Usefulness of the coparenting construct in studies of parents of a child with a disability

Abstract

The aim of the article is to discuss the potential importance of the coparenting construct in learning about the essence of specific problems in the field of psychosocial functioning of families with a disabled child. Coparenting is a complex construct whose theoretical and empirical usefulness has been proven in many studies involving parents of non-disabled children. Coparenting describes how parents coordinate their shared responsibility for raising their children by supporting or undermining each other's parenting efforts. There are several theoretical propositions explaining its essence and context. This paper presents the basic assumptions of coparenting based on M. Feinberg's model. Selected trends illustrating its significance for the quality of marital life as well as for the development and functioning of children at different ages are shown. The authors present the results of current studies illustrating the role of coparenting in analyzing the situation of families with a disabled child. The authors also identify categories of issues in which the co-parenting analysis can provide important explanations, including the involvement of fathers or parental adaptation to life with a child with a disability. Some difficulties that may accompany implementing research using the construct are highlighted.