Skip to main content
Log in

African American adolescent mothers and grandmothers: A multigenerational approach to parenting

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

This study is an adaptation and extension of Apfel and Seitz’s (Family Relations, 40(4), 421–429, 1991) models of adolescent parenting and adolescent-grandmother relationships to a sample of 148 African American, first-time adolescent mothers and their 6-month-old infants. The Parental Supplemental model, in which adolescent mothers and grandmothers shared caregiving, described 63% of Apfel and Seitz’s (1991) sample and 66% of the current sample. Shared caregiving was not associated with conflict in the adolescent mother–grandmother relationship. Adolescent mothers who had caregiving responsibilities and a supportive adolescent-grandmother relationship also reported competence in their parenting role. Findings provide support for Apfel and Seitz’s Parental Apprentice model, in which young mothers gain competence through direct caregiving experience in the context of a supportive relationship.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alan Guttmacher Institute (1999, September). Facts in brief: Teen sex and pregnancy. Retrieved August 27, 2003, from the Alan Guttmacher Institute web page: http://www.guttmacher. org/pubs/fb_teen_sex.html#21.

  • Apfel, N. H., & Seitz, V. (1991). Four models of adolescent mother–grandmother relationships in black inner-city families. Family Relations, 40(4), 421–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, M. M., & Nitz, K. (1996). Grandmother co-residence, parenting, and child development among low income, urban teen mothers. Journal of Adolescent Health, 18, 218–226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Black, M. M., Papas, M. A., Hussey, J. M., Hunter, W., Dubowitz, H., & Kotch, J. B., et al. (2002). Behavior and development of preschool children born to adolescent mothers: Risk and 3-Generation households. Pediatrics, 109(4), 573–580.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Black, M. M., Siegel, E., Abel, Y., & Bentley, M. E. (2001). Home and videotape intervention delays premature introduction of complementary feeding among adolescent mothers. Pediatrics, 107(5), e67. http://www.pediatrics.org/ci/content/full/107/5/e67.

  • Brooks-Gunn, J. (1990). Adolescents as daughters and mothers: A developmental perspective. In I. E. Sigel (Ed.), Methods of family research: Biographies of research projects, Vol. 1: Normal families (pp. 213–248). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton, L. M. (1990). Teenage childbearing as an alternative life-course strategy in multigeneration Black families. Human Nature, 1(2), 123–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cauce, A. M., Hiraga, Y., Graves, D., Gonzales, N., Ryan-Finn, K., & Grove, K. (1996). African American mothers and their adolescent daughters: Closeness, conflict, and control. In B. J. R. Leadbeater, & N. Way (Eds.), Urban girls: Resisting stereotypes, creating identities (pp. 100–116). New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Zamsky, E. S. (1994). Young African-American multigenerational families in poverty: Quality of mothering and grandmothering. Child Development, 65, 373–393.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Child Trends (2002, September). Facts at a glance. Retrieved August 27, 2003, from the Child Trends web site: http://www.childtrends.org/PDF/FAAG2002.pdf.

  • Coley, R. L., & Chase-Landsdale, P. L. (1998). Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood. American Psychologist, 53(2), 152–166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, C. P., Cowan, P. A., Heming, G., Garrett, E., Coysh, W. S., Curtis-Boles, H., et al. (1985). Transitions to Parenthood: His, hers, and theirs. Journal of Family Issues, 6(4), 451–481.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Denham, T. E., & Smith, C. W. (1989). The influence of grandparents on grandchildren: A review of the literature and resources. Family Relations, 38, 345–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1985). Children’s perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks. Developmental Psychology, 21(6), 1016–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hess, C. R., Papas, M. A., & Black, M. M. (2002). Resilience among African American adolescent mothers: Predictors of positive parenting in early infancy. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27(7), 619–629.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, C., & Mash, E. J. (1989). A measure of parenting satisfaction and efficacy. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 18(2), 167–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalil, A., & Danziger, S. K. (2000). How teen mothers are faring under welfare reform. Journal of Social Issues, 56(4), 775–798.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., Radin, N., & Saltz, E. (1994). Predictors of nurturant parenting in teen mothers living in three generational families. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 24(4), 215–231.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, J. L., Hunger, A. G., Cook, J. M., Ialongo, N. S., & Kellam, S. G. (1997). Grandmother involvement in child caregiving in an urban community. The Gerontologist, 37(5), 650–657.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, J. L., Hunger, A. G., Ensminger, M. E., & Kellam, S. G. (1990). Black grandmothers in multigenerational households: Diversity in family structure and parenting involvement in the Woodlawn community. Child Development, 61, 434–442.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sander, L. W. (1962). Issues in early mother–child interaction. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1, 141–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sands, R. G., & Goldberg-Glen, R. S. (2000). Factors associated with stress among grandparents raising their grandchildren. Family Relations, 49, 97–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schroder, K. E. E., Carey, M. P., & Vanable, P. A. (2003). Methodological challenges in research on sexual risk behavior: II. Accuracy of self reports. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 26(2), 104–123.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. W. (1975). The role of the grandmother in adolescent pregnancy and parenting. The Journal of School Health, 45(5), 278–283.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • SmithBattle, L. (1996). Intergenerational ethics of caring for adolescent mothers and their children. Family Relations, 45, 56–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, J. C., & Marx, J. (1995). “To grandmother’s house we go”: Health and school adjustment of children raised solely by grandparents. The Gerontologist, 35(3), 386–394.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spieker, S. J., & Bensley, L. (1994). Roles of living arrangements and grandmother social support in adolescent mothering and infant attachment. Developmental Psychology, 30(1), 102–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, J. H. (1984). Black grandmothers’ and black adolescent mothers’ knowledge about parenting. Developmental Psychology, 20(6), 1017–1025.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. J., Chatters, L. M., & Jackson, J. S. (1993). A profile of family relations among three-generation black families. Family Relations, 42, 332–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tulkin, S. R., & Cohler, B. J. (1973). Childrearing attitudes and mother–child interaction in the first year of life. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 19(1), 95–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unger, D. G., & Cooley, M. (1992). Partner and grandmother contact in black and white teen parent families. Journal of Adolescent Health, 13, 546–552.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wakschlag, L. S., Chase-Landsdale, P. L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1996). Not just “ghosts in the nursery”: Contemporary intergenerational relationships in young African-American families.Child Development, 67, 2131–2147.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, M. N. (1984). Mothers’ and grandmothers’ perceptions of parental behavior in three-generational black families. Child Development, 55, 1333–1339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grant MCJ-240301 from the Maternal and Child Health Research Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The authors wish to thank Dr. Kenneth Maton for his comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Portions of this manuscript were submitted by SEO in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master of Arts degree at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah E. Oberlander.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Oberlander, S.E., Black, M.M. & Starr, R.H. African American adolescent mothers and grandmothers: A multigenerational approach to parenting. Am J Community Psychol 39, 37–46 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9087-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9087-2

Keywords

Navigation