Trajectories of Adolescent Mother–Grandmother Psychological Conflict During Early Parenting and Children's Problem Behaviors at Age 7

Abstract

This study extends the determinants of parenting model to adolescent mothers by examining how adolescent mother–grandmother psychological conflict and perceptions of infant fussiness from birth through age 2 years relate to children's problem behaviors at age 7. Participants were 181 adolescent mother, child, and grandmother triads living in multigenerational households and recruited at delivery. Psychological conflict was characterized by two stable trajectories. In multivariate models that included maternal depression, both psychological conflict and perceptions of infant fussiness predicted externalizing behavior at age 7. Perceptions of infant fussiness, but not psychological conflict, predicted internalizing behavior at age 7.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant MCJ-240301 from the Maternal and Child Health Research Program and grant APRPA006000 from the Office of Population Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services. The authors extend their appreciation to the other members of the Three Generation team and to the families who participated in the program.

Notes

Note: GM = grandmother; AM = adolescent mother; GED = general educational development; CH = child.

p < .05. **p < .01.

Note: AM = adolescent mother.

†p < .10 (approached significance).

*p < .05. **p < .01.