Abstract
Coparenting, the way that parents work together in their roles to parent children, has emerged as an important area for prevention and intervention. Though research indicates that low coparenting quality is associated with increased externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in children, the existing literature is not inclusive of families diverse in sociocultural identity and structure. We examined the link between coparenting and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and tested the moderating effect of child gender on the relationship between coparenting and child behavior problems in two-year-old children of African American and Latina adolescent mothers. One hundred and thirty five parents (69 mothers and 66 fathers) completed self-report measures of coparenting and child behavior problems when their children were two years old. While we did not find support for a direct association between coparenting quality and child behavior problems, child gender did moderate the association between mother’s report of coparenting quality and both externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. High coparenting quality was associated with lower levels of externalizing behavior problems in girls and higher levels of externalizing behavior problems in boys. High quality coparenting was associated with lower levels of internalizing behavior problems in girls, but there was no difference for boys. Though the results for boys were mixed, our findings for girls suggest that high quality coparenting may be a protective factor for the development of both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Implications for future research are discussed.
References
Abidin, R. R., & Brunner, J. F. (1995). Development of a parenting alliance inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24, 31–40.
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2001). ASEBA school-age forms & profiles. Burlington: ASEBA.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2003). Family pediatrics report of the task force on the family. Pediatrics, 111, 1541–1571.
Altenburger, L. E., Lang, S. N., Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Kamp Dush, C. M., & Johnson, S. (2017). Toddlers’differential susceptibility to the effects of coparenting on social–emotional adjustment. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(2), 228–237.
Baril, M. E., Crouter, A. C., & McHale, S. M. (2007). Processes linking adolescent well-being, marital love, and coparenting. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 645–654.
Bearss, K. E., & Eyberg, S. (1998). A test of the parenting alliance theory. Early Education and Development, 9, 179–185.
Belsky, J., Youngblade, L., Rovine, M., & Volling, B. (1991). Patterns of marital change and parent-child interaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53(2), 487–498.
Briggs-Gowan, M. J., Carter, A. S., Bosson-Heenan, J., Guyer, A. E., & Horwitz, S. M. (2006). Are infant-toddler social-emotional and behavioral problems transient? Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(7), 849–858.
Brock, R. L., & Kochanska, G. (2016). Interparental conflict, children’s security with parents, and long-term risk of internalizing problems: A longitudinal study from ages 2 to 10. Development and Psychopathology, 28, 45–54.
Brown, G. L., Schoppe‐Sullivan, S. J., Mangelsdorf, S. C., & Neff, C. (2010). Observed and reported supportive coparenting as predictors of infant–mother and infant–father attachment security. Early Child Development and Care, 180, 121–137.
Cassidy, J., Jones, J. D., & Shaver, P. R. (2013). Contributions of attachment theory and research: A framework for future research, translation, and policy. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 1415–1434.
Chaplin, T. M., & Aldao, A. (2013). Gender differences in emotion expression in children: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 735–765.
Cowan, C. P., Cowan, P. A., & Barry, J. (2011). Couples’ groups for parents of preschoolers: ten-year outcomes of a randomized trial. Journal of Family Psychology, 25(2), 240–250.
Crnic, K., & Low, C. (2002). Everyday stresses and parenting. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting, Volume 5 practical issues in parenting (pp. 242–267). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: an emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116(3), 387–411.
Eisenberg, N., Taylor, Z. E., Widaman, K. F., & Spinrad, T. L. (2015). Externalizing symptoms, effortful control, and intrusive parenting: A test of bidirectional longitudinal relations during early childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 27(4pt1), 953–968.
Essex, M. J., Klein, M. H., Cho, E., & Kraemer, H. C. (2003). Exposure to maternal depression and marital conflict: Gender differences in children’s later mental health symptoms. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 728–737.
Feinberg, M. E. (2002). Coparenting and the transition to parenthood: A framework for prevention. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 5, 173–195.
Florsheim, P., Sumida, E., McCann, C., Winstanley, M., Fukui, R., Seefeldt, T., & Moore, D. (2003). The transition to parenthood among young African American and Latino couples: Relational predictors of risk for parental dysfunction. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 65–79.
Futris, T. G., & Schoppe‐Sullivan, S. J. (2007). Mothers’ perceptions of barriers, parenting alliance, and adolescent fathers’ engagement with their children. Family Relations, 56, 258–269.
Gaskin, D. J., Headen, A. E., & White-Means, S. I. (2005). Racial disparities in health and wealth: The effects of slavery and past discrimination. The Review of Black Political Economy, 32, 95–110.
Gee, C. B., & Rhodes, J. E. (2003). Adolescent mothers’ relationship with their children’s biological fathers: Social support, social strain and relationship continuity. Journal of Family Psychology, 17(3), 370–383.
Hans, S. L., & Thullen, M. J. (2009). The relational context of adolescent motherhood. In C. H. Zeanah (Ed.), Handbook of infant mental health. 3rd ed. (pp. 214–229). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Hamilton, B. E., Martin, J. A., Osterman, M. J. K., & Curtin, S. C. (2015). Births: Final Data for 2014. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf Accessed 4 May 2016..
Holland, A. S., & McElwain, N. L. (2013). Maternal and paternal perceptions of coparenting as a link between marital quality and the parent–toddler relationship. Journal of Family Psychology, 27, 117–126.
Jacobvitz, D., Hazen, N., Curran, M., & Hitchens, K. (2004). Observations of early triadic family interactions:Boundary disturbances in the family predict symptoms of depression, anxiety, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in middle childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 577–592.
Johnson, V. K., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (1999). Children’s classroom behavior: The unique contribution of family organization. Journal of Family Psychology, 13, 355–371.
Jones, D. J., Shaffer, A., Forehand, R., Brody, G., & Armistead, L. P. (2003). Coparent conflict in single mother headed African American families: Do parenting skills serve as a mediator or moderator of child psychosocial adjustment? Behavior Therapy, 34, 259–272.
Kamp Dush, C. M., Kotila, L. E., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2011). Predictors of supportive coparenting after relationship dissolution among at-risk parents. Journal of Family Psychology, 25(3), 356–365.
Koblinsky, S. A., Kuvalanka, K. A., & Randolph, S. M. (2006). Social skills and behavior problems of urban, African American preschoolers: role of parenting practices, family conflict, and maternal depression. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 554–563.
Kolak, A. M., & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2008). Family-level coparenting processes and child gender as moderators of family stress and toddler adjustment. Infant and Child Development, 17, 617–638.
Leadbeater, B. J., Bishop, S. J., & Raver, C. C. (1996). Quality of mother–toddler interactions, maternal depressive symptoms, and behavior problems in preschoolers of adolescent mothers. Developmental Psychology, 32, 280–288.
Lee, Y., Fagan, J., & Chen, W. Y. (2012). Do late adolescent fathers have more depressive symptoms than older fathers? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(10), 1366–1381.
Lequerica, M., & Hermosa, B. (1995). Maternal reports of behavior problems in preschool Hispanic children: an exploratory study in preventive pediatrics. Journal of the National Medical Association, 87, 861–868.
Letourneau, N. L., Stewart, M. J., & Barnfather, A. K. (2004). Adolescent mothers: Support needs, resources, and support-education interventions. Journal of Adolescent Health, 35(6), 509–525.
Lewin, A., Hodgkinson, S., Waters, D. M., Prempeh, H. A., Beers, L. S., & Feinberg, M. E. (2015). Strengthening positive coparenting in teen parents: a cultural adaptation of an evidence-based intervention. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 36(3), 139–154.
Lewin, A., Mitchell, S. J., Beers, L. S., Feinberg, M. E., & Minkovitz, C. S. (2012). Coparenting in teen mothers and their children’s fathers: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study–birth cohort. Academic Pediatrics, 12(6), 539–545.
Manning, W. D., & Cohen, J. A. (2015). Teenage cohabitation, marriage, and childbearing. Population Research and Policy Review, 34, 161–177.
Margolin, G., Gordis, E. B., & John, R. S. (2001). Coparenting: a link between marital conflict and parenting in two parent families. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 3–21.
McHale, J. P., Johnson, D., & Sinclair, R. (1999). Family dynamics, preschoolers’ family representations, and preschool peer relationships. Early Education and Development, 10, 373–401.
McHale, J. P., Rao, N., & Krasnow, A. D. (2000). Constructing family climates: Chinese mothers’ reports of their co-parenting behaviour and preschoolers’ adaptation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 24, 111–118.
McHale, J. P., & Rasmussen, J. L. (1998). Coparental and family group-level dynamics during infancy: Early family precursors of child and family functioning during preschool. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 39–59.
McHale, J. P., Salman‐Engin, S., & Coovert, M. D. (2015). Improvements in unmarried African American parents’ rapport, communication, and problem‐solving following a prenatal coparenting intervention. Family Process, 54, 619–629.
Mehta, N. K., Lee, H., & Ylitalo, K. R. (2013). Child health in the United States: Recent trends in racial/ethnic disparities. Social Science & Medicine, 95, 6–15.
Mendez, J. L., Fantuzzo, J., & Cicchetti, D. (2002). Profiles of social competence among low-income African American preschool children. Child Development, 73, 1085–1101.
Minuchin, P. (1985). Families and individual development: Provocations from the field of family therapy. Child Development, 56(2), 289–302.
Mollborn, S., & Morningstar, E. (2009). Investigating the relationship between teenage childbearing and psychological distress using longitudinal evidence. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50(3), 310–326.
Murphy, S. E., Jacobvitz, D. B., & Hazen, N. L. (2016). What’s so bad about competitive coparenting? Family-level predictors of children’s externalizing symptoms. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(5), 1684–1690.
National Center for Toddlers and Families. (2017). Diagnostic classification: 0-5™. Diagnostic classification of mental health and developmental disorders of infancy and early childhood. Washington, DC: National Center for Toddlers and Families.
Pauli‐Pott, U., Haverkock, A., Pott, W., & Beckmann, D. (2007). Negative emotionality, attachment quality, and behavior problems in early childhood. Infant Mental Health Journal, 28, 39–53.
Pinzon, J. L., Jones, V. F., Blythe, M. J., Adelman, W. P., Breuner, C. C., Levine, D. A., & Donoghue, E. (2012). Care of adolescent parents and their children. Pediatrics, 130, 1743–1756.
Price, S. K., El-Khoury, D., & Wonnum, S. (2014). Adolescent pregnancy in the United States. International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy (pp. 661–681). New York: Springer.
Pruett, M. K., Pruett, K., Cowan, C. P., & Cowan, P. A. (2017). Enhancing father involvement in low‐income families: A couples group approach to preventive intervention. Child Development, 88(2), 398–407.
Schoppe, S. J., Mangelsdorf, S. C., & Frosch, C. A. (2001). Coparenting, family process, and family structure: implications for preschoolers’ externalizing behavior problems. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 526–545.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Mangelsdorf, S. C., Frosch, C. A., & McHale, J. L. (2004). Associations between coparenting and marital behavior from infancy to the preschool years. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 194–207.
Smith, C. L., Calkins, S. D., Keane, S. P., Anastopoulos, A. D., & Shelton, T. L. (2004). Predicting stability and change in toddler behavior problems: Contributions of maternal behavior and child gender. Developmental Psychology, 40(1), 29–42.
Najarian, M., Snow, K., Lennon, J., Kinsey, S., & Mulligan, G. (2007). Early childhood longitudinal study, birth cohort (ECLS-B). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
Sobolewski, J. M., & King, V. (2005). The importance of the coparental relationship for nonresident fathers’ ties to children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(5), 1196–1212.
Teubert, D., & Pinquart, M. (2010). The association between coparenting and child adjustment: A meta analysis. Parenting: Science and Practice, 10, 286–307.
Tomblin, J. B., Zhang, X., Buckwalter, P., & Catts, H. (2000). The association of reading disability, behavioral disorders, and language impairment among second-grade children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 473–482.
Umemura, T., Christopher, C., Mann, T., Jacobvitz, D., & Hazen, N. (2015). Coparenting problems at 2 years predict 7-year-old children’s psychological problems: Focusing on gender differences. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 46, 981–996.
Varga, C. M., Gee, C. B., Rivera, L., & Reyes, C. X. (2014). Coparenting mediates the association between relationship quality and father involvement. Youth & Society, 49(5), 588–609.
Vega, W. A., Rodriguez, M. A., & Gruskin, E. (2009). Health disparities in the Latino population. Epidemiologic Reviews, 31, 99–112.
Wilhelm, K. (2006). From nosology to global burden. In C. L. M. Keys & S. H. Goodman (Eds.), A handbook for the social, behavioral, and biomedical Science: Women and depression (pp. 3–21). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Young, A. Y., & Holcomb, P. A. (2007). Voices of young fathers: The partners for fragile families demonstration projects. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/PFF/voices/index.htm.
Author Contributions
R.M.: Wrote the manuscript, conducted data analyses; C.G.: Principal investigator of the study, provided material support for all aspects of this study, collaborated on study design and on writing and editing of the manuscript.
Funding
This study was funded by NIMH grant 5K01MH72504.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board of George Washington University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mack, R.A., Gee, C.B. African American and Latina Adolescent Mothers’ and their Children’s Fathers’ Reports of Coparenting and Child Behavior Problems: Child Gender as a Moderator. J Child Fam Stud 27, 2507–2518 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1103-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1103-7