Beyond parenting: Coparenting and children's classroom adjustment

Abstract

The study examined the role of coparenting for predicting children's classroom problems after controlling for parent rejection during family interactions. Fathers, mothers, and their children (52 families) were observed in their homes the summer before the child entered third grade. The parents' rejection of their child's efforts and supportive coparenting were coded as the parents helped their child with three difficult problem-solving tasks. Children's adjustment in their third-grade classrooms was assessed the following school year using year-long observations and teacher report. Parents' rejection of their children's efforts when problem solving predicted children's social problems, attention problems, and grades the next year in third grade. After controlling for child gender and parents' rejection, supportive coparenting predicted children's later attention problems, passivity/dependence, and grades. There were significant interactions between parents' rejection and supportive coparenting for predicting children's attention, passivity/dependence, and grades. Parents' rejection played a particularly important role for predicting children's attention, passivity/dependence, and grades when supportive coparenting was low.