"Mama, I'm a Person, Too!": Individuation and Young African-American Mothers' Parenting Competence

Mothers who transition early to parenthood are more likely to have negative outcomes as they emerge into adulthood and they are more likely to adopt more negative parenting practices in their interactions with their children. Given that parents who are more stimulating and supportive in their parenting have children with more positive cognitive and socioemotional developmental outcomes, understanding what factors facilitate the development of parenting competence among young mothers is important and may inform interventions serving this population. One way in which young mothers differ from older mothers is that they are still negotiating age-appropriate developmental tasks such as individuation from one's family of origin. Thus, this chapter uses quantitative and qualitative data to examine the link between young mothers' individuation from their own mothers and their ability to parent their preschool-aged children.