SYNOPSIS Objective. This study extends current knowledge on coparenting, that is how parents work as a parenting team, by comparing patterns of prospective coparenting (i.e. expectations and worries related to forthcoming coparenting) among expectant parents in three countries varying in their sociocultural contexts. Design. During the third trimester of pregnancy, 30 Finnish, Japanese, and Portuguese heterosexual couples (N = 180) expecting their first child participated in individual semi-structured interviews on their prospective coparenting. A structured coding frame was developed in an iterative process between and within country teams. Results. Both country-general and country-specific patterns in prospective coparenting among Finnish, Japanese and Portuguese expectant couples emerged. Five themes of prospective coparenting across the three countries were identified, providing support for coparenting as a multidimensional construct but also revising knowledge on the relevance of these dimensions among expectant parents. Sociocultural context was reflected in couples’ expectations about the division of parenting responsibilities and in their expectations related to mutual support and agreement on childrearing. Country differences were also identified in how the expectant parents justified their decisions and saw the relative primacy of mothers and fathers in forthcoming coparenting. Conclusions. Parental cooperation in terms of mutual support, team spirit, sharing, and agreeing on childrearing were recognized among prospective parents in the three countries. However, the availability of institutional support, gender and the care regime, and the associated set of values as well as existing work and parenting cultures shaped expectant parents’ future visions of their coparenting.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Previous research on the genetic and environmental links between parenting and adolescent externalizing behavior has largely focused on Western populations. Design. This study investigated this association in China, a non-Western population, using a large, genetically informative sample of same-sex adolescent twins (N = 2196; aged 9–19 years) with reports from multiple informants. Results. Genetic and shared- and non-shared environmental influences on child-reported and parent-reported parental warmth and parental harshness-hostility emerged. Adolescent externalizing behavior showed genetically driven associations with parental harshness-hostility, whereas its association with warmth was mainly environmentally mediated. Conclusions. These findings extend our understanding of the genetic and environmental links between negative and/or positive parenting and adolescent externalizing behavior into a non-Western cultural context.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Previous research has highlighted associations between parental mental health and body image concerns for children’s development, but most studies have focused on maternal patterns. The current study aimed to examine the effects of both maternal and paternal emotional distress, body image, and eating regulation on children’s social functioning and body mass index (BMI z-scores) over time. Design. The study included 91 couples and their children, ages 4 to 9 years, with data collected at four time-points over 12 months. Self-report questionnaires assessed parental measures, and children’s measures were tracked to analyze the long-term effects of parental patterns. The analysis used an actor-partner two-step mediation model in a structural equation modeling framework, examining both direct and indirect effects of parental factors on children’s BMI, with children’s social functioning as a mediator. Results. Parental emotional distress, especially maternal anxiety and depression, was strongly associated with children’s social functioning difficulties, and both maternal and paternal body image correlated with their own poor eating regulation. By including both parents and examining a reversed mediation pathway, the study revealed that children’s social functioning mediated the relation between parental emotional distress and children’s BMI. Furthermore, maternal preoccupation with body image concerns had a direct association with children’s BMI z-score trajectories. Conclusions. This study highlights the importance of considering both maternal and paternal factors in understanding children’s social and physical development. Interventions should adopt a family-centered approach to effectively improve children’s outcomes.

SYNOPSIS Objective. The pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to family dynamics and parent–child interactions during critical transitional periods. Design. This qualitative study explores the perspectives of 60 British mothers on their children’s transition to Reception year, the first year of primary school, during the COVID-19 lockdown, using the Five-Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) method. The analysis uses hybrid inductive—deductive thematic analysis, drawing on criticism and warmth as interpretative lenses rather than formal coding categories. Results. The criticism and warmth dimensions co-occurred in the same descriptions, reflecting the emotional complexity of parenting during the pandemic. Mothers’ narratives illustrate how the intense proximity and social isolation of the lockdown deepened both empathy and frustration, highlighting the intertwined nature of warmth and criticism in mothers’ emotional expressions. Using a phenomenological approach, the analysis identified four main themes: (1) the transition to Reception during COVID-19, (2) mothers’ perceptions of their children’s agency, (3) mothers’ descriptions of their children’s develop0ment, and (4) framing as a coping mechanism. Conclusions. Findings are discussed from three perspectives: (1) contextual, considering the unique pandemic environment; (2) theoretical, exploring the findings through the concept of narrative coherence; and (3) methodological, emphasizing the influence of the analytical approach on understanding mothers’ perceptions. This holistic approach offers valuable insights for enhancing mother—child relationships and supporting children through critical transitions, particularly in crisis contexts.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Personality helps determine the way an individual interprets environmental conditions and the behavior of others. Accordingly, it is important to document how parental personality characteristics help drive parental responses to challenges in the environment and how personality characteristics help direct parental interactions with children based on children’s dispositions. Design. Relations between maternal extraversion and parenting (sensitivity and stimulation and the total HOME score were examined when children were 4.5 and 10 to 11 years old, with a focus on how maternal extraversion moderates the effects of low household income and child temperament on parenting. Results. Mothers who scored high in extraversion were more likely to engage their children in a sensitive manner, provide them a greater amount of stimulation for learning, and provide a higher quality home environment. Maternal extraversion moderated the influence of household income-to-needs on sensitivity, stimulation, and the total HOME score when children were 4.5 years old. By contrast, interactions between maternal extraversion and child difficult temperament were only found for the total HOME score when children were 10–11 years old. Conclusions. Living in adverse circumstances does not keep mothers high in extraversion from engaging productively in parenting to the same extent it does for mothers not high in extraversion. Further research is needed on how best to support parents with different personalities so that the findings from research benefit both them and their children.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Although continuity and stability in parental sensitivity promote a sense of security and predictability for infants and are linked to a variety of positive child outcomes, research with fathers is relatively rare. The present Portuguese longitudinal study investigates mean group-level continuity (vs. discontinuity) and individual-order stability (vs. instability) of ratings of paternal sensitivity and other dimensions of father-infant interactive behavior with infants from 3 to 9 months. Design. Participants included 61 urban middle- to lower-middle class Portuguese fathers and their healthy, term infants observed during free play at 3 and 9 months. Multiple dimensions of paternal and infant behavior were scored using Crittenden’s CARE-Index. Fathers also reported on their involvement in childcare activities using the Parents’ Responsibility Scale. Results. The magnitude of fathers’ average group-level sensitivity decreased from 3 to 9 months, but fathers’ ratings correlated over time, indicating individual-order stability. In a First-Difference Regression Model, increases in paternal involvement (play and primary caregiving) and infant cooperative behavior from 3 to 9 months predicted higher paternal sensitivity. Conclusions. Evidence for both group-level discontinuity and individual-order stability in fathers’ sensitivity and involvement was found at 3 to 9 months postpartum. Increases in paternal play and primary caregiving, along with cooperative infant behavior, predicted higher paternal sensitivity at 9 months, identifying modifiable targets for early support.

SYNOPSIS Objective. The Parental Behavior Inventory (PBI) assesses reports of parenting behaviors along two dimensions: supportive/engaged (S/E) and hostile/coercive (H/C). However, its cross-cultural validity, particularly in Spanish-speaking populations, remains underexplored. This study aimed to provide evidence of the PBI’s content validity, internal structure (dimensionality, reliability, group equivalence), and association with the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire. Design. Six hundred eighty-eight Colombian and Uruguayan parents with children aged 4–10 years participated. Results. Content adaptation ensured a clear and culturally appropriate Spanish-speaking version for both groups. Dimensionality analysis supported the original two-factor orthogonal model but revealed high factorial complexity due to cross-loadings. A refined 11-item version (PBI-S) reduced this complexity and maintained validity. The PBI-S demonstrated measurement invariance across country, educational level, gender, and socioeconomic status, with omega reliability exceeding .85 for S/E and .65 for H/C. S/E positively correlated with democratic parenting styles, and H/C aligned with authoritarian and permissive styles. Conclusions. This study introduces a concise, reliable PBI version suitable for Spanish-speaking contexts, offering a valuable tool for measuring perceived parenting behaviors critical to the development of school-age children.

SYNOPSIS Objective. The current study examined direct associations between Latine mothers’ and fathers’ sensitive parenting at 9 months and children’s socioemotional outcomes (social competence and executive function) at age 3, indirect associations via children’s effortful control at 24 months, and moderating effects of child emotionality. Design. Using a sample of Latine families (N = 162), we assessed mother- and father-child interactions for sensitive parenting, used maternal reports of children’s emotionality, executive function problems, and socioemotional competence, and assessed children’s effortful control using a snack delay task. Results. Maternal and paternal sensitive parenting at 9 months were associated with greater socioemotional competence and fewer executive function problems at age 3 across levels of child emotionality. No evidence of mediation through effortful control emerged. Conclusions. Both early maternal and paternal sensitive parenting directly support later socioemotional outcomes in Latine families.

SYNOPSIS This Special Issue Introduction presents the rationale and underpinnings for this Special Issue devoted to contemporary perspectives on fathering and father–child relationships. We argue for a move away from traditional models of father involvement that focus on the quantity of time fathers spend in predominantly feminine caregiving activities to a more nuanced perspective focused on the parenting behaviors fathers engage in with their children. Each article in this Special Issue contributes to understanding fathering through this contemporary lens by highlighting a family systems perspective for the design of both research and interventions, by focusing in on theoretically meaningful, but often overlooked, fathering constructs, by showcasing fathers in families often underrepresented in the literature (e.g., military fathers, primary caregiving fathers), by presenting practices for recruiting fathers in longitudinal research, and how best to analyze father data. The articles also reflect fathers from different parts of the world, from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and rearing children of different ages. This Special Issue provides exemplars of methods, analyses, and findings that set the stage for the next generation of research on fathering and father–child relationships so that we no longer need to ask if fathers are or are not involved with their children, but what fathers specifically do when they are involved with their children.