The Moderating Role of Children’s Effortful Control in the Relation Between Marital Adjustment and Parenting

Abstract

The aim of this work was to analyze the relation between marital adjustment and parenting practices in a sample of 474 Spanish children aged between 6 and 8 years. Thus, we examined the moderating role of children’s temperament (negative emotionality and effortful control) in this relation. To measure marital adjustment, parenting practices and children’s temperament, parents were given the marital adjustment test, the Spanish version of the Parent–Child Relationship Inventory, and the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire. The results confirmed that higher marital satisfaction predicted more positive parenting practices, whereas lower marital adjustment scores predicted less parenting support and control. Using a statistical modeling approach, we tested a moderation model that revealed the moderating role of effortful control in the relation between marital adjustment and parenting. Concretely, higher marital satisfaction predicts higher parenting communication and involvement, but only in children with low levels of effortful control. No moderating role was found for the negative emotionality construct. Several implications of the data are discussed.