Instruments for the Assessment of Coparenting: A Systematic Review

Abstract

In light of the increasing variability in family structures, coparenting has attracted growing attention as a crucial dimension on which to evaluate children’s mental health across different family structures. In this study, we present a systematic review of the available measures for the assessment of coparenting. After duplicate removal, screening, and eligibility assessment, 26 instruments were selected. Due to the importance of the coparental relationship to children’s mental health, special attention was paid to the characteristics that contribute to enhancing the instruments’ suitability for use in clinical contexts. The results show a great increase in the number of published instruments designed to assess coparenting. The review also found some instruments to be more suitable than others for use in clinical contexts due to their time-efficiency, their psychometric properties and/or to other dimensions. This review reinforces the importance of developing instruments that allow for the assessment of coparenting and contributes to the body of knowledge in the field by offering information of interest to professionals dealing with families.