Communication patterns in African-American families with repeat adolescent pregnancy.

Abstract

There is limited research on how communication patterns in mother-daughter and father-daughter dyads in African American families is related to the phenomenon of repeat adolescent pregnancy. This study was guided by an integrated systems and symbolic interactionism theoretical framework and explored parent-adolescent communication with particular emphasis on adolescents' perceptions of mother-daughter and father-daughter dyadic interactional patterns. The research questions were: (1) How are adolescents' perceptions of parental approaches to conflict related to repeat pregnancy? (2) How are communication (i.e., quality and barriers) and reasoning related to the number of children born during adolescence? and (3) What are the differences between adolescents' perceptions of communication and the frequency of the use of reasoning with parents between groups of adolescents with one child and those who have more than one child? A convenience sample of 99 predominantly low-income African American adolescents between the ages of 18 and 21 years who had one child (n = 50) and more than one child (n = 49) were interviewed in their homes or settings of their choice. A subsample of 15 adolescents (one child, n = 8; more than one child, n = 7) were interviewed to obtain the qualitative data used to enhance the interpretation of the quantitative data. The interviews were focused on barriers to communication. The entire sample resided in urban Michigan and Ohio. A descriptive exploratory design was utilized and consisted of two approaches: (1) a quantitative one in which data were collected using structured questionnaires, and (2) a qualitative one in which narrative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were obtained using the revised version of the Parent Adolescent Communication (PAC) Scale (Barnes & Olson, 1985) and a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) (Straus, 1974). The quantitative findings indicated that there were no significant differences between the two groups of adolescents in their perceptions of the quality of and barriers to communication and the frequency of the use of reasoning with their parents. However, the bivariate analyses indicated strong positive relationships between quality of and barriers to communication in mother-daughter and a moderate positive relationship in father-daughter dyads. There was a moderate positive relationship between the frequency in the use of reasoning and quality of communication in mother-daughter and a weak positive relationship in father-daughter dyads. Analyses of qualitative data with Spradley's (1979) ethnographic techniques suggested that adolescents perceive parental rules and a failure of young grandparents' acceptance of their roles as the major barriers to communication. The findings are discussed in terms of the dearth of knowledge about African American families, communicative dissonance between adolescents and parents, the resolution of conflict and their meanings for socio-culturally relevant research and practice.