Mothers’ and Fathers’ Pregnancy Intentions and Interparental Conflict: Is There Harm in Ambivalency?

Unintended pregnancy represents a critical challenge for family well-being, especially among unmarried parents with low incomes who come from marginalized racial/ethnic backgrounds. This study examines the roles of both maternal and paternal pregnancy intendedness in interparental conflict and violence, focusing on a sample of racially diverse unmarried couples with low income from the Building Strong Families (BSF) project ( N = 2,325 couples). Antenatal pregnancy intentions were tested as predictors of destructive conflict and intimate partner violence (IPV) at both 15 months and 3 years post-program enrollment using path modeling. For both mothers and fathers, pregnancies reported as unwanted or ambivalent were linked with greater destructive conflict after childbirth. Interestingly, only mothers’ reports of the pregnancy as unwanted or ambivalent were positively associated with their IPV victimization at 15 months post-enrollment. When examining the association between antenatal pregnancy intentions and interparental conflict 3 years post-enrollment, only one type of pregnancy intention remained significantly associated with greater interparental conflict. Specifically, mothers who reported the pregnancy as ambivalent reported significantly greater destructive conflict. In addition, fathers who reported the pregnancy as ambivalent reported significantly greater IPV victimization at 3 years post-enrollment. Overall, our findings suggest that for both mothers and fathers, unintended pregnancy represents a robust and central factor influencing interparental conflict behaviors in both the period following childbirth and nearly 3 years thereafter. They also highlight how ambivalent pregnancy intentions may specifically be linked to lasting challenges for family functioning and well-being.