The intersection between alexithymia, testosterone reactivity, and coparenting in fathers predicts child's prosocial behavior.

The development of prosocial skills in children is a key predictor of long-term social, cognitive, and emotional functioning. However, the role of fathers' psychological characteristics in fostering prosocial development, including during the prenatal period, and the mechanisms underlying their influence, remain relatively unexplored. This study aimed to examine whether a higher tendency of alexithymia, a difficulty to identify and verbalize emotions, in expectant fathers predicts prosocial behavior of two-year-old toddlers through the quality of coparenting and whether greater testosterone increase during a stressful parenting task moderates this indirect effect. A sample of 105 couples and their children was tracked longitudinally starting from the third trimester of pregnancy (T1), at three months (T2), and at two years postnatally (T3). Using self-report questionnaires, fathers reported on alexithymia (T1) and mothers and fathers reported on coparenting quality (T2). Additionally, fathers provided saliva samples before and after engaging in a stressful parenting task (the Inconsolable Doll Task) to measure testosterone reactivity (T1). Children's prosocial behavior was observed during an out-of-reach task (T3). A moderated mediation analysis using structural equation modeling showed that higher levels of alexithymia pre-birth predicted lower coparenting quality three months after birth, which in turn predicted lower prosocial behavior of two-year-old children, but only among fathers with mean or high testosterone increases. This study illuminates a potential mechanism by which fathers' alexithymia and testosterone reactivity forecast their toddlers' prosocial behavior.

Food parenting and Children's eating behaviour: Exploring the role of coparenting.

Parents have primary influence over the development of their children's eating behaviours, however less attention has been given to whether or how their coparenting plays a role in this association. The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional associations between mothers' and fathers' food parenting practices and children's eating behaviour and examine whether coparenting quality moderates or confounds these associations. Parents (222 mothers and 167 fathers) with children 18 months to 5 years completed an online survey that assessed their food parenting practices and coparenting quality. One parent per family (91% mothers) also reported their children's food approach behaviours. We used linear regressions with generalized estimating equations to examine the associations between food parenting practices and children's eating behaviours. To explore moderation by coparenting quality, we included an interaction term in each model (coparenting quality x food parenting practice). To explore confounding, models were adjusted for coparenting quality. All models were stratified by parent gender and included parent educational attainment, child age, and child BMI z-scores as covariates. Among both mothers and fathers, we found that structure and autonomy support food parenting practices were inversely associated with children's food responsiveness, and desire to drink, while coercive control practices were positively associated with these food approach behaviours. We found the opposite direction of association between these food parenting practices and children's enjoyment of food. Among mothers, autonomy support was inversely associated with children's emotional overeating, while coercive control was positively associated with this eating behaviour. Coparenting quality did not moderate or confound the associations. Future studies should continue to explore these associations among families with young children and consider feeding coparenting in the association.

Cooperative coparenting and the associations with adolescent behavioral problems and delinquency in unmarried families.

INTRODUCTION: Coparenting in unmarried families is a protective factor for positive adolescent adjustment. Although the relations between coparenting and adolescent outcomes have been investigated, it remains unclear whether the specific patterns of maternal and paternal coparenting are associated with adolescent behavioral outcomes. METHODS: The present study includs a longitudinal cohort of 1143 triads of unmarried parents and their adolescents to examine the associations between different patterns of coparenting and adolescent behavioral problems and delinquency. The data were drawn from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study in the United States. Our study used six waves of publicly available data at children's birth, ages 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15. RESULTS: The latent profile analyses identified four coparenting profiles of maternal and paternal coparenting perceived by the other unmarried parent. Comparing average levels of coparenting between mothers and fathers, the profiles were entitled Low Mom-Low Dad, High Mom-Medium Dad, Low Mom-Medium Dad, and High Mom-High Dad. Parents characteristics, such as cohabitation and marital status, predicted the likelihood of being in cooperative coparenting profiles. Furthermore, all the identified coparenting profiles predicted adolescent externalizing behavioral problems; only the high mom cooperative coparenting profiles predicted adolescent internalizing behavioral problems; none of the coparenting profiles predicted adolescent delinquency. CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds empirical evidence for coparenting research by revealing that coparenting patterns vary in unmarried families and that cooperative coparenting benefits child behavioral outcomes. The findings encourage introducing different coparenting training programs targeting unmarried parents' diverse needs, thus promoting positive adolescent adjustment.

Development and psychometric evaluation of a new domain-specific coparenting measure: Coparenting Children's Emotion Scale.

Caregivers play an integral role in supporting children's development, not only through their individual parenting practices but also how they work together as coparents. The literature on coparenting is extensive; however, most of the research has relied on global measures to assess the quality and functioning of the coparenting relationship. Examining the coparenting relationship with domain-specific measures enables a deeper understanding of this complex family process. One domain of particular interest is emotion socialization given the vast and long-term consequences emotion socialization has on children's emotional, social, behavioral, and psychological functioning. Emotion socialization literature would benefit from a domain-specific coparenting measure, as researchers have rarely explored how coparents work together when responding to their children's emotions (i.e., coparenting children's emotions). As such, an emotion-focused coparenting measure could address gaps in both coparenting and emotion socialization literature. This study outlines the development and psychometric evaluation of a domain-specific measure of coparenting, the Coparenting Children's Emotion Scale (CCES), which assesses how parents work together when responding to their children's emotions. In the current study, the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the CCES were examined in an Australian sample. Findings from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the CCES comprises two subscales that capture coparents' levels of support/cooperation and undermining. In the current sample, both CCES subscales demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency, and good convergent and concurrent validity. The CCES will provide researchers and practitioners with a domain-specific measure to use in exploratory and intervention research.

The indirect impact of infant negative emotionality on interparental conflict via perceptions of coparenting challenges: What prenatal resources mitigate this risk?

Research clearly demonstrates that conflictual interparental relationship dynamics can create a family context that contributes to child emotional insecurity and psychopathology. Significantly less research has examined familial factors that contribute to maladaptive conflict between parents. Scholars have alluded to the disruptive impacts of parenting a child with certain temperamental characteristics (e.g., negative emotionality). Yet, there is a lack of empirical research examining if and how child temperament contributes to later interparental conflict. Using an established multi-informant, multi-method sample of 150 families first assessed during pregnancy, and again when the child was 1, 2, and 3.5 years of age, the present study aimed to test an integrated conceptual model examining whether infants' negative emotionality assessed at age 1 predicts interparental conflict at age 3.5, as mediated through destructive coparenting dynamics in toddlerhood, and identifying prenatal protective factors mitigating this maladaptive pathway. Findings suggest that greater infant negative emotionality predicts worse interparental conflict management during preschool age by undermining the mother's (but not the father's) report of coparenting relationship quality during toddlerhood. However, these results were significant only to the extent that parents were lacking certain prenatal regulatory resources (i.e., low paternal self-compassion; less secure relationship between parents). Importantly, results point to the need for intervention and prevention efforts during pregnancy that might disrupt the deleterious impacts of parenting a child who is more reactive and prone to expressing negative emotions.

The Co-Parenting Across Family Structures Scale: Replication for Mandarin parents.

Co-parenting, the undertaking of parents working together to raise their children, is well documented as an important consideration of children's adjustment in Western countries, but we know less about the role of co-parenting in other cultures. In China, for example, co-parenting has only recently emerged in the social science literature. This study aimed to examine the cultural sensitivity of the CoPAFS instrument among Chinese Mandarin-speaking parents. CoPAFS is a 27-item survey designed to assess co-parenting across married and unmarried family structures originally developed in English. Data were collected from 729 Chinese-speaking and 348 English-speaking respondents. Factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the overall model fit for the translated co-parenting measure was acceptable in Mandarin. However, the five CoPAFS subscales (trust, respect, communication, acrimony, and value) differed across comparison groups, with communication notable for its lack of endorsement among Chinese couples. Implications of measuring co-parenting within Chinese families are offered.

Coparenting as a mediator between physical custody arrangements and children's mental health.

The detrimental effects of parental break-up on children's mental health are well-documented. However, research has also shown that children living in joint physical custody (JPC) arrangements often fare better than children living in sole physical custody (SPC) arrangements. Thus, the question arises: What are the differences between JPC and SPC that account for those results? Drawing on data from the Family Models in Germany (FAMOD) study conducted in 2019, structural equation models (SEM) were estimated to deduct the mediating role of coparenting support in children's mental health in 465 JPC and 652 SPC families with children aged 2-14. The findings suggest that the better mental health observed among children in JPC families than among children in SPC families was fully mediated by coparenting support. However, this held true only for internalizing and externalizing behavior, but not for prosocial behavior as no differences between JPC and SPC were found for this dimension. The findings affirm the importance of supportive coparenting for children's well-being after family dissolution in both SPC and JPC arrangements. After breaking up, parents should be supported in their parental engagement through coparenting counseling or psychoeducation classes.

Coparenting as a family-level construct: Parent and child inputs across the first two years.

This study examined the effects of infant negative affectivity (NA) and maternal and paternal depressive symptoms on fathers' and mothers' perceptions of coparenting across the first 2 years following an infant's birth. A total of 147 two-parent families (most couples were White, married, and living together) with healthy, full-term infants were recruited. At each time point, fathers and mothers separately reported their coparenting perceptions via the Coparenting Relationship Scale and their depressive symptoms using the depression subscale of Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Mothers also reported their children's NA via the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised at 3 to 12 months and the Early Child Behavior Questionnaire at 18 and 24 months. Findings from growth curve models in an actor-partner interdependence model framework suggested that among parents with higher depression, there were steeper declines in coparenting quality reported by parents and their spouses across 3-24 months. In addition, three separate two-way interactions between variables including higher-than-usual parental and spousal depression, as well as higher-than-usual infant NA predicted poorer-than-usual coparenting experiences. Findings indicate that coparenting is a dynamically unfolding construct that is impacted by ongoing changes in the parents' social-ecological niche and suggest the need to consider both parent and child characteristics, and to include spousal influences, to get a comprehensive, whole-family understanding of levels and changes in coparenting relationships. The findings also confirm that coparenting dynamics may benefit from interventions engaging both couples and addressing multiple risk factors from both parents (e.g., depression) and children (e.g., NA).

Parenting, Coparenting, and Adolescents' Sense of Autonomy and Belonging After Divorce.

Although there is ample evidence on the importance of experiencing autonomy and belonging for positive adolescent development and the supporting role of parents in this regard, most knowledge stems from intact families. As many youth grow up with divorced parents, this study tested longitudinal links between warm and autonomy supportive parenting and coparental cooperation and conflict on the one hand, and adolescents' post-divorce autonomy and belonging on the other. Data consisted of three-wave self-report data of 191 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 14.36, 61.3% girls) and 227 divorced parents (Mage = 46.08, 74% mothers). Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed stable between-family differences, with autonomy relating positively to coparenting and parental autonomy support, and belongingness associating positively solely with parenting. No significant effects were found within families, meaning that changes in (co)parental behaviors did not predict adolescents' experiences of autonomy and belonging or vice versa.

Development of coparenting during the transition to parenthood: Integrating parents' representations with observed interactions.

The transition to parenthood is a significant period of transformation and adjustment for all members of a new family, reshaping relational dynamics that often endure throughout the initial years of a child's life. This qualitative and longitudinal study aimed to explore coparenting representations held by both partners in a parental couple, along with observations of their family interactions, at three distinct points in time, with the aim to better understand the interaction between these representational and behavioral observations. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 heterosexual, first-time parents in Santiago de Chile, during pregnancy and at two different times during the first year of their child's life. Family interactions were assessed using the Lausanne Trilogue Play task (LTP) on all occasions. Three main coparenting representation categories emerged: traditional, ambiguous, and co-responsible. On observation, approximately half of the couples showed cooperative coparenting interactions, while the other half had conflictual interactions. Couples generally followed stable trajectories over time. Cooperative couples demonstrated co-responsibility and open dialogue, while conflictual couples tended to follow traditional gender roles with tacit communication styles. This study highlights the importance of promoting co-responsibility and dialogue for fostering cooperative relational dynamics during the critical transition to parenthood.

La transición a la paternidad/maternidad es un período significativo de transformación y ajuste para todos los miembros de una nueva familia, dándole nueva forma a las dinámicas de relación que a menudo se sobrellevan a lo largo de los años iniciales de la vida del niño. Este estudio cualitativo y longitudinal se propuso explorar las representaciones en la crianza compartida que tienen ambos miembros de una pareja de padres, junto con observaciones de sus interacciones familiares, en tres puntos distintivos en el tiempo, con el propósito de comprender mejor la interacción entre estas observaciones representacionales y de comportamiento. Se llevaron a cabo entrevistas profundas con 17 padres primerizos, heterosexuales, en Santiago de Chile, durante el embarazo y en dos momentos diferentes durante el primer año de vida de sus niños. Se evaluaron las interacciones de familia usando la tarea del Juego Tripartito de Lausanne (LTP) en todas las ocasiones. Tres principales categorías representacionales de crianza compartida surgieron: tradicional, ambigua y de responsabilidad compartida. Bajo observación, aproximadamente la mitad de las parejas mostró interacciones cooperadoras de crianza compartida, mientras que la otra mitad tuvo interacciones conflictivas. Las parejas generalmente siguieron trayectorias estables a lo largo del tiempo. Las parejas cooperadoras demostraron responsabilidad compartida y diálogo abierto, mientras que las parejas conflictivas tendieron a seguir papeles tradicionales de género con estilo de comunicación tácitos. Este estudio subraya la importancia de promover la responsabilidad compartida y el diálogo para cultivar relaciones dinámicas de cooperación durante la crucial transición a la paternidad/maternidad.

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.

La más baja variabilidad del pulso cardíaco fetal (FHRV) pudiera ser un marcador determinante de la susceptibilidad endofenotípica prenatal y aumentar el impacto de la crianza compartida tanto positiva como negativa sobre la capacidad regulatoria del infante. Este estudio analizó el papel moderador de FHRV en la asociación entre la positiva y negativa crianza compartida y la capacidad regulatoria del infante a los tres meses. El grupo muestra estaba compuesto de 86 infantes primerizos y sus mamás y papás. Se grabó la FHRV durante una examinación de cardiotocografía de rutina en el tercer trimestre de la gestación. Las mamás y los papás reportaron acerca de la crianza compartida y la capacidad regulatoria del infante a las dos semanas y a los tres meses después del parto. La FHRV moderó la asociación entre la crianza compartida negativa de la mamá y del papá a las dos semanas después del parto y la capacidad regulatoria del infante a los tres meses. Los infantes con baja FHRV presentaron una capacidad regulatoria más alta cuando las mamás o los papás reportaron una crianza compartida menos negativa, mientras que la capacidad regulatoria más baja se dio cuando las mamás o los papás reportaron una crianza compartida más negativa, que los infantes con una FHRV alta. Los resultados señalan la más baja FHRV como un marcador determinante de la susceptibilidad endofenotípica prenatal que aumenta el impacto de la crianza compartida negativa sobre la capacidad regulatoria del infante. Los infantes con baja FHRV pueden ser aquellos que mejor desarrollan mecanismos de autorregulación en la presencia de una crianza compartida menos negativa, mientras que están bajo alto riesgo de problemas regulatorios en la presencia de una crianza compartida más negativa.

Une variabilité de la fréquence cardiaque fœtale (VFCF) plus basse pourrait être un marqueur de sensibilité endophénotypique prénatale et augmenter l'impact du coparentage positif et négatif sur la capacité régulatoire du nourrisson. Cette étude a analysé le rôle modérateur de la VFCF dans le lien entre le coparentage positif et négatif et la capacité régulatoire du nourrisson à trois mois. Cet échantillon a inlu 86 nourrisson premiers nés et leurs mères et pères. La VFCF a été enregistrée penfdant un examen de cardiotocographie de routine au troisième trimestre de la grossesse. Les mères et les pères ont fait état de leur coparentage et de la capacité régulatoire du nourrisson à deux semaines et à trois mois postpartum. La VFCF a modéré le lien entre le coparentage négatif de la mère et du père à deux mois postpartum et la capacité régulatoire du nourrisson à trois mois. Les nourrissons avec une VFCF basse ont présenté une capacité régulatoire plus élevée lorsque les mères ou les pères ont signalé moins de coparentage négatif, alors qu'ils ont présenté une capacité régulatoire plus basse lorsque les mères ou les pères ont signalé un coparentage plus négatif, que les nourrissons avec une VFCF élevée. Les résultats ont suggéré une VFCF plus basse comme un marqueur de sensibilité endophénotypique prénatale qui augmente l'impact de coparentage négatif sur la capacité régulatoire du nourrisson. Les enfants avec une VFCF basse peuvent être ceux qui développent mieux leurs mécanismes auto-régulatoires en présence de moins de coparentage négatif, tout en étant à haut risque de problèmes régulatoires en présence de plus de coparentage négatif.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and spousal relationships in natural disaster victims: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after natural disaster can have a detrimental effect on marital relationships, which may be through parenting-related factor. AIMS: The study aimed to examine the mechanism underlying the long-term effects of PTSD symptoms on marital satisfaction via coparenting, and its differences between men and women following the Super Typhoon Lekima. METHODS: Participants were 465 married victims with children. They reported their PTSD, coparenting, and marital satisfaction at three and fifteen months after the tropical cyclone. RESULTS: The results showed that for women, only higher negative cognitive and emotional alterations (NCEA) symptoms were associated with lower marital satisfaction through conflict coparenting. For men, higher intrusion, NCEA, and hyperarousal symptoms were associated with marital satisfaction through different coparenting. To be specific, for men, higher intrusion symptoms were associated with lower marital satisfaction via less reprimand coparenting; higher NCEA symptoms were associated with lower marital satisfaction via less integrity coparenting, and associated with higher marital satisfaction via less conflict coparenting; higher hyperarousal symptoms were associated with lower marital satisfaction via more conflict coparenting. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that the long-term effect of PTSD symptoms on marital satisfaction via coparenting mainly showed for men.

Grappling with tradition: the experiences of cisgender, heterosexual mothers and fathers in elective co-parenting arrangements.

Elective co-parenting families, meaning two (or more parents) who are not in a romantic relationship having a child together, are becoming more common amongst cisgender, heterosexual parents. The study of elective co-parenting families offers researchers a unique opportunity to decouple co-parenting relationships from romantic relationships, but little research to date has explored their experiences. This study explored two research questions: why do individuals decide to enter into elective co-parenting arrangements? And how do they manage their co-parenting arrangement and their relationship with their co-parent? Interview data from 10 elective co-parents (5 mothers and 5 fathers) were analyzed according to the principles of reflexive thematic analysis. Sociological theorisations of family practices, family display and family thinking were utilized to make sense of the data. The results centred around two organizing themes ('Reproducing the traditional family' and 'Modernising the traditional family'), and participants experienced a tension between these two ideas. Participants aimed to manage their co-parenting relationship with shared values and friendship, but defining their relationship was complex and gendered parenting patterns were ubiquitous. Findings add nuance to theorisations of family life and demonstrate that traditional parenthood ideologies remain pervasive, as parents aim to imagine and pursue parenthood on their own terms.

Changes in children's attachment security to mother and father after the birth of a sibling: Risk and resilience in the family.

Changes in children's attachment security to mother and father were examined for 230 firstborn children (M = 31.17 months), their mothers and fathers participating in a longitudinal investigation starting in the last trimester of the mothers' pregnancy and 1, 4, 8, and 12 months after the birth of an infant sibling. Both parents completed the Attachment Q-set at prenatal, 4, and 12 months. Growth mixture models revealed four latent classes in which children's attachments were (a) both secure with a modest decline to both parents (68.3%); (b) more secure with father than mother with a steep decline for both (12.6%); (c) both insecure with no change (10%); and (d) more secure with mother than father with a modest increase for both (9.1%). Multi-group latent growth curve analyses revealed that parenting and coparenting differed across families. Children had lower externalizing behavior problems in families with two secure attachments than in families with one secure attachment, either to mother or to father, who, in turn, had fewer problems than children with two insecure attachments. Findings underscore the strengths of a family systems framework to understand attachment relationships with multiple caregivers and the family risks and protective factors that covary with children's behavioral adjustment after the birth of a sibling.

Coparenting: Associations with parents' psychological distress and children's food approach behavior.

Parents' psychological distress has been associated with their children's obesogenic eating yet less is known about how coparenting moderates this relationship. The aim of the current research was 1) to examine how coparenting (general and feeding) moderates the associations between parents' psychological distress and children's food approach behavior after accounting for parents' coercive control food parenting and 2) to examine whether feeding coparenting interacted with psychological distress to predict children's food approach behavior above and beyond general coparenting. Parents (n = 216; Mage = 36.28 years, SD = 6.12) of 3- to 5- year old children completed an online survey. Analyses revealed that undermining coparenting and feeding coparenting (but not supportive coparenting) moderated the association between parents' psychological distress and children's food approach behavior. Additionally, analyses revealed that feeding coparenting interacted with psychological distress to predict children's food approach behavior above and beyond general coparenting. These findings suggest that less optimal coparenting relationships, particularly feeding coparenting, may exacerbate the influence of parents' psychological distress on obesogenic eating behaviors in children.

Associations between feeding coparenting and food parenting practices: An observational study.

Feeding coparenting, defined as the way that parents work together and support each other in food parenting, is an emerging area of research. Understanding how feeding coparenting may influence the practices parents use when feeding children can help to inform strategies to support positive food parenting. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between observed feeding coparenting and observed food parenting practices among 68 families with children 18 months to 5 years of age. Videos of mealtimes were used to assess observed feeding coparenting and food parenting practices. Observed feeding coparenting was coded using the Observed Feeding Coparenting Tool and observed food parenting practices were coded using the Family Mealtime Coding System. Linear regressions were used to examine associations between observed feeding coparenting and observed food parenting practices. Higher total feeding coparenting scores were associated with less frequent verbal restriction from mothers, more positive comments about food from fathers, and better mealtime tone. Higher supportive feeding was associated with less frequent verbal restrictions from mothers, more frequent physical pressure to eat from fathers, and more positive comments from fathers about food. Higher meal enjoyment among fathers was associated with better mealtime tone. Results of this study highlight the importance of assessing feeding coparenting in studies exploring food parenting and family meals, and the potential value of developing interventions that aim to support parents in working together at mealtime and in feeding.

Asked to be a sperm donor: disclosure dilemmas of gay men living with HIV.

Previous research has documented the various challenges people living with HIV face as they navigate intimate relationships, including what is often referred to as disclosure. In studies of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, the issue of telling or not telling others about an HIV-positive status has been examined primarily in relation to communication with sexual partners, with few studies focusing on other aspects of intimacy. Drawing on interviews with gay men living with HIV, conducted in four clinics in London, this article explores the narratives of men who have been asked by female friends about the possibility of being a sperm donor. The narratives highlight layers of complexity which have received little attention, not only in research on HIV but also in studies of sperm donation and co-parenting. The article advances dialogue between these two largely separate bodies of work. Our data suggest that reluctance to share an HIV-positive status with others can be an important factor in deciding how to answer the 'sperm donor question'. Examining reproductive relationships of a specific kind - those based on friendships between women and gay men - the article develops the understanding of how secrecy about HIV shapes intimate lives.

Midwives and child health nurses' support is associated with positive coparenting for fathers of infants: A cross-sectional analysis.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine if the professional support that fathers received from midwives and child health nurses was associated with improvements in fathers' coparenting. A secondary aim was to investigate if there were any support differences between fathers based on parity. BACKGROUND: Stronger coparenting is associated with improved maternal, paternal and child health. It is unclear if routine prenatal and postnatal professional support is associated with improved coparenting in fathers of infants. DESIGN: Cross-sectional online survey. METHODS: In total, 612 fathers of infants (aged 0-24 months) completed baseline data between November 2018 and March 2020. Socio-demographics, pregnancy control variables, social support, professional support, being invited to attend and attending three specific visits for fathers, respectively, and the fathers' coparenting relationship, using the Brief Coparenting Relationship Scale, were assessed. The STROBE checklist was used as the reporting guideline for this study. RESULTS: Fathers' attendance at child health visits, support from the prenatal and postnatal midwife, respectively, and total support from the child health nurse, are associated with more positive coparenting. Primiparous fathers reported more received social and professional support, as well as a more positive coparenting relationship than multiparous fathers. CONCLUSIONS: Receiving clinical support from both midwives and child health nurses is associated with fathers' positive coparenting. All fathers should be invited and encouraged to attend prenatal, postnatal and child health visits to further support their coparenting relationship. Relative to primiparous fathers, multiparous fathers may require targeted and additional clinical support regarding their coparenting relationship. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: With fathers becoming more involved in childrearing, having stronger coparenting skills can help them better adapt to their parental roles. Our findings help understand how routine professional support from midwives and child health nurses are experienced among new fathers and that multiparous fathers are in further need of coparenting support.

Factors contributing to coparenting quality: characteristics at the individual level and the relational level.

This study aimed to explore how characteristics of parents at the individual level (i.e. anxiety, depression, and psychological resilience) and the relational level (i.e. family functioning) are associated with their coparenting quality in Chinese context. A total of 432 parents whose first child aged 1-18 were recruited to complete online self-measures of anxiety, depression, psychological resilience, family functioning, and coparenting quality. The findings indicated that parents with more anxiety and depression tended to have worse resilience and family functioning, as well as poorer coparenting quality. There were strong correlations between resilience, family functioning, and coparenting quality. Mediation analysis showed that resilience and family functioning partially mediated the link between anxiety and coparenting and fully mediated the link between depression and coparenting. Moreover, family functioning fully carried the impact of resilience on coparenting. These results extended our understanding by demonstrating that resilience and family functioning serve as mediators between negative emotions and coparenting quality. The significant implications for parental practice and research were also discussed.

Maternal and co-parental experiences and satisfaction with a co-parenting breastfeeding eHealth intervention in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal breastfeeding rates are a public health priority. Interventions that include both breastfeeding women and their co-parents can increase breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity. eHealth can be an effective means of designing such interventions, as parents increasingly use the internet to access health information. The objective of this study was to determine maternal and co-parent satisfaction with an eHealth intervention. METHODS: The study was part of a larger randomized controlled trial that took place in Canada between March 2018 and April 2020. Data was collected from mothers (n = 56) and co-parents (n = 47). INTERVENTION: The eHealth intervention group received: 1) continued access to an eHealth breastfeeding co-parenting resource from the prenatal period to 52 weeks postpartum; 2) a virtual meeting with a research assistant; and 3) 6 weekly emails reminders. Follow-up data were collected via online questionnaires completed at 2 weeks post enrollment and 4, 12, 26, and 52 weeks postpartum to determine use and satisfaction with the intervention components. FINDINGS: The majority of mothers and co-parents independently reviewed the eHealth resource (95% and 91%, respectively), with higher use in the prenatal period. Participants found the resource to be useful (92%), informative (93%), targeted both parents (90%), and easy to understand (97%). Participants indicated the resource was comprehensive, easily navigated, convenient, and engaging. APPLICATION TO PRACTICE: Providing mothers and their co-parents with breastfeeding co-parenting support via an eHealth intervention delivers accessible, comprehensive information which may assist them in meeting their breastfeeding goals.