Dyadic adjustment and parenting stress in internationally adoptive mothers and fathers: the mediating role of adult attachment dimensions.

Silvia Salcuni,Gianmarco Altoè,Ughetta Moscardino,Diana Miconi

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01279

Abstract

Previous research has shown that a positive marital functioning represents a resource in adoptive families, leading to a decrease in parenting stress, but little is known about the factors mediating such a relationship. This study aimed to explore whether adult attachment avoidance and anxiety mediate the effect of dyadic functioning on parenting stress in 90 internationally adoptive couples (mothers and fathers) who had adopted a child (aged 3–10 years) in the last 36 months. Participants completed self-report measures of dyadic adjustment, adult attachment, and parenting stress. A series of path analyses supported the mediation hypothesis, but differentially for mothers and fathers. Among mothers, there was a direct and negative relationship between dyadic adjustment and parenting stress. In addition, a better dyadic adjustment was related to lower levels of attachment anxiety, which in turn were associated with less parenting stress. Among fathers, increased dyadic adjustment was related to lower levels of attachment avoidance, which in turn were associated with reduced parenting stress. These findings suggest the importance of including both mothers and fathers in adoption research. Adoptive parents could benefit from specific interventions aimed at reducing attachment avoidance and anxiety by supporting parental sense of competence and involvement for mothers and fathers, respectively.

Highlights

Parenting stress is a complex construct determined by multiple sources, including parent, child and situational factors related to parent–child interaction (Abidin, 1995) and interferes with many aspects of family functioning, such as positive parenting practices and child psychosocial adjustment (Cummings et al, 2000; Greenley et al, 2006)
A better marital relationship was negatively related to parenting stress and to attachment avoidance and anxiety, whereas both attachment dimensions were positively related to parenting stress
Dyadic functioning has been shown to have a positive influence on parenting quality in both adoptive and non-adoptive families, but less is known about the factors mediating this relationship

Summary

Introduction

Parenting stress is a complex construct determined by multiple sources, including parent, child and situational factors related to parent–child interaction (Abidin, 1995) and interferes with many aspects of family functioning, such as positive parenting practices and child psychosocial adjustment (Cummings et al, 2000; Greenley et al, 2006). Adoptive parents present some advantages over their biological counterparts, such as being older, financially secure, with a stable career and married longer, which could help them face the additional stressors linked to the adoption process mentioned above (Brodzinsky and Huffman, 1988; Levy-Shiff et al, 1991; Salcuni et al, 2003, 2006). Another important protective factor is the quality of dyadic functioning Lionetti et al, 2015). These findings are in line with the most recent trends in adoption research, which highlight the importance of family and parenting processes as predictors of child and parent outcomes (Palacios and Brodzinsky, 2010; Grotevant and McDermott, 2014), viewed as important points of entry for prevention and intervention efforts (Goldberg and Smith, 2014; Lionetti et al, 2015)

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