Identifying Positive Characteristics and Skills in Young Mothers’ Romantic Relationships: Building Blocks for Prevention

PRESENTATION TYPE: Individual Poster

CATEGORY/THEME: Development and Testing of Interventions

ABSTRACT BODY:

Introduction: Young mothers are at increased risk for negative health outcomes related to their involvement in unhealthy dating relationships, including dating violence (DV) and sexual behavior which puts them at risk for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, as well as rapid repeat pregnancy. Despite these risks, we know little about the dynamics of young mothers’ dating relationships, particularly regarding positive relationship characteristics and skills which could serve as potential targets for interventions aimed at promoting healthier relationships. This qualitative study aims to identify positive individual and relational characteristics and healthy relationship skills in young mothers’ descriptions of their dating relationships, to inform the development of a targeted DV/risky sexual behavior prevention intervention.

Methods: Participants included 20 young mothers (ages 16-21, 50% Hispanic, 33% Black/African-American, 67% unemployed, 83% high school graduates) recruited from primarily urban ambulatory medical clinics and community agencies. Participants completed semi-structured individual interviews describing their relationship experiences and thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to DV, sexual health, and communication with partners. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded in multiple rounds by two coders using an iterative, grounded theory approach. Codes were placed into categories and organized into conceptually-clustered matrices with NVivo software, then synthesized to identify themes. Themes were coded as positive if both the participant and the coding team associated the characteristic or skill with positive feelings or outcomes, or with potentially protective effects related to risk behaviors.

Results: Positive individual characteristics identified by participants included future orientation, independence, and trying to change unhealthy relationship behaviors. Positive relationship characteristics included shared investment in children, providing support for one’s partner, and mutual trust. Participants also described using healthy relationship skills such as assertive communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution in their interactions with romantic partners. Themes will be illustrated using example quotations.

Conclusions: Our results have important implications for developing a targeted DV and sexual risk prevention intervention for young mothers. The qualitative data suggest that intervention content can build on pre-existing skills in order to target DV and sexual risk outcomes: for example, building on existing negotiation skills to teach condom-use negotiation. The intervention should also promote healthy individual and relationship characteristics as potential mechanisms for risk prevention.