Parental competence among African American adolescent mothers and grandmothers

Abstract

This study describes the influence of grandmothers on parental competence among urban African American adolescent mothers, using a model adapted from Belsky's (1984) Determinants of Parenting Process Model. The sample included 53 pairs of urban African American mothers (age 16.4 +/- 1.2 years) and their mothers (age 39.2 +/- 4.3 years). All adolescents were enrolled in school, co-resided with mothers, and had infants ages 4 to 8 months. Survey instruments measured personal resources, perception of infant temperament, and contextual sources of support and stress. The outcome measure for adolescent mothers was perceived parental competence. Multiple regression analyses indicated adolescent mothers' self-esteem and mastery explained 41% of the variance and grandmothers' self-esteem explained 42% of the variance in adolescent mothers' parental competence. A combined regression equation demonstrated that adolescent mothers' mastery and grandmothers' self-esteem accounted for 65% of the variance in adolescent mothers' parental competence.