When Father Steps Forward and Mother Steps Back: The Moderating Role of Simultaneity in Parents' Coparenting Behaviors in the Development of Anxiety in 4‐ to 30‐Month‐Olds

Abstract

Infant negative affectivity predicts child anxiety. Coparenting might influence the development of anxiety by weakening this association in the case of supportive coparenting, or by strengthening this association in the case of undermining coparenting. Parents can display coparenting behaviors simultaneously (both parents being supportive or undermining), or divergently (only one parent being supportive or undermining). In our longitudinal study, we investigated whether coparenting moderated the relation between infant negative affectivity at 4 months and child anxiety symptoms 2 years later. Hundred-sixteen couples dressed up their firstborn infants in a clothes-changing task. We coded cooperative, mutual, neutral, and competitive coparenting behaviors. Both parents rated infant negative affectivity and child anxiety symptoms. Infant negative affectivity significantly predicted child anxiety. This association was moderated by parents' divergent cooperative coparenting: It was stronger when mothers were cooperative while fathers were neutral, and weaker when fathers were cooperative while mothers were neutral. When fathers step forward (i.e., being cooperative) and mothers step back (i.e., leaving space), they may protect their at-risk child from developing anxiety.Relationships are crucial determinants of child development: positive mother-child and positive father-child relationships predict less child internalizing and externalizing problems (e.g., Colonnesi et al

Mediating and moderating links between coparenting, parental mentalization, parents’ anxiety, and children’s behavior problems.

“…As predicted, and in accordance with family systems theory as well as previous research (e.g., Metz et al, 2018), parental anxiety was linked with outcomes for the child not only directly, but also indirectly, through the mediation of perceived coparenting. Specifically, anxious parents tended to report less support, agreement, and closeness and more competition and undermining in the coparenting relationship, which, in turn, was related to more reports about the child's externalizing and internalizing behavior.…”

“…Coparenting is also suggested as a mediator within the family system, linking the parents' characteristics, such as parental psychopathology and children's outcomes. For example, greater parental anxiety is also related to poorer coparenting relationships, which, in turn, are associated with more fearful temperaments in children (Metz, Colonnesi, Majdandžic ´, & Bögels, 2018).…”

Paternal Anxiety in Relation to Toddler Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Maternal Behavior

“…First, O’Brien and colleagues (2009) found that the strength of marital relationship predicts the degree to which one partner is able to empathetically respond to the needs of the other partner [58]. Though the present investigation did not consider factors that may impact the ability of one partner to cope with the stress of the other, it is likely that such broader family factors influence parenting behaviors [41, 42]. For example, children may be particularly at risk for developing anxiety when their parents are unable to adequately support and adapt to each other’s stress.…”

“…It is likely that fathers and mothers influence each other’s parenting in specific ways that ultimately impact child anxiety development [41]. Several investigations have examined the role of broader family factors including co-parenting and parental support and suggest that general family cohesiveness serves a protective function between environmental risk factors and future anxiety symptoms in children [41, 42]. It is therefore crucial to understand the interdependence between mother and father behaviors when examining developmental processes within families.…”

Coparenting Alleviated the Effect of Psychological Distress on Parental Psychological Flexibility

“…As the executive subsystem of the family, coparenting reflects mutual support and coordinate between husband and wife in their roles as parents (Feinberg et al, 2016). Coparenting has been demonstrated to be closely related to family function, parental rearing patterns, and child development (Metz et al, 2018a). Schoppe-Sullivan et al (2016) reported that mothers' perceptions of stronger supportive coparenting were associated with less parenting stress when parenting self-efficacy was low.…”