Person-environment fit: Everyday conflict and coparenting conflict in Mexican-origin teen mother families

The current study examined whether a match or mismatch between teen mothers' cultural orientation and the cultural context of the family (i.e., familial ethnic socialization) predicted mother- daughter everyday and coparenting conflict, and in turn, teen mothers' adjustment. Participants were 204 Mexican-origin teen mothers (M age = 16.81 years; SD = 1.00). Consistent with a person- environment fit perspective, findings indicated that a mismatch between teen mothers' cultural orientation (i.e., high mainstream cultural involvement) and the cultural context of the family (i.e., higher levels of familial ethnic socialization) predicted greater mother- daughter everyday conflict and coparenting conflict 1 year later. However, when there was a match (i.e., high levels of familial ethnic socialization for teen mothers with high Mexican orientation), familial ethnic socialization was not associated with mother- daughter conflict. In addition, mother- daughter conflict was positively associated with depressive symptoms and engagement in risky behaviors 1 year later among all teen mothers.