The role of interparental relationship variability in parent–child interactions: Results from a sample of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder and mothers with neurotypical children

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveThe goal of this study was to examine how variability in interparental relationship functioning predicts the quality of parent–child interactions in daily life among families in which a child had autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and families of neurotypical children.BackgroundParent–child interactions predict a host of key outcomes for children, and one contributor to the health of parent–child interactions is the quality of the relationship between the parent couple. Yet, prior research has exclusively focused on how average levels of parental relationship functioning predicts parent–child interactions, which neglects the importance of variability in the interparental relationship.MethodDrawing on a sample of 167 mothers, one group with a child with ASD (n = 85), and the other group with a neurotypical child (n = 82), we examined how weekly variability in mothers' relational experiences with their partner predicted their interactions with their children in daily life using multilevel modeling.ResultsThe association between interparental relational variability and mother child‐interactions depended on mean levels of interparental relational functioning. Specifically, when mothers reported poor average relational functioning across a particular week, greater variability in their relationship across this same period was associated with benefits for mother–child interactions. This pattern was not seen in those with healthy interparental functioning. Moreover, moderation analyses suggested relational variability may be especially relevant for parent–child interactions of mothers of neurotypical children.ConclusionThese results suggest that the association between variability in parents' relational experiences and parent–child interactions depends upon mean levels.