Coparenting Relationship Quality Research Articles

Racial discrimination and parenting perceptions among low-income Black couples.

Racism affects Black individuals in the United States through multiple institutional, social, and economic injustices. Relationship scientists have called for greater attention to the potentially harmful effects racism might exert on Black families. A small literature has begun to document negative associations between experiences of racism and romantic relationship functioning. However, even less empirical work has focused on a central relationship domain for many Black couples: parenting. The present study used cross-sectional data (N = 312 couples) from low-income Black couples who had recently had a child together. We examined associations between both partners' experiences of racial discrimination and their coparenting relationship quality and parenting stress. We next controlled for depression and relationship dedication as substantive covariates that could guide future research in this area. Actor-partner interdependence models revealed actor associations between discrimination and poorer parenting outcomes and a partner association specifically between one's partner's discrimination experience and own lower coparenting relationship quality. This partner effect was no longer significant, and actor effects were attenuated, when controlling for depression and relationship dedication, respectively. Our findings indicate that the negative effects of racial discrimination on Black couples' relationships are also apparent in the parenting domain, even above and beyond associations of individual depression and relationship dedication. These findings underscore the urgent need for more basic science to better understand the harms of racism for Black families, identify mechanisms that drive those effects, and highlight ways that clinical services can begin to address these impacts even now. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Spillover from parent stress to family meals among diverse families: An ecological momentary assessment study.

Family meals are beneficial for youth healthy development. However, parents' experiences of daily stressors may hinder their capacity to facilitate family meals, serve healthful foods, and have implications for the family meal atmosphere. Using data from ecological momentary assessment, we examined whether family meals are less likely to occur, meals are less healthful, and meal atmosphere is less positive on days when parents experience higher-than-usual stress and whether coparenting support buffers these associations. We also explored the role of family stressors in these links. Participants were 497 parents (Mage = 35.86 years; 91% female) of 5- to 9-year-old children who identified as Asian (15%), Black (17%), Hispanic (10%), Native American (10%), Native Hawaiian (< 1%), White (38%), multiracial (8%), or other (< 1%). Results from multilevel models indicated that daily deviations in parents' stress levels were not correlated with family meal occurrence, healthfulness, or positive atmosphere. However, on days when the source of parents' stress was family related (e.g., family demands), odds of a positive meal atmosphere were significantly lower (OR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.88, 0.96]), adjusting for other sources of stress. Coparenting relationship quality was positively associated with family meal occurrence (OR = 1.34, 95% CI [1.01, 1.79]) and healthfulness (γ = 0.20, p < .001), however, it did not moderate links between stress and family meal occurrence, healthfulness, or atmosphere. Findings suggest that day-to-day fluctuations in parents' stress levels may not disrupt whether a family meal occurs, the healthfulness of foods served, or the atmosphere of family meals. However, family stressors and coparenting relationship quality merit investigation as potential intervention targets. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Role of father involvement and co-parenting relationship quality in social-emotional behaviors of children and adolescents in Pakistani cultural context. Research model moderated by father’s working hours

Role of father involvement and co-parenting relationship quality in social-emotional behaviors of children and adolescents in Pakistani cultural context. Research model moderated by father’s working hours

Coparenting profiles and children's socioemotional outcomes in unmarried parents with low‐income

AbstractObjectiveThis study aimed to examine patterns of mother–father coparenting relationship quality and their associations with child empathy, emotional insecurity, and behavior problems in families with low income.BackgroundGiven the growing number of nonmarital births and the high risk of relationship dissolution among cohabiting couples living with low income, it is important to examine the coparenting relationships among racially diverse unmarried couples from low‐income contexts. To date, little research has assessed patterns of coparenting relationships and their associations with child socioemotional outcomes among this population.MethodsParticipants were 4,266 unmarried couples and their preschool‐aged children from the Building Strong Families study. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted.ResultsLPA of survey data from mothers and fathers revealed four coparenting patterns: Profile 1: low quality, more negative maternal coparenting perceptions (7.2%); Profile 2: moderate‐high quality, high congruence, slightly more negative paternal coparenting perceptions (25.2%); Profile 3: low congruence, severely more negative maternal coparenting perceptions (11.8%); and Profile 4: mutual high‐quality coparenting (55.8%).ConclusionChildren of parents with the mutual high‐quality coparenting profile had the most positive outcomes according to maternal reports of child socioemotional development. Highly congruent and positive perceptions of the other parent as a coparent were found to be significant promotive factors for positive child socioemotional development.ImplicationsFamily strengthening policies and programs for unmarried couples with low income should target and support the development of mutually satisfying, high‐quality coparenting relationships, with the ultimate goal to improve developmental outcomes for young children in such families.

How New Mothers’ and Fathers’ Allocation of Tasks Relate to Their Coparenting Relationship

New parents must decide how to divide household, childcare, and financial responsibilities. These divisions can be difficult, especially when couples’ wants do not align. Interviewing ethnically and racially diverse new parents ( n = 198 couples), we explore how parents’ desired allocation of childcare, household, and financial tasks differ from perceived distribution and whether discrepancies relate to coparenting relationship quality. All parents perceived mothers doing more housework and childcare and fathers contributing more financially. When women reported doing more housework and childcare than wanted, coparenting relationship quality was lower. For women, discrepancies between what they and their partners report was associated with lower coparenting relationship quality. Findings reflect traditional gender roles among new parents and women’s desire for their partners to take on more household and childcare work. Such findings can help inform parenting interventions for new parents, encouraging communication between partners about the division of tasks to support their coparenting relationship.

Chinese parents’ marital and coparenting relationships, parental differential treatment of siblings, and adolescents’ sibling relationships.

Parents' differential treatment of siblings has been understudied among sibling research in Chinese societies where the government ended its one-child policy. This study, using a three-wave longitudinal design, explored the associations among parents' marital and coparenting relationships, parental differential treatment of siblings, and adolescents' sibling relationships within a theoretical framework of a developmental cascade model of family influence. Adolescents (Mage = 12.88 years, SD = 0.76 at Time 1; 51.2% girls) and their mothers from 260 families in China participated in this research (first data collection in January 2018). Mothers completed questionnaires that assessed marital and coparenting relationship quality, and adolescents completed questionnaires that assessed their perceptions of parental differential treatment as well as sibling intimacy and conflict. The results, based on path analyses, revealed that marital satisfaction at Time 1 was positively associated with coparenting support at Time 2. Coparenting support at Time 2 was negatively associated with adolescents' perception of parental differential treatment at Time 3. Parental differential treatment at Time 3 was negatively associated with sibling intimacy at Time 3 but positively associated with sibling conflict at Time 3. These results are consistent with the developmental cascade hypothesis in that parent-parent subsystems influenced parental differential treatment of siblings as a parent-child subsystem, which in turn spilled over to create negative family processes that exacerbated adolescents' sibling subsystem quality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental personality, mental health, and fear of happiness as predictors of perceived coparenting relationship quality among mothers and fathers of preschoolers

ABSTRACT Objective Existing theoretical models and research findings highlight individual parent characteristics as contributors to coparenting relationship quality. Yet less is known about how indices of parental personality, beliefs, and mental health symptoms relate to coparenting perceptions among parents of preschoolers. This study examines direct and indirect paths connecting parents’ Big Five personality traits, fear of happiness, and depression and anxiety symptoms with perceived coparenting quality. Method Using an online survey design, 160 parents (81 mothers; 79 fathers) of preschoolers (age 2–5 years) completed the Ten-Item Inventory of Personality, Fear of Happiness Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-4, and Coparenting Relationship Scale – Brief Form. Results Parental Emotional Stability negatively related to anxiety and depressive symptoms and to fear of happiness. Anxiety symptoms and fear of happiness directly, and negatively, related to coparenting quality. Emotional stability was indirectly, positively related to coparenting quality via lower levels of parental anxiety and fear of happiness. Although parental depressive symptoms were unrelated to coparenting quality, parents’ Openness to Experience and fear of happiness positively predicted depressive symptoms. Conclusion Findings suggest parents’ anxiety symptoms and fear of happiness may underlie the processes by which parental Emotional Stability relates to perceived coparenting quality among parents of preschoolers.

Bidirectional associations between paternal postpartum depression symptoms and coparenting: A cross-lagged panel model of fathers of infants and toddlers

BackgroundFinding modifiable predictors of paternal depression symptoms is helpful for developing interventions. The aim is to assess the unidirectional and/or bidirectional associations between paternal postpartum depression symptoms and coparenting among fathers of infants and toddlers. MethodsLongitudinal data were collected prospectively from 429 fathers of infants aged 0–24 months (median = 8 months) in Sweden, with 6- and 18-month follow-ups. All fathers participated in at least two of three waves of data collection, and multiple imputation was used for missing values. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to detect depression symptoms (≥10 points), while the Brief Coparenting Relationship Scale measured the coparenting relationship. A cross-lagged panel model was used to estimate the associations between paternal depression symptoms and coparenting relationship quality over time, controlling for several known covariates and COVID-19 exposure. ResultsFathers with higher coparenting scores at Time 1 and 2 had less depression symptoms at Time 3, and fathers with more depression symptoms at Time 2 had lower coparenting scores at Time 3. Plotted probabilities of having at least mild depression symptoms revealed a multifold increase in the probability of depression symptoms at Time 3 for fathers with minimal coparenting scores at Times 1 and 2, respectively, compared to fathers with mean coparenting scores at Times 1 and 2, respectively. LimitationsCausal links cannot be determined using the current non-experimental study design. Using the EPDS alone may have missed some fathers with depression symptoms. ConclusionsClinicians seeking to reduce paternal depression symptoms should help strengthen the coparenting relationship.

Coparenting relationship quality and breastfeeding duration for dual earner new parents

We tested the prospective associations between coparenting relationship quality and breastfeeding duration among 164 dual-earner, cisgender, heterosexual couples identifying as mothers and fathers at the transition to parenthood. We hypothesized that mothers who perceived higher quality (more supportive and less undermining) coparenting relationships would breastfeed for a longer duration. At 3 months after childbirth, mothers reported their perceptions of coparenting relationship quality using the Coparenting Relationship Scale. Mothers reported their breastfeeding behaviors at four time points—when their infant was 3, 6, 9 months and 12–36 months old. Survival analysis revealed that higher quality coparenting relationships were associated with longer breastfeeding duration. This association was only observed among families of girls. This study highlights the interactive role of coparenting relationship quality and infant sex as proximal contexts that may shape breastfeeding practices.

Examining parents' susceptibility: Coparenting relationships and parental involvement in low‐income families

AbstractObjectiveThis study investigated whether fathers' involvement in play with young children was more susceptible than mothers' involvement to coparenting relationships in low‐income families and examined child gender and fathers' residential status as moderators of susceptibility.BackgroundParental involvement in developmentally appropriate and stimulating activities benefits young children. The coparenting relationship plays an important role in shaping parental involvement, and its impact may be stronger for fathers, rendering fathers more susceptible.MethodData were drawn from 4606 families in the Building Strong Families project. Mothers and fathers reported coparenting relationship quality and involvement in play with children at 15‐ and 36‐month follow‐up studies. Cross‐lagged panel models were used incorporating actor‐partner interdependence.ResultsOverall, fathers' involvement was more strongly affected by coparenting relationship quality than mothers' involvement. Elevated susceptibility to coparenting did not apply to all fathers. The involvement of fathers of girls (vs. fathers of boys) and non‐resident fathers (vs. resident fathers) was more strongly affected by fathers' perceptions of coparenting. The actor effect from coparenting to involvement was stronger for fathers than mothers in families with non‐resident fathers. No significant differences were found in partner effects.ConclusionThis study reveals that parents' susceptibility is multiply determined and highlights the importance of considering the interrelated nature of family subsystems. Intervention programs targeting parenting and coparenting should spare more efforts to involve fathers, especially those whose engagement in parenting may be most susceptible to family processes.

Coparenting-focused preventive intervention reduces postnatal maternal BMI and buffers impact of cortisol.

ObjectiveThe postpartum period is a key life stage, contributing to increased maternal obesity risk. Current lifestyle interventions do not consider the role of a woman's partner in reducing stress and supporting lifestyle change. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of an intervention that seeks to enhance coparenting relationship quality on maternal BMI from before conception to 12 months post partum and whether the intervention moderated the association of changes in cortisol and BMI.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was used to assess an intervention (eight classes: four during and four following pregnancy) focusing on enhancing couple coparenting relationships during pregnancy and post partum (n = 57) compared with standard care (n = 53).ResultsThe main outcome measures were changes in maternal BMI and cortisol. There was a smaller increase in BMI for mothers in intervention compared with control groups (mean [SE], −1.03 [0.42] kg/m2, p = 0.015). There was an interaction between intervention status and cortisol change predicting BMI change (p = 0.026), such that cortisol change significantly predicted BMI change among mothers in the control (p = 0.049) but not the intervention groups (p = 0.204).ConclusionsA coparenting intervention improved maternal postpartum BMI, with this effect potentially related to ameliorating the negative effect of stress, as measured by cortisol, on BMI. The role of enhanced coparenting in improving maternal anthropometry warrants urgent attention.

Building long-term family resilience through universal prevention: 10-year parent and child outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has been highly stressful for parents and children, it is clear that strategies that promote long-term family resilience are needed to protect families in future crises. One such strategy, the Family Foundations program, is focused on promoting supportive coparenting at the transition to parenthood. In a randomized trial, we tested the long-term intervention effects of Family Foundations on parent, child, and family well-being one to two months after the imposition of a national shelter-in-place public health intervention in 2020. We used regression models to test intervention impact on outcomes reported on by parents in a standard questionnaire format and a series of 8days of daily reports. We also tested moderation of intervention impact by parent depression and coparenting relationship quality. Relative to control families, intervention families demonstrated significantly lower levels of individual and family problems (general parent hostility, harsh and aggressive parenting, coparenting conflict, sibling relationship conflict, and children's negative mood and behavior problems), and higher levels of positive family relationship quality (positive parenting, couple relationship quality, sibling relations, and family cohesion). For some outcomes, including coparenting conflict, harsh parenting, and child behavior problems, intervention effects were larger for more vulnerable families-that is, families with higher pre-pandemic levels of parent depression or lower levels of coparenting relationship quality. We conclude that targeted family prevention programming is able to promote healthy parent and child functioning during unforeseen future periods of acute stress. The long-term benefits of a universal approach to family support at the transition to parenthood indicate the need for greater investment in the dissemination of effective approaches.

Coparenting and Mental Health in Families with Jailed Parents.

The number of families affected by parental incarceration in the United States has increased dramatically in the past three decades, with primarily negative implications for adult mental health and child and family well-being. Despite research documenting increased strain on coparenting relationships, less is known regarding the relation between adult mental health and coparenting quality. This study investigated coparenting in families with young children currently experiencing parental incarceration. In a diverse sample of 86 jailed parent–caregiver dyads (n = 172), this analysis of a short-term longitudinal study examined the links among jailed parents’ and children’s at-home caregivers’ externalizing mental health symptoms and perceived coparenting alliance quality using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed a medium sized negative partner effect for externalizing behaviors on coparenting alliance for jailed parents, wherein caregivers increased externalizing symptoms related to jailed parents’ lower reported coparenting quality. Caregiver–partner effects and both actor effects resulted in small effects. These findings highlight the roles of mental health and coparenting relationship quality when a parent is incarcerated and contribute to the existing literature on incarcerated coparenting, with implications for theory and practice.

Keeping your coparent in mind: A longitudinal investigation of mindfulness in the family system.

Recent studies have increasingly focused on mindfulness as it relates to interpersonal processes. In particular, cross-sectional research has shown that parents' dispositional mindfulness is associated with increased mindful parenting and coparenting, as well as improved coparenting relationship quality. The current study replicates and extends such work, representing the first longitudinal investigation of mindful coparenting. A sample of 449 parents (60% mothers) of children between the ages of 3 and 17years were recruited online through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) as part of a larger study on the assessment of parenting. Parents reported on their dispositional mindfulness, mindful coparenting, and coparenting relationship quality at three time points across an 8-month period. Results from a cross-lagged panel model using maximum likelihood estimation suggested that higher levels of parental mindfulness at baseline were related with higher levels of mindful coparenting at 4months, which, in turn, were related to higher quality coparenting relationship at 8months. Support for this model was found for both mothers and fathers and across all examined child age groups (i.e., early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence), highlighting the robust nature of these effects. Overall, findings suggest that increasing mindfulness at an individual level can promote meaningful change within a family system, specifically through improvements in coparenting and parent-child interactions.

Parent-Child Role Confusion: Exploring the Role of Family Processes in the Context of Parental Depression

ABSTRACT Objective Parent-child role confusion has been shown to influence developmental outcomes for children whose parents have a history of depression; however, more research is needed to understand the pathways by which parental depression increases risk of role confusion. The current study aimed to extend previous literature by evaluating how different family processes (e.g., interparental conflict, guilt induction, family cohesion, and positive parenting practices) contribute to the development of emotional role confusion in families with a history of parental depression. Method The sample was comprised of 90 parent-child dyads (parent M age = 42, 90% female, 83.3% White; child M age = 11.51, 51.1% female, 75.6% White) participating in the control group of a randomized controlled trial. All parents had a history of depression. A longitudinal path analysis was conducted to evaluate prospective associations in the multiple mediator model. Results Findings from the current study suggest that parental depressive symptoms are not directly related to the development of parent-child emotional role confusion, but are instead indirectly related through increased interparental conflict observed by youth. Although not identified as significant mediators, guilt induction and positive parenting practices emerged as predictors of emotional role confusion. Lastly, family cohesion did not appear to influence the development of role confusion. Conclusion Findings suggest that parenting behaviors and coparenting relationship quality play important roles in the development of parent-child emotional role confusion, with interparental conflict emerging as the strongest predictor in families with a history of parental depression.

Contributions of parenting quality and coparenting relationship quality to the development of child executive functioning

Executive functioning (EF) skills contribute positively to mental and physical health across the lifespan. High-quality parenting is associated with better child EF. However, research has largely focused on the contributions of mothers’ parenting and failed to apply a family systems perspective to more comprehensively consider the consequences of parenting quality and coparenting relationship quality for the development of children's EF. This study examined the independent and joint contributions of mothers’ observed parenting, fathers’ observed parenting, and supportive coparenting during infancy to children's attention in toddlerhood (26 months) and aspects of EF (i.e., inhibitory control and impulsivity) at 7.5 years of age. Data came from a study of 166 families who participated in a larger longitudinal study. Assessments were conducted at 9-months postpartum (n=158), 26-months postpartum (n=114), and when children were 7.5 years of age (n=100). Results indicated statistically significant associations between fathers’ parenting quality at 9-months postpartum and greater child inhibitory control at 7.5 years of age. Mothers’ parenting quality at 9-months postpartum was associated with better child attention in toddlerhood. Supportive coparenting was not directly associated with toddler or child EF. However, supportive coparenting moderated the association between fathers’ parenting quality and child impulsivity, such that the adjusted effect of fathers’ parenting on child impulsivity was negative when supportive coparenting was high. Findings highlight the importance of considering the development of child EF within a family systems framework.

Longitudinal relations between coparenting and father engagement in low-income residential and nonresidential father families.

Coparenting relationship quality and father involvement are closely linked but few studies have investigated this relationship using samples of socioeconomically disadvantaged families. The current study used family systems theory to examine the longitudinal and bidirectional relations between coparenting relationship quality and father engagement in caregiving and play, using a large and racially diverse sample of low-income residential and nonresidential fathers in the Building Strong Families project (N = 1,908). Structural equation modeling tested cross-lagged relations between couple-level coparenting and father engagement at two time points for both residential and nonresidential father families. For residential fathers, positive coparenting at 15 months predicted father engagement in caregiving at 36 months. There was no support for a bidirectional or unidirectional model between coparenting and father engagement in play for either residential or nonresidential fathers. There were significant concurrent relations between coparenting and father engagement in caregiving and play for both residential and nonresidential fathers, providing support for positive spillover in line with family systems theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Parenting, coparenting, and adolescent adjustment in African American single-mother families: An actor-partner interdependence mediation model.

This study examined family processes on the adjustment of adolescents from single-mother households using a dyadic approach. Participants included 107 noncohabiting Black parental dyads of adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. Each parent completed measures of positive parenting, parent-child relationship quality, parental depressive symptoms, coparenting relationship quality, and adolescent adjustment. Data were analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) and extended mediational model (APIMeM) within a structural equation modeling framework. APIM demonstrated significant actor effects from parent-child relationship quality and parental depressive symptoms to both adolescent externalizing and internalizing problems as well as significant partner effects from parent-child relationship quality to adolescent externalizing problems for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, APIMeM revealed significant indirect actor and partner effects from parent-child relationship quality to externalizing behavior through one's own and one's coparent's coparenting relationship quality for both parents. Indirect actor effects were also observed from positive parenting to externalizing behavior through one's own perception of coparenting relationship quality for both parents. Both APIM and APIMeM models found a significant gender difference for the direct effect from positive parenting to externalizing problems. Specifically, the association was negative for mothers in both models; whereas it was nonsignificant (APIM) and positive (APIMeM) for fathers. This study highlights the unique contributions of mother's and father's parent and coparent factors on one's own, and one's coparent's, perception of adolescent adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental Factors as Predictors of Dating Violence Among Latinx Adolescent Mothers.

The purpose of our study was to examine how parental stress and coparenting relationship quality were related to dating violence perpetration and victimization among 114 Latinx adolescent mothers. We hypothesized that higher levels of parental stress and lower coparenting quality would be associated with increased dating violence perpetration and victimization. Prior to running a path analysis to test our hypotheses, we examined how frequently the Latinx adolescent mothers in our sample reported perpetrating at least one act of psychological or physical abuse against their partner in the past month. We found that 84.3% of the mothers in our study had perpetrated at least one act of violence against their partner in the past month and 74.7% reported they had been the victim of at least one act of violence by their partner in the past month. After accounting for frequency of contact with the father of their child, we found Latinx adolescent mothers were more likely to perpetrate abuse against, as well as be the victim of abuse by, their partner if they had a lower quality coparenting relationship. However, parental stress was not associated with dating violence perpetration or victimization after accounting for frequency of contact. Our findings show the importance of the quality of the coparenting relationship, above and beyond parental stress, as a predictor of dating violence victimization and perpetration, thus highlighting the importance of educating adolescent parents about how to navigate the coparenting relationship.

Foster Caregivers' Marital and Coparenting Relationship Experiences: A Dyadic Perspective

ObjectiveTo explore the associations among foster caregiver husbands' and wives' parenting stress, couple relationship quality, and coparenting relationship quality.BackgroundLittle empirical attention has been given to examining the relationship experiences of foster caregivers. The present study was designed to examine how parenting stress of foster caregivers is associated with husbands' and wives' perceptions of their marital and coparenting relationships.MethodUsing an actor–partner interdependence model, we analyzed data from a sample of 96 heterosexually married couples who were active foster caregivers from three larger studies from a single state.ResultsBoth husbands' and wives' parenting stress were associated with their own and their partner's perceptions of their marital and coparenting relationship, but marital relationship quality was only associated with their own coparenting relationship quality (i.e., actor effects). Husbands' perceptions of the marital relationship mediated the relationship between both husbands' and wives' parenting stress and husbands' coparenting relationship quality.ConclusionResults suggest that foster caregiver husbands' and wives' parenting stresses have unique impacts on how they and their partner perceive their marital and coparenting relationships.ImplicationsChild welfare professionals who work with foster caregivers may provide resources and support to reduce the parenting stress caregivers experience, such as providing more access to respite services and healthy relationship and marriage education.