Negative Coparenting Research Articles

Associations between parents’ adult attachment, Co-parenting and parent-child relationships: an actor-partner interdependence model

ABSTRACT This study used the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to examine how parents’ adult attachment influences their their own and the partners’ co-parenting and parent-child relationships. Participants were from a cross-sectional sample of 1313 Chinese heterosexual married couples (fathers’ Mage = 39.74, SD = 5.61; mothers’ Mage = 37.55, SD = 5.04) whose biological children were pupils (Mage = 10.25, SD = 2.35). Results revealed that: (a) Couple members’ actor effects from adult attachment avoidance to positive and negative co-parenting and parent-child closeness and conflict were found both significant; (b) The actor effects from adult attachment anxiety to negative co-parenting and parent-child conflict were found significant, whereas only partner effect from attachment avoidance to positive co-parenting and from attachment anxiety to parent-child conflict were significant. The results highlight the negative effects of parents’ attachment avoidance and anxiety on their partners’ parenting function.

Negative Co-Parenting and Children's Adjustment: The Role of Children's Appraisals and Triangulation

Existing literature has outlined how negative co-parenting could affect children's ad-justment through children's subjective appraisals and triangulation. However, no stud-ies have investigated whether children's cognitive appraisals and two distinct forms of children's triangulation (feelings and involvement) could be serial mediators of the associations between negative co-parenting and children's adjustment. Mediation analyses were performed using a sample of 125 Italian families of children aged 8-14. Results showed that negative co-parenting was linked to children's threat and self-blame appraisals. Data also suggested how both children's subjective appraisals (threat and self-blame) were associated with the two forms of children's triangulation (direct involvement and subjective triangulation). Finally, the results indicated two specific pathways for the serial mediation of children's cognitive appraisals and triangulation in the association between negative co-parenting and children's adjustment. On the one hand, subjective triangulation predicts children's internalizing behaviors. On the other hand, triangulation involvement promotes children's externalizing behaviors. .

Satisfaction with parental responsibilities and disorganized attachment among infants of mothers at risk for depression.

Growing attention has been placed on examining the family environment as antecedent of attachment, including the coparenting relationship. Parents' satisfaction with the coparenting relationship may be particularly of interest when parents are at heightened risk for depression, as depression has been consistently linked to negative coparenting, poor quality of parenting, and insecure infant attachment. However, no study has examined the effects of parents' satisfaction with the coparenting relationship on attachment. The present study examined mothers' satisfaction with division of childrearing responsibilities, a component of coparenting, and its longitudinal and cross-sectional links with infant disorganized attachment, examining the quality of mothering as a mediator, in a sample of infants and mothers at elevated risk for depression (N = 234). We assessed maternal depressive symptoms at 3, 6, and 12 months of infant age, mothers' satisfaction with the division of parental responsibilities at 3 and 12 months, the quality of mothering at 6 and 12 months, and infant disorganized attachment at 12 months. Mediation analyses revealed that at 12 months, mothers who were unsatisfied with fathers' childrearing responsibilities had poorer quality of mothering, which in turn was linked to disorganized attachment in their infants. However, the longitudinal indirect association between satisfaction with childrearing responsibilities at 3 months and disorganization at 12 months mediated by maternal parenting at 6 months was not significant. Findings emphasize the importance of partner support in childrearing for mothers at risk for depression in shaping a healthy relationship between mothers and their infants, particularly as infants get older. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Is lower fetal heart rate variability a susceptibility marker to the impact of negative coparenting on infant regulatory capacity?

Lower fetal heart rate variability (FHRV) may be a prenatal endophenotypic susceptibility marker and increase the impact of both positive and negative coparenting on infant regulatory capacity. This study analyzed the moderator role of FHRV in the association between positive and negative coparenting and infant regulatory capacity at 3 months. The sample comprised 86 first-born infants and their mothers and fathers recruited at a public Health Service in Northern Portugal. FHRV was recorded during routine cardiotocography examination at the third trimester of gestation. Mothers and fathers reported on coparenting and infant regulatory capacity at 2 weeks and 3 months postpartum. FHRV moderated the association between mother's and father's negative coparenting at 2 weeks postpartum and infant regulatory capacity at three months. Infants with low FHRV presented higher regulatory capacity when mothers or fathers reported less negative coparenting, while lower regulatory capacity when mothers or fathers reported more negative coparenting, than infants with high FHRV. Findings suggested lower FHRV as a prenatal endophenotypic susceptibility marker that increases the impact of negative coparenting on infant regulatory capacity.

Positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic can buffer regulatory problems in infants facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coparenting can be a development-enhancing or risk-promoting environment for infant regulatory capacity, mainly in the presence of adversity. This study aimed to analyze the association between positive and negative coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic and infant regulatory capacity in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, an adverse condition. A sample of 71 first-born infants and their mothers and fathers from a longitudinal cohort in Portugal were assessed at 2weeks postpartum before the COVID-19 pandemic and again at 6months postpartum, before (n=35) or during the COVID-19 pandemic (n=36). Parents completed measures of positive and negative coparenting and infant regulatory capacity in both assessment waves. Results revealed that the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic moderates the association between mothers' and fathers' positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic and infant regulatory capacity at 6months. The association between positive coparenting and regulatory capacity was stronger in infants facing the COVID-19 pandemic, than in infants who did not face the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic may be a development-enhancing environment for infant regulatory capacity in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive coparenting may buffer regulatory problems in infants facing adverse conditions.

The relationship between parental mental health, reflective functioning coparenting and social emotional development in 0-3 year old children.

The transition to parenthood is a high-risk period for many parents and is an important period for child development. Research has identified that parental mental health, reflective functioning (capacity to consider mental states of oneself and others) and coparenting (capacity to work together well as a parenting team) may be particularly significant predictors of later child outcomes, however these factors have seldom been considered together. The present study therefore aimed to investigate the relationship between these factors and the extent to which they predict child social emotional development. Three hundred and fifty parents of infants aged 0 to 3 years 11 months were recruited to complete an online Qualtrics questionnaire. Results indicate that both positive coparenting and parental reflective functioning (Pre-mentalizing and Certainty subscales) were found to significantly predict child development. General reflective functioning (Uncertainty subscale) predicted parental depression and anxiety, however unexpectedly, parental mental health was not a significant predictor of child development, but did predict coparenting. General reflective functioning (Certainty subscale) was also found to predict coparenting, which in turn was found to predict parental reflective functioning. We found an indirect effect of general reflective functioning (Certainty) on child SE development via parental reflective functioning (Pre-mentalizing). We also found an indirect effect of negative coparenting on child development via parental reflective functioning (Pre-mentalizing). The current results support a growing body of research highlighting the important role reflective functioning plays in child development and wellbeing as well as parental mental health and the interparental relationship.

Coparenting change after couple therapy using self-reports and observational data.

Parent couples are involved in a coparenting bond and in a romantic relationship. Research on couple therapy has mainly explored the impact of couple therapy on romantic relationships;however, little is known about how couple therapy affects the coparenting relationship. Self-reports of positive and negative coparenting and observed emotional behavior in coparenting-related conversation tasks were assessed pre- and posttherapy (6 months intervals) in 64 mixed-sex parental couples. Results showed that mothers and fathers reported more positive coparenting after therapy. There were no significant changes in the reported negative coparentingand in the emotional behavior. Exploratory analyses indicated gender differences in emotional expression. The findings suggest that fathers might have been more active in the coparenting conversation after therapy.

Daily implementation of health-protective behaviors and family life during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated the use of health-protective behaviors (HPB), such as social distancing, staying at home, frequent handwashing, and wearing facemasks to mitigate the transmission of disease. An investigation of interpersonal costs associated with the use of HPB can help inform strategies to promote their sustained implementation. This study examined the daily associations between the implementation of HPB and family functioning and assessed moderation by coparenting quality, economic strain, and the number of days that state-level stay-at-home policies had been in effect, during the early days of the pandemic. Mothers and fathers from 155 families with children who were 9 years old, on average, completed daily reports of HPB, parental stress, and family relationship quality over eight consecutive days in April or May of 2020. Hierarchal linear models showed that HPB was associated with increased levels of parental stress and interparental conflict. Negative coparenting relations exacerbated the next-day association between HPB and interparental conflict. HPB was also associated with increased levels of parent-child and interparental closeness, but these linkages dissipated for families who had spent more days under state-level stay-at-home policies. Although crucial for public health, the implementation of HPB may have detrimental short-term effects on daily family life. Family support and interventions are necessary to minimize the psychosocial burden of these important public health measures and increase their sustained adherence.

Pathways Among Negative Co-parenting, Parenting Stress, Authoritarian Parenting Style, and Child Adjustment: The Emotional Dysregulation Driven Model

Pathways Among Negative Co-parenting, Parenting Stress, Authoritarian Parenting Style, and Child Adjustment: The Emotional Dysregulation Driven Model

Infant sleep arrangements, infant-parent sleep, and parenting during the first six months post-partum

The present study of 124 families examined linkages between patterns of sleep arrangement use across the first 6 months post-partum and (a) family socio-demographics, (b) nighttime sleep of infants, mothers, and fathers, and (c) coparenting distress, and mothers’ emotional availability with infants and bedtime. Families were recruited when infants were 1-month-old, and infants were classified, from video data available at 3 and 6 months post-partum, into one of three sleep arrangement pattern groups: Solitary sleep, cosleeping, and cosleeping (at 3 months)-to-solitary sleep (at 6 months). Mothers in cosleeping arrangements were more likely to be at higher socioeconomic risk, non-White, unemployed, and to have completed fewer years of education. Controlling for these variables and for duration of breast feeding and parental depressive and anxiety symptoms, subsequent 3 (sleep arrangement pattern) X 2 (infant age: 3 and 6 months) mixed-model analyses of covariance revealed that sleep arrangement patterns were more robustly linked with maternal sleep than with infant and father sleep. Mothers in cosleeping arrangements experienced more fragmented sleep and greater variability in fragmented sleep relative to mothers of infants in solitary sleep, and fathers in cosleeping arrangements showed greater variability across the week in the number of minutes of nighttime sleep. Cosleeping was associated with mother reports of less positive and more negative coparenting, and mothers in cosleeping arrangements were independently observed to be less emotionally available with their infants at bedtime compared to mothers in the other two sleep arrangement groups. These linkages were largely upheld after statistically controlling for mothers’ stated preference for sleep arrangements they were using.

When not teaming up puts parents at risk: Coparenting and parental burnout in dual-parent heterosexual families in Switzerland.

Parental burnout refers to loss of energy and pleasure in the parental role. It is predictive of psychopathological outcomes in parents and dysfunctional parenting behaviors. Support of parental duties is central to alleviation of parental burden and prevention of burnout. Coparenting is the concept related to interparental mutual support in rearing a child. However, the links between coparenting and parental burnout have yet to be assessed. We thus aimed in this study to assess which dimensions of coparenting are linked with parental burnout. A total of 306 participants from the French-speaking part of Switzerland (120 fathers, 186mothers) completed online questionnaires about parental burnout, their coparental relationship, and sociodemographic characteristics. We performed hierarchical regressions, entering sociodemographic characteristics in a first block and coparenting dimensions in a second block. Results showed that (i) a higher number of children and having younger children are linked to higher burnout; (ii) coparenting exposure to conflict is related to higher burnout, whereas endorsement of the partner's parenting is related to lower burnout; and (iii) no interaction effect occurs between sociodemographic characteristics and coparenting variables. Coparenting thus significantly contributes to the occurrence of burnout syndrome. Working on the coparental relationship preventively in parental educational programs or at a relational systemic level in therapy may help prevent burnout. Treating one parent only may not be sufficient to alleviate burnout, as negative coparenting could counter the effect of individual therapy.

Quality of coparenting and infant-mother attachment: The mediating role of maternal emotional availability.

Increasing attention has been paid to the influence of family contextual factors in predicting infant attachment security. However, little is known about the influence of coparenting quality on attachment. The goal of the present study was to examine the associations among parental perceptions of coparenting quality, quality of mothering (as indexed by maternal emotional availability), and infant-mother attachment. Parental reports of positive and negative coparenting quality, maternal emotional availability, and infant-mother attachment were assessed in 152 infants and their parents at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postpartum. Direct and indirect effects were assessed within a structural equation modeling framework to examine: (a) direct effects of mother-reported coparenting on infant-mother attachment, (b) indirect effects of mother-reported coparenting on infant-mother attachment through maternal emotional availability, and (c) indirect effects of father-reported coparenting on infant-mother attachment through maternal emotional availability. Results indicated that there was an indirect, but not direct, association between mother-reported coparenting quality across the first year of life and infant-mother attachment at 1 year through maternal emotional availability across the first year. Father-reported coparenting across infants' first year was not associated with infant-mother attachment at 1 year. Post hoc analyses revealed that mothers' perceptions of coparenting at 1 month were indirectly linked to attachment at 1 year through maternal emotional availability across the first year. Findings highlight the importance of coparenting quality, especially in the early postpartum, in organizing quality of parenting and infant attachment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Parenting Styles, Coparenting, and Early Child Adjustment in Separated Families with Child Physical Custody Processes Ongoing in Family Court.

Coparenting conflict and triangulation after separation or divorce are associated with poorer child adjustment when parenting gatekeeping and conflict occur. Fewer studies reported psychosocial adjustment of children under three. We explored the effects of authoritarian and permissive parenting styles and negative coparenting on child adjustment in a purpose sample of 207 Portuguese newly separated/divorced parents (50.2% mothers/49.8% fathers) with sole or joint (49.8%/50.2%) physical custody processes ongoing in court. Parents filled out the Parenting Styles Questionnaire—Parents’ report, the Coparenting Questionnaire, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Parenting and coparenting moderations path analysis to predict child adjustment were tested for two groups (2/3-year-old child/>3-year-old-child) and showed a good fit, followed by multigroup path analysis with similarities. Findings suggest harsh parenting and interparental conflict and triangulation as predictors for poor early child adjustment. The ongoing custody process could contribute to increased interparental conflict. The families’ unique functioning, parenting, and conflict should be considered in young children custody decisions made in a particularly stressful period when the parental responsibilities’ process is still ongoing and conflict may increase to serve the best interest of the child and promote healthy development. Future directions and practical implications are discussed.

Importance of Self‐Esteem for the Parental Couple: Testing for Actor and Partner Effects

ObjectiveThis study investigated the actor and partner effects of self‐esteem on the quality of the parental couple relationships: the romantic relationship and the coparental relationship. The mediating role of romantic quality also was considered.BackgroundPrevious findings suggest that self‐esteem affects the quality of the romantic relationship. Yet few studies have focused on self‐esteem in the parental couple or explored self‐esteem related to the coparental relationship, both of which play a significant role in the nature of the family unit.MethodUsing data from two independent samples (including 2,549 couples), actor–partner interdependence models were tested to analyze the effects of self‐esteem on both relationships of the parental couple.ResultsParents with high self‐esteem reported higher romantic quality, as did their partner. Self‐esteem also showed actor and partner effects on negative coparenting. Accordingly, parents with high self‐esteem reported fewer conflicts about the child and fewer undermining behaviors. In contrast, the link between self‐esteem and positive coparenting received little support. However, when mothers had high self‐esteem, they engaged more frequently in positive coparental behaviors, such as including the father. Finally, romantic relationship quality mediated the actor and partner effects of self‐esteem on negative coparenting.ConclusionHaving high self‐esteem appears to be a couple resource with beneficial effects for both parents.ImplicationsImproving parents' self‐esteem could be an important gateway for enhancing the functioning of families with romantic and coparental difficulties.

The Importance of Biological Parent Coparenting in an American Indian Stepfamily Context

Abstract A number of protective factors associated with being American Indian exist; however, research shows that American Indians tend to experience higher rates of depressive symptoms than individuals of other racial or ethnic groups. Although prior research has examined sociocultural predictors of American Indian depression, less is known about the influence of familial functioning. This is particularly true for American Indian emerging adults who grew up in stepfamilies. This study examined retrospective data from 203 American Indians raised in stepfamilies on whether perceived coparenting between biological parents (post-stepfamily formation) was related to depression in emerging adulthood. Combining graded response and structural equation modeling, authors found that retrospectively perceived negative coparenting behaviors were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Findings elucidate a particular risk for American Indians who perceive that their biological parents engage in poor coparenting behaviors post–stepfamily formation. Findings also encourage further research that examines associations between stepfamily functioning and mental health outcomes among American Indians.

Coparenting Behavior, Parent-Adolescent Attachment, and Peer Attachment: An Examination of Gender Differences.

Coparenting relationship has been linked to the development and adaptation of adolescents. However, whether and how fathers and mothers' individual behaviors in coparenting relationships are linked to peer outcomes of boys and girls during adolescence have yet to be clarified. The present study addresses this gap in knowledge by examining the relationships among coparenting behavior, parent-adolescent attachment, and peer attachment of adolescents and the gender differences of these relationships. Families (N= 820) that included fathers, mothers, and focal adolescents (53% female, Mage = 13.70 ± 2.51) participated in this study. The fathers and mothers reported their coparenting behavior to their spouse and the adolescents completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. Structure equation modeling in the total sample revealed that maternal positive and paternal negative coparenting behaviors were related to peer attachment through the indirect effects of father- and mother-adolescent attachments. Multi-group analysis revealed that father- and mother-adolescent attachments had strong predicting effects on the peer attachment of offsprings with the same sex. Maternal positive coparenting behavior was related to the peer attachment of boys and girls through the indirect effects of the father- and mother-adolescent attachments. Paternal negative coparenting behavior had a double-edged effect on girls' peer attachment and was not related to boys' peer attachment. This study extended the perspective of a family-peer system linkage by providing evidence that parents' individual behavior in the coparenting process was linked to adolescents' peer outcome. Moreover, this research suggested that encouraging mothers to enhance their positive relationship with fathers and preventing fathers from overtly pursuing conflicts and covertly disparaging mothers may be effective methods to promote adolescents' peer relationships.

Pathways from Marital Conflict, Coparenting, and Parenting Stress to Mothers’ Parenting Efficacy

Objectives The main purpose of this study was to explore pathways from marital conflict, coparenting and parenting stress to mothers’ parenting efficacy. The purpose was achieved by examining marital conflict’s direct and indirect effects (through coparenting and parenting stress) on mothers’ parenting efficacy. Methods The data for the study included 151 mothers of 3- to 4-year-old preschoolers in Seoul. The mothers completed questionnaires on their marital conflict, coparenting, parenting stress and their parenting efficacy. The data were conducted using SPSS 22.0 and SPSS PROCESS MACRO v2.16. Results First, marital conflict had no direct effect on mothers’ parenting efficacy. Second, marital conflict had no indirect effect on mothers’ parenting efficacy through coparenting or parenting stress. Lastly, marital conflict had indirect effect on mothers’ parenting efficacy through coparenting and parenting stress sequentially, which means that mothers who perceived a higher level of marital conflict reported more negative coparenting, and mothers who showed more negative coparenting reported a higher level of parenting stress, which led to a lower level of parenting efficacy. Conclusion The present study confirmed the mediation effects of coparenting and parenting stress in the relations between marital conflict and mothers’ parenting efficacy. Findings of this study especially emphasize the crucial impact of coparenting on parenting stress that affects parenting efficacy directly. Keywords: marital conflict, coparenting, parenting stress, mothers’ parenting efficacy

Relational conflict and outcomes from an online divorce education program

The impact of conflict on co-parenting outcomes of divorce education programs is not widely explored in the literature despite the prevalence of conflict in divorce. This study used outcome data from a sample of participants (N=272) who took the online Parents Forever™ course between 2012 and 2014. Participants were asked questions about positive and negative co-parenting behaviors as well their levels of conflict before and after the divorce or separation. There was on average a slight increase in conflict from post to follow-up (M=−0.397, SD=1.54). Simple linear regression analyses indicated that change in conflict explained a significant proportion of the variance in positive co-parenting scores, R2=0.07, F(1, 270)=19.98, p<0.001 and negative co-parenting scores, R2=0.08, F(1, 270)=23.78, p<0.001. Results suggest that conflict significantly impacts co-parenting behaviors targeted in the Parents Forever ™ course.

Factors associated with negative co-parenting experiences in families of a child with autism spectrum disorder

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify key factors associated with negative co-parenting experiences in parents raising a child with autism spectrum disorder. Methods: Questionnaires were sent to families with one or more children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Parents of 142 children with autism spectrum disorder indicated that the diagnosis had a very negative impact on their co-parent relationship. A multivariate logistic regression model was run to analyze the association of these experiences with various demographic, family and community factors. Results: Three factors were associated with negative co-parenting relationships: (1) family stress due to the child’s diagnosis, (2) effects of the diagnosis on parents’ relationship with their other children and (3) distance travelled to the nearest medical facility. Conclusions: Findings highlight the need to further explore family dynamics, particularly the relationships between the co-parenting alliance, other family members and the extra-familial environment.

Links between mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of infant temperament and coparenting

This study examined the contributions of infant temperament, marital functioning, and the division of parenting on the quality of the coparenting relationship for couples parenting 6-month-old infants. Marital functioning was assessed prenatally. When infants were 6 months old, infant temperamental characteristics (i.e., distress to limits, distress to novelty, and soothability), division of parenting, and coparenting were rated by parents. Results indicated that the reactivity dimension of temperament was only associated with reduced coparenting quality if other stressors were present and these effects were different for mothers and fathers. Mothers who perceived their infants as more reactive only reported more negative coparenting if their infants were also not easily soothed or if mothers were dissatisfied with how parenting tasks were divided and performed given their prior expectations. Whereas fathers reported more negative coparenting when faced with a more reactive infant and they reported a low quality marital relationship.