Triadic interaction of adolescent mothers, fathers, and infants: An exploratory study

Abstract

This paper explores triadic interaction in a sample of adolescent mothers, their partners, and their infants (19 families). We collected data during an extensive, semistructured interview one month after the infant's birth, and observed the triadic interaction during a play situation four months postpartum, using the Lausanne Trilogue Play paradigm (LTP, 1999). In the play situations, 14 out of 19 families showed dysfunctional family alliances. High maternal maturity in resolving developmental tasks specific for the period of adolescence predicted higher levels of family alliances. We found that having parental role models was positively associated with functional family alliances. The high proportion of dysfunctional family alliances in this exploratory study sample may accentuate the need for further research on resources of both fathers and mothers that foster positive family functioning.

Keywords:

• adolescent mother
• paternal contribution
• family alliance
• triadic interaction
• maternal maturity
• parental role models

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the German National Merit Foundation awarded to the first author. Special thanks are due to Lars White (Leipzig, Germany), and Jackie Scully (Dresden, Germany) for their helpful comments on the English version of this paper, and to Lisa Schwinn and Andreas Eickhorst (Heidelberg, Germany) for LTP coding. Finally, thanks are due to all of the adolescent mothers, fathers, and babies who participated in this project.