Examining the Impact of an Adapted Coparenting Curriculum on Latinx Adolescent Parents’ Coparenting Behaviors

• In Event: Interventions with Latinx families: the role of family, culture, and policy.

Abstract

The U.S. has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the industrialized world (Office of Population Affairs, n.d.). In support of their children, adolescent parents must learn to navigate the coparenting relationship (Mollborn & Lovegrove, 2011). The ability to positively navigate this relationship is important, as positive coparenting behaviors have been linked to higher father engagement (Fagan & Lee, 2014), lower reports of parental stress (Derlan et al, 2019), and healthier romantic relationships (Hoss et al, 2019). Despite these benefits, previous research suggests that adolescent parents are likely to have difficulty maintaining healthy coparenting relationships (Fagan, 2008), especially if coparents are no longer in a relationship. Thus, to better serve this population, interventions should aim to strengthen adolescent coparenting relationships, while also considering the unique developmental needs and complexities that form the context of these relationships. The current study examined the impact of a coparenting curriculum that was adapted to be culturally and developmentally appropriate for Latinx adolescent parents. Specifically, the current study examined differences in reported change of coparenting behaviors between adolescent parents who received the adapted coparenting curriculum and those who did not, while also assessing which adolescents (those who are together vs. not) benefited most from the program.
To assess the impact of the adapted intervention, we used online survey data from 587 pregnant and parenting adolescents (72% cisgender female; 47.7% pregnant; 76% in a relationship; 74.3% U.S.-born, Mage = 17.14, SD = 1.81). Using an intent-to-treat design, adolescent parents within eight different schools were randomly assigned to a treatment (received the coparenting curriculum during the school year) and control condition (did not receive the coparenting condition). Pre and post-test data were collected nine months apart after participants completed two semesters of programming.
A path analysis in Mplus 8.2 was estimated to assess changes in the adolescent parent coparenting relationship, including communication frequency, conflict frequency, and conflict style (e.g., healthy vs. unhealthy conflict), while controlling for all outcomes at pre-test, demographic characteristics at pre-test (e.g., relationship status, parenting status, nativity, age), treatment condition, and treatment X relationship status (in a relationship with the child’s other parent vs. not). A main effect for coparenting communication emerged (b = .26, SE = .13, p < .05), such that belonging to the treatment condition was linked to an increase in coparenting communication frequency. Further, a significant interaction for treatment X relationship status emerged for the other two outcomes, such that adolescent parents who were not in a relationship with the child’s other parent benefitted most from the coparenting curriculum. For this group of adolescents, receiving the coparenting curriculum, versus not, was linked to a decrease in coparenting conflict (b = -.62, SE = .31, p < .05) and a decrease in using unhealthy forms of conflict management (yelling, threatening; b = -.30, SE = .14, p < .05). The long-term implications for adolescent parents and their children’s adjustment will be discussed. The importance of culturally-responsive interventions for the promotion of positive youth and family adjustment will also be discussed.

Authors

• Jenee C Duncan, University of Florida
  Presenting Author

• Norma J Perez-Brena, University of Arizona

• Michelle Toews, Kansas State University

• Mark E. Feinberg, Pennsylvania State University, University Park