Coparenting and Chinese preschoolers’ social-emotional development: Child routines as a mediator

Abstract

In recent years, the importance of young children’s social-emotional development has been increasingly recognized in Chinese culture. The current study examined the relationship among coparenting, child routines, and preschoolers’ social-emotional development in a Chinese sample. It was hypothesized that child routines would mediate the association between coparenting quality and children’s social-emotional adjustment. A total of 515 families with preschool-aged children from Shanghai were involved in this study. Multiple aspects of coparenting, child routines, and children’s social-emotional development were measured. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediating effect of child routines. The results showed that the consistency of child routines significantly mediated the effects of coparenting quality on children’s social-emotional outcomes. Specifically, coparenting was positively related to the consistency of child routines, which was in turn positively related to children’s initiative and self-control, as well as negatively related to children’s behavioral concerns. The current study highlights the role of coparenting and child routines in Chinese young children’s social-emotional development. It offers implications for how parents can support young children’s development of consistent routines and social-emotional functioning in the family context.