Gender differences in teen parents' perceptions of parental responsibilities

Accurate information concerning teen parents' knowledge of their children's development and their expectations for paternal involvement becomes increasingly important as efforts increase to promote involvement of unmarried fathers with their children. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess differences in the knowledge and perceptions of normal child development, and expectations for paternal responsibilities between unmarried, low-income African American and Mexican American adolescent mothers and their males partners. Seven unmarried adolescent mothers participated in a focus group interview held at a family service agency in the Midwest. Afterward, their male partners and reported fathers of their babies, participated in a separate focus group interview The mean age of the adolescent mother participants was 16.7 years, the mean age of their partners was 19.3 years. Data were analyzed using a tape-based analysis method. A number of differences were identified between the perceptions of the adolescent mothers and young fathers including their level of child development knowledge, context for selecting physical methods of discipline, expectations for paternal role behaviors, and feelings about child support payments and establishing legal paternity. The study findings may help health care providers develop more effective prenatal and parenting educational experiences for adolescent parents.