Citation

Black CFD. Fam. Process 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Family Process Institute, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/famp.12663

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Emotionally supportive partners promote the well-being of teenage mothers and their children as they navigate sensitive developmental periods. Yet, having focused on young parents' relationship dissolution, we know very little about benefits of partner supportiveness for the development of children's psychological adjustment or processes that may explain this association. Using five waves of Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study data (N = 771) and parallel process latent growth curve modeling, this study tested whether trajectories of partner supportiveness (measured by maternal reports of fathers' emotional support) directly mitigated trajectories of children's externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors (measured by maternal reports of problem behaviors) and/or whether such effects were indirectly linked through lower levels of maternal harsh parenting (measured by observational ratings of mother-child interactions).

RESULTS suggest that higher levels of partner supportiveness at birth were associated with child externalizing and internalizing trajectories that started at lower levels and demonstrated slower improvements across time. Lower starting levels of maternal harsh parenting when children were three years old partially explained associations between partner supportiveness at birth and lower levels of child externalizing symptoms at age three. Lessons gleaned from this study are discussed in context of young families' strengths and applied to practice-based settings.

Language: en

Keywords

Spillover; apoyo emocional de la pareja; Child Problem Behaviors; conductas problemáticas de los niños; crianza rigurosa; desbordamiento; Family Systems; Harsh Parenting; madres jóvenes; Partner Emotional Support; sistemas familiares; Young Mothers; 伴侣情感支持; 儿童问题行为; 家庭系统; 年少的母亲; 粗暴的教育