ABSTRACT
Teen dating violence (TDV) is common during adolescence and has lasting negative impacts on those who experience it. Yet, there is limited research exploring how well teens recognize unhealthy behaviors and communicate boundaries, both crucial aspects in preventing TDV. This study aimed to investigate how demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, age, sexual identity, and race/ethnicity) relate to adolescents' abilities to recognize unhealthy relationships and willingness to communicate boundaries. Participants (N = 873) completed online surveys during school hours on demographic characteristics (e.g., gender), recognition of unhealthy relationship behaviors, communicating boundaries, and navigating breakups. We found that girls, participants who identify as a sexual minority (e.g., lesbian), and White participants demonstrated significantly higher recognition of controlling behaviors compared to boys and their heterosexual and non-White counterparts, respectively, but there was no significant difference in identifying abusive behaviors such as shouting, yelling, and insulting a partner. Older participants (i.e., ages 16-18) were significantly more likely to recognize controlling and abusive behaviors as unhealthy compared to younger participants (i.e., 13-15). Further, we found that girls and older participants were significantly more willing to communicate boundaries in relationships than boys and their younger counterparts. Our findings align with prior research emphasizing the necessity for prevention strategies that raise awareness of controlling behaviors that can escalate to more severe forms of TDV and equip adolescents with the means to establish and communicate personal boundaries.
ABSTRACT
When divorced parents remarry or cohabit with new partners, it is challenging to maintain functional postdivorce coparenting systems. In this grounded theory study of 19 divorced mothers, we examined the processes by which they maintained boundaries around coparental relationships after 1 or both coparents had repartnered. Mothers saw themselves as captains of the coparenting team, making decisions about who should play what roles in parenting their children. They viewed themselves as having primary responsibility for their children, and they saw their children's fathers as important coparenting partners. Mothers used a variety of strategies to preserve boundaries around the coparental subsystem when either they or their ex-husbands repartnered. Stepparents became more active participants in coparenting when: (a) mothers perceived them to be adequate caregivers, (b) biological parents were able to cooperatively coparent, (c) mothers perceived the fathers as good parents and responsible fathers, and (d) mothers felt secure as the primary parents. When all 4 conditions were present, mothers were likely to expand the coparental subsystem to include new partners. If any of these conditions were not present, mothers resisted including stepparents as part of the child rearing team. The findings from this study highlight how coparental roles in a nonclinical sample of families develop and change; mothers often modify coparenting boundaries over time to include stepparents.
