Effects of Grandmother Coresidence and Quality of Family Relationships on Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Mothers

New welfare policies mandate minor, unmarried adolescent mothers to coreside with a parent or adult guardian to qualify for cash assistance. The influence of grandmother coresidence and the quality of familial relationships on adolescent mothers' psychological well-being is little understood. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Family relations 1998-10, Vol.47 (4), p.433-441
Main Authors: Kalil, Ariel, Spencer, Michael S., Spieker, Susan J., Gilchrist, Lewayne D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent Mothers
Adolescents
African Americans
Coresidence
Depression (Psychology)
Depressive disorders
Domestic relations
Early Adolescents
Early Parenthood
Families & family life
Families Facing Special Challenges
Family Conflict
Family members
Family Relations
Family Relationship
Family Stability
Grandmothers
Grandparents
Longitudinal Studies
Mental depression
Mental health
Mothers
Parenting
Personal relationships
Place of Residence
Pregnancy
Seattle, Washington
Teenagers
Welfare Policy
Welfare Services
Well Being
Wellbeing
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Summary:New welfare policies mandate minor, unmarried adolescent mothers to coreside with a parent or adult guardian to qualify for cash assistance. The influence of grandmother coresidence and the quality of familial relationships on adolescent mothers' psychological well-being is little understood. This article considers the main and interactive effects of grandmother coresidence, family cohesion, and young mother conflict with grandmother on adolescent reports of depressive symptoms in a sample (N = 194) of predominantly low-income adolescent mothers. Young mothers ranged in age from 15 to 17 years during pregnancy. Predictor variables' associations with depressive symptoms were examined at 6, 18, and 30 months post-partum. No main effects of grandmother coresidence on adolescents' depressive symptoms were found. In contrast, the quality of family relationships, as well as the interaction of grandmother coresidence with family cohesion, were associated with depressive symptoms. Adolescent mothers with the greatest depressive symptoms were those who coresided with grandmothers under conditions of poor family cohesion. Implications for new welfare policies are discussed.
ISSN:0197-6664
1741-3729
0197-6664
DOI:10.2307/585274