Coparenting and Child Outcomes in Families of Children Previously Identified With Developmental Delay

Mothers' Perceived Co-Parenting and Preschooler's Problem Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Maternal Parenting Stress and the Moderating Role of Family Resilience

Introduction

Problem behaviors in preschoolers signals social adjustment challenges. This study investigates the mediating role of parenting stress in the relationship between co-parenting and these behaviors, and examines how family resilience impacts this dynamic.

Methods

A detailed survey was conducted with 1279 mothers of 3-6-year-olds in Shanghai, China, focusing on co-parenting, family resilience, parenting stress, and children's behaviors. We employed SPSS 26 for initial tests and the Hayes PROCESS macro in SPSS 23.0 for advanced analysis, using bootstrap methods to assess mediation and moderation effects.

Results

The analysis revealed that maternal parenting stress mediates the relationship between co-parenting and children's problem behaviors. Specifically, unsupportive co-parenting or low levels of supportive co-parenting heightened maternal stress, which in turn increased children's problem behaviors. Family resilience was found to moderate this relationship, buffering the impact of unsupportive co-parenting on maternal stress. High family resilience levels were associated with lower parenting stress, regardless of co-parenting quality.

Conclusion

These findings highlight the importance of enhancing family resilience and supportive co-parenting to mitigate parenting stress and reduce problem behaviors in children. It has practical implications for developing family-centred interventions and policies to strengthen family resilience and co-parenting skills.

Romantic relationship satisfaction and coparenting quality in families with children previously diagnosed with developmental delay

Children with developmental delay (DD) are at increased risk for behavioral difficulties. Past research has indicated that behavioral problems can interact with other parental difficulties in families of children with DD. To date, no research has explored the moderating role of marital satisfaction in the relationship between child behavioral difficulties and coparenting quality in families of children with DD. The purpose of this study was to undertake such an examination in a sample of 56 families with school-aged children previously identified with DD. To test the hypothesis that marital satisfaction moderates the relation between child behavior problems and coparenting disagreement, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted for mothers and fathers, respectively. Results demonstrated child problem behaviors predicted coparenting problems for fathers only, and that child problem behaviors interacted with marital satisfaction to predict coparenting difficulties for fathers but not mothers. Findings suggest that marital satisfaction may attenuate the effects of behavior problems on the coparenting relationship for fathers. Study implications and future directions are discussed.