum duration of coresidence and conflict, we predicted parenting stress at 24 months from the duration of coresidence and conflict across the 3 time points. While the coefficients in the cross-sectional models for coresidence and conflict increased from 6 to 24 months, the change was not significant over time holding all other variables constant. The interaction of coresidence by conflict was not associated with parenting stress at any time point. Additionally, duration of coresidence was not associated with parenting stress at 24 months. However, in contrast, sustained conflict over time was associated with higher levels of parenting stress at 24 months.