title: Co-Parenting Relationship Experiences of Black Adolescent Mothers in Active Romantic Partnerships With the Fathers of Their Children.
abstract: We conducted an interpretive description of co-parenting relationship experiences of romantically involved Black adolescent mothers and fathers with shared biological children. The study was conducted in Brooklyn, New York, using data from individual in-depth interviews with adolescent mothers and fathers (n = 10). Four themes were identified: (a) putting our heads together; (b) balancing childhood and parenthood; (c) less money, more problems; and (d) if we use condoms, it is for contraception. The co-parenting couples managed very complex relationships, but their mutual interest in the welfare of their children was a relational asset. Co-parents had sparse financial resources but used a moral economy strategy to provide mutual support. Future research is needed that focuses on identifying other co-parent relationship assets and integrating and evaluating their utility for enhancing interventions for adolescent families.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester, NY, USA laron_nelson@urmc.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: LaRon E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA.
authors.forename: Chia T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Thach
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA.
authors.forename: Melissa M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Shelton
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Cherrie B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Boyer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting
keywords: African American; adolescents; co-parenting; dyadic analysis; interpretive description