Effects of Co-parenting and Infant Emotional Self-Control on the Externalized Problem Behavior of Infants

Abstract

Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of coparenting, infants’ emotional self-control, and infants’ externalized problem behaviors.Methods: A total of 281 mothers of infants aged 3-5 years responded to questionnaires on three research variables. The scale used in this study was first measured using a co-parenting questionnaire, the emotional regulation checklist (ECR), and the child behavior checklist (CBCL). Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 20.0.Results: The correlations between co-parenting, infants’ emotional self-control, and externalized problem behaviors were all statistically significant. With regard to the direct impact of co-parenting on infant problem behavior, co-parenting had a significant impact on infant externalized problem behavior. Co-parenting also indirectly influenced the externalized problem behaviors in infants through the infants’ emotional self-control.Conclusion: This study demonstrated the importance of co-parenting and infant’s emotional selfcontrol. The results suggest the need for a parent education program to improve infants’ emotional selfcontrol and could be used as basic data for counseling and parent education sites to develop parenting programs to prevent infant problem behavior and ultimately create an enviroment that positively affects infant development.