Abstract
A high-quality coparenting relationship among families of typically developing children has been shown to be beneficial for both parental and child outcomes. Nevertheless, these results cannot be generalized to parents of a child on the autism spectrum, as they are confronted with very different parenting demands. This systematic review aims to investigate the factors associated with coparenting a child on the autism spectrum. We systematically conducted this review according to the PRISMA statement. Twelve databases were searched and nine articles met the criteria for inclusion after screening. The findings suggested that certain factors such as parenting stress and satisfaction with the division of childcare-related labor are important aspects of coparenting a child on the autism spectrum. There was also some evidence to suggest that autism symptom severity may influence the coparenting relationship. However, the studies were limited by their number and heterogeneous methodologies. Further studies are needed to develop a greater understanding of risk and protective factors, as well as how the coparenting relationship affects the child on the autism spectrum throughout different stages of development. We provide recommendations to guide future research and discuss the implications for clinical practice towards the end of this systematic review.
Highlights
-
Co-parenting is related to various factors, such as parenting stress and satisfaction with division of labor.
-
Certain factors linked to coparenting a child on the spectrum are not reported among the wider population.
-
This review emphasizes the need for more research in this field using consistent and rigorous methodologies
-
Further explorations are needed to determine implications for practice over time.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin, R. R. (1990). Parenting stress index. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Abidin, R. R., & Brunner, J. F. (1995). Development of a parenting alliance inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2401_4.
Abidin, R. R., & Konold, T. R. (1999). Parenting alliance measure: Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-III. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. http://displus.sk/DSM/subory/dsm3.pdf.
Arellano, A., Denne, L. D., Hastings, R. P., & Hughes, J. C. (2019). Parenting sense of competence in mothers of children with autism: associations with parental expectations and levels of family support needs. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 44(2), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.3109/13668250.2017.1350838.
Bearss, K., Burrell, T. L., Stewart, L. M., & Scahill, L. (2015). Parent training in autism spectrum disorder: what’s in a name? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 18(2), 170–182.
Behnia, F., Rassafiani, M., Nakhai, S., Mohammadpour, M., & Ahmadi Kahjoogh, M. (2017). Time use of mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder: a comparative study. Iranian Rehabilitation Journal, 15(1), 49–56.
Bendixen, R. M., Elder, J. H., Donaldson, S., Kairalla, J. A., Valcante, G., & Ferdig, R. E. (2011). Effects of a father-based in-home intervention on perceived stress and family dynamics in parents of children with autism. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(6), 679–687.
Bristol, M. M., Gallagher, J. J., & Schopler, E. (1988). Mothers and fathers of young developmentally disabled and nondisabled boys: adaptation and spousal support. Developmental Psychology, 24, 441–451.
Corboz-Warnery, A., Fivaz-Depeursinge, E., Gertsch Bettens, C., & Favez, N. (1993). Systemic analysis of father-mother-baby interactions: the Lausanne triadic play. Infant Mental Health Journal, 14(4), 298–316.
Davies, P. T., Harold, G. T., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Cummings, E. M., Shelton, K., & Rasi, J. A. (2002). Child emotional security and interparental conflict. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 67(3), 1–115.
Dijkers, M. (2018). Duplicate publications and systematic reviews: problems and proposals. KT Update, 6(2), 1–12.
Favez, N. (2017). Psychologie de la coparentalité [Psychology of co-parenting]. Malakoff: Dunod.
Favez, N., & Frascarolo, F. (2013). Le coparentage: composants, implications et thérapie [co-parenting: components, implications and therapy]. Devenir, 25(2), 73–92. https://doi.org/10.3917/dev.132.0073.
Favez, N., Lavanchy Scaiola, C., Tissot, H., Darwiche, J., & Frascarolo, F. (2011). The family alliance assessment scales: steps toward validity and reliability of an observational assessment tool for early family interactions. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 20, 23–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9374-7.
Feinberg, M. E. (2003). The internal structure and ecological context of coparenting: a framework for research and intervention. Parenting: Science & Practice, 3(2), 95.
Feinberg, M. E., Brown, L. D., & Kan, M. L. (2012). A multi-domain self-report measure of coparenting. Parenting: Science & Practice, 12(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2012.638870.
Feinberg, M. E., Kan, M. L., & Hetherington, E. M. (2007). The longitudinal influence of coparenting conflict on parental negativity and adolescent maladjustment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(3), 687–702. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00400.x.
Fivaz-Depeursinge, E., & Corboz-Warnery, A. (1999). The primary triangle. A developmental systems view of mothers, fathers and infants. New York: Basic Books.
Forrest, J. L., & Miller, S. A. (2001). Enhancing your practice through evidence-based decision making: Finding the best clinical evidence. Journal of Evidence Based Dental Practice, 1(3), 227–236.
Gable, S., Crnic, K., & Belsky, J. (1994). Coparenting within the family system: influences on children’s development. Family Relations: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 43(4), 380–386.
Gau, S. S.-F., Chou, M.-C., Chiang, H.-L., Lee, J.-C., Wong, C.-C., Chou, W.-J., & Wu, Y.-Y. (2012). Parental adjustment, marital relationship, and family function in families of children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6(1), 263–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.05.007.
*Hartley, S. L., Mihaila, I., Otalora-Fadner, H. S., & Bussanich, P. M. (2014). Division of labor in families of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Family Relations, 63(5), 627–638. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12093.
Hayes, S. A., & Watson, S. L. (2013). The impact of parenting stress: a meta-analysis of studies comparing the experience of parenting stress in parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(3), 629–642.
*Hedenbro, M., & Tjus, T. (2007). A case study of parent—child interactions of a child with autistic spectrum disorder (3—48 months) and comparison with typically-developing peers. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 23(2), 201–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265659007076294.
Higgins, J.P., & Altman, D.G. (2008). Assessing risk of bias in included studies. In J.P. Higgins & S. Green, Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions. (pp. 187–241). Wiley.
*Hill-Chapman, C. R., Herzog, T. K., & Maduro, R. S. (2013). Aligning over the child: parenting alliance mediates the association of autism spectrum disorder atypicality with parenting stress. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34(5), 1498–1504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.01.004.
*Hock, R. M., Timm, T. M., & Ramisch, J. L. (2012). Parenting children with autism spectrum disorders: a crucible for couple relationships. Child & Family Social Work, 17(4), 406–415. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2206.2011.00794.x.
Karst, J. S., & Van Hecke, A. V. (2012). Parent and family impact of autism spectrum disorders: a review and proposed model for intervention evaluation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 15(3), 247–277.
Kelly, A. B., Garnett, M. S., Attwood, T., & Peterson, C. (2008). Autism spectrum symptomatology in children: the impact of family and peer relationships. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(7), 1069–1081.
Kerig, P. K. (1996). Assessing the links between interparental conflict and child adjustment: the Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scales. Journal of Family Psychology, 10(4), 454–473.
Konold, T. R., & Abidin, R. R. (2001). Parenting alliance: a multifactor perspective. Assessment, 8(1), 47–65.
Lamela, D., & Figueiredo, B. (2016). Coparenting after marital dissolution and children’s mental health: a systematic review. Jornal de Pediatria, 92(4), 331–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2015.09.011.
Laxman, D. J., McBride, B. A., Jeans, L. M., Dyer, W. J., Santos, R. M., Kern, J. L., Sugimura, N., Curtiss, S. L., & Weglarz-Ward, J. M. (2015). Father involvement and maternal depressive symptoms in families of children with disabilities or delays. Maternal and child health journal, 19(5), 1078–1086. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-014-1608-7.
Lonigro, A., Baiocco, R., Baumgartner, E., Sette, S., & Laghi, F. (2017). Persuasion in school-aged children: How does it change if the persuade is the mother or a peer? Cognitive Processing, 18(1), 67–74.
Lundahl, B. W., Tollefson, D., Risser, H., & Lovejoy, M. C. (2008). A meta-analysis of father involvement in parent training. Research on Social Work Practice, 18(2), 97–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731507309828.
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(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.15.1.3.
*May, C. D., Fletcher, R., Dempsey, I., & Newman, L. (2015). Modeling relations among coparenting quality, autism-specific parenting self-efficacy, and parenting stress in mothers and fathers of children with ASD. Parenting: Science and Practice, 15(2), 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2015.1020145.
*May, C. D., St George, J. M., Fletcher, R. J., Dempsey, I., & Newman, L. K. (2017). Coparenting competence in parents of children with ASD: a marker of coparenting quality. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(10), 2969–2980. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3208-z.
*Mazzoni, S., Veronesi, C., Vismara, L., Laghi, F., & Philipp, D. (2018). Family coordination in families who have a child with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(10), 3107–3116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1191-4.
McDaniel, B. T., Teti, D. M., & Feinberg, M. E. (2018). Predicting coparenting quality in daily life in mothers and fathers. Journal of Family Psychology, 32(7), 904–914.
McHale, J. P. (1995). Coparenting and triadic interactions during infancy: the roles of marital distress and child gender. Developmental Psychology, 31(6), 985–996.
McHale, J. P. (1997). Overt and covert coparenting processes in the family. Family Process, 36(2), 183–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1997.00183.x.
McHale, J. P. (2007). When infants grow up in multiperson relationship systems. Infant Mental Health Journal, 28(4), 370–392. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.20142.
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(1), 39–59. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579498001527.
Merrifield, K. A., & Gamble, W. C. (2013). Associations among marital qualities, supportive and undermining coparenting, and parenting self-efficacy. Journal of Family Issues, 34(4), 510–533. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x12445561.
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2012). Adult attachment orientations and relationship processes. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 4(4), 259–274.
Miller, T. (2010). “It’s a triangle that’s difficult to square”: men’s intentions and practices around caring, work and first-time fatherhood. Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers, 8(3), 362–378. https://doi.org/10.3149/fth.0803.362.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Annals of Internal Medecine, 151(4), 264–269.
National Institutes of Health (2014). Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-pro/guidelines/in-develop/cardiovascular-risk-reduction/tools/cohort
Nomaguchi, K., & Johnson, W. (2016). Parenting stress among low-income and working-class fathers: the role of employment. Journal of Family Issues, 37(11), 1535–1557. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X14560642.
Osborne, L. A., McHugh, L., Saunders, J., & Reed, P. (2008). Parenting stress reduces the effectiveness of early teaching interventions for autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(6), 1092–1103.
Parsons, D., Cordier, R., Vaz, S., & Lee, H. C. (2017). Parent-mediated intervention training delivered remotely for children with autism spectrum disorder living outside of urban areas: systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(8), e198.
Peterson, J., & Hawley, D. (1998). Effects of stressors on parenting attitudes and family functioning in a primary prevention program. Family Relations, 47(3), 221–227. https://doi.org/10.2307/584970.
Rankin, J.A., Paisley, C.A., Tomeny, T.S., & Eldred, S.W. (2019). Fathers of Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of the Impact of Fathers’ Involvement on Youth, Families, and Intervention. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-019-00294-0.
Pisula, E., & Kossakowska, Z. (2010). Sense of coherence and coping with stress among mothers and fathers of children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(12), 1485–1494.
Rouyer, V. (2008). Coparentalité: un mythe pour quelles réalités [Coparenting: a myth with what realities]? Empan, 72(4), 99–105. https://doi.org/10.3917/empa.072.0099.
Rouyer, V., & Huet-Gueye, M. (2012). La relation coparentale et le développement de l’enfant: apports de la recherche et perspectives cliniques [The co-parenting relationship and child development: research and clinical perspectives]. Devenir, 24(4), 329–343.
Saini, M., Stoddart, K. P., Gibson, M., Morris, R., Barrett, D., Muskat, B., Nicholas, D., Rampton, G., & Zwaigenbaum, L. (2015). Couple relationships among parents of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from a scoping review of the literature. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 17, 142–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2015.06.014.
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(3), 526–545. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412974615.n8.
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(1), 194–207. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.18.1.194.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Settle, T., Lee, J. K., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2016). Supportive coparenting relationships as a haven of psychological safety at the transition to parenthood. Research in human development, 13(1), 32–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1141281.
Sim, A., Cordier, R., Vaz, S., & Falkmer, T. (2016). Relationship satisfaction in couples raising a child with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review of the literature. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 31, 30–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2016.07.004.
*Sim, A., Cordier, R., Vaz, S., Netto, J., & Falkmer, T. (2017). Factors associated with negative co-parenting experiences in families of a child with autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 20(2), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.3109/17518423.2015.1069414.
Sim, A., Vaz, S., Cordier, R., Joosten, A., Parsons, D., Smith, C., & Falkmer, T. (2018). Factors associated with stress in families of children with autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 21(3), 155–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/17518423.2017.1326185.
Solmeyer, A. R., & Feinberg, M. E. (2011). Mother and father adjustment during early parenthood: the roles of infant temperament and coparenting relationship quality. Infant Behavior and Development, 34(4), 504–514.
Strauss, K., Mancini, F., & Fava, L. (2013). Parent inclusion in early intensive behavior interventions for young children with ASD: a synthesis of meta-analyses from 2009 to 2011. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34(9), 2967–2985.
Teubert, D., & Pinquart, M. (2010). The association between coparenting and child adjustment: a meta-analysis. Parenting, 10(4), 286–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2010.492040.
*Thullen, M., & Bonsall, A. (2017). Co-parenting quality, parenting stress, and feeding challenges in families with a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(3), 878–886. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2988-x.
Van Egeren, L. A. (2004). The development of the coparenting relationship over the transition to parenthood. Infant Mental Health Journal, 25(5), 453–477. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.20019.
Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Rutgers, A. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Swinkels, S. H., van Daalen, E. V., Dietz, C., Naber, F. B. A., Buitelaar, J. K., & van Engeland, H. (2007). Parental sensitivity and attachment in children with autism spectrum disorder: comparison with children with mental retardation, with language delays, and with typical development. Child Development, 78(2), 597–608.
Wainer, A. L., Hepburn, S., & McMahon Griffith, E. (2017). Remembering parents in parent-mediated early intervention: An approach to examining impact on parents and families. Autism, 21(1), 5–17.
Zarit, S. H., Reever, K. E., & Bach-Peterson, J. (1980). Relatives of the impaired elderly: correlates of feelings of burden. The Gerontologist, 20(6), 649–655. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/20.6.649.
Zemp, M., Milek, A., Cummings, E. M., & Bodenmann, G. (2017). Longitudinal interrelations between dyadic coping and coparenting conflict in couples. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(8), 2276–2290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0742-4.
Author Contributions
ND: designed the study, executed the literature search and study selection, conducted the data extraction and quality assessment, and wrote the paper. EC: collaborated with the design and data analysis, and edited the intermediate versions of the manuscript and the final manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Downes, N., Cappe, E. Coparenting a Child on the Autism Spectrum: a Systematic Review and Call for Research. J Child Fam Stud 30, 388–402 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01884-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01884-1