(SDAS) Coparenting and the Social-Emotional Development of Children born to Adolescent Mothers
Grantee: Children's National Medical Center
Principal Investigator: Amy Lewin
Project Number: R40MC17173
Project Date: 2/01/2010
Final Report
Age group(s)
- Toddlerhood (13-35 months)
- Early Childhood (3-5 years)
Abstract
Children of adolescent mothers are at increased risk for a range of poor developmental outcomes. This consistent finding has led the field to investigate factors that may be protective for these children. Fathers may be an underappreciated but important source of support for adolescent mothers and their children. The role of fathers can be separated into two distinct constructs: (a) the father's contact and engagement with the child, and (b) the coparenting relationship the father has with the mother. To date, few studies have examined the coparenting relationship in adolescent parents. In particular, the effects of coparenting on the parenting behavior of adolescent parents, and on the social-emotional development of their children, have not been studied. We will address MCHB Strategic Issue #IV (Promoting the healthy development of MCH populations) by examining the processes by which the coparenting relationship of adolescent parents can enhance fathers' involvement with their children, mothers' supportive parenting behavior, and their children's social-emotional development. The proposed study will be a secondary analysis of data from waves II (24 months) and III (4 years) of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), which followed a nationally representative sample of children born in the U.S. in 2001. At each wave of the ECLS-B, data were collected through direct child assessments, computer-assisted parent interviews, parent-child video, and father self-administered questionnaires. The study sample will include approximately 450 children who were: (1) born to 15-19 year-old mothers, (2) whose biological mothers were the primary respondents at all waves of data collection, and (3) whose fathers completed questionnaires at wave II. The specific aims of this study are: (1) to determine the relationship of coparenting when children are two years old to father involvement with the child at the same age, and to children's social-emotional development at age four; (2) to determine the relationship of coparenting when children are two years old to mothers' supportive parenting of the child at the same age, and to children's social-emotional development at age four; and (3) to describe differences between resident and non-resident biological fathers in the associations assessed in Specific Aims 1 and 2. Analyses will include univariate/bivariate statistics, multiple regression, and path analysis. This research has important implications because understanding the role of adolescents' coparenting relationship can inform the development of interventions and policies aimed at supporting adolescent parents and improving the social-emotional development of their vulnerable children.Publications
Listed is descending order by year published.
Lewin A, Mitchell SJ, Beers LS, Feinberg ME, Minkovitz CS. Coparenting in teen mothers and their children's fathers: evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study-birth cohort. Academic Pediatrics. 2012;12(6):539-545.
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