Fathers of infants born to adolescent mothers. A study of paternal characteristics.

Fifty-one males and 192 female subjects participated in an investigation of the characteristics of fathers of infants born to mothers aged younger than 18 years. Fathers were categorized by age: younger than 20 years v older than 20 years. Another group of older fathers paired with older women (greater than or equal to 20 years) was included for comparison. The older fathers paired with adolescent mothers were more similar to adolescent fathers than to older men paired with older women. The major differences between the adolescent partners and older partners of adolescent mothers occurred in the perception of marital conflict and ego development. The adolescent couple and the older man paired with an older woman perceived more marital conflict than did the older father and adolescent mother. Adolescent mothers paired with an older man also perceived less marital conflict than adolescent women whose partners were adolescents.