Supportive Coparenting, Parenting Stress, Harsh Parenting, and Child Behavior Problems in Nonmarital Families

• Date: 01 June 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12373
• Author: Emily H. Becher,Jeong‐Kyun Choi
• Published date: 01 June 2019

Supportive Coparenting, Parenting Stress, Harsh

Parenting, and Child Behavior Problems in

Nonmarital Families

JEONG-KYUN CHOI*

EMILY H. BECHER

†

Supportive coparenting is an identified protective factor for child development and

behavioral outcomes. What is less known is how supportive coparenting dynamically links

with other aspects of parenting and parent well-being, particularly in multi-stressed non-

marital families. This study used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing

study, analyzed within a structural equation model, to explore how mothers’ experience of

maternal depression, maternal age, father education, and SES interacted with their par-

enting stress and supportive coparenting to impact child behavioral problems and harsh

parenting practices. Among the findings, more supportive coparenting was found to be sig-

nificantly associated with fewer child behavioral problems and less harsh parenting.

Transmitted through supportive coparenting and parenting stress acting as mediator,

maternal depressive symptoms were indirectly and positively related to harsh pare nting

practices and child behavior problems. These findings are discussed within the context of

the broader literature and next steps for research are discussed.

Keywords: Coparenting; Multi-Stressed Families; Mothers; Parenting; Ecological Model;

SEM

Fam Proc 58:404–417, 2019

Coparenting is a conceptual term that refers to the quality of coordination between par-

ents caring for their child (McHale, Kuersten-Hogan, & Rao, 2004) and the degree to

which parents support each other in parenting when making decisions for their child

(McHale, 1995). This definition focuses on the dynamics of interparental interac tions

rather than individual parents’ performance of their roles and parenting functions (Groe-

nendyk & Volling, 2007; Lamela, Figueiredo, Bastos, & Feinberg, 2016; McHale et al.,

2004). Coparenting typically has three dimensions: coparenting support, cooperation, and

agreement (Lamela et al., 2016). One of the key components of coparenting is the extent

to which parents affirm, appreciate, respect, and support each other’s parenting efforts,

competency, and contributions (Feinberg, 2002, 2003; Van Egeren & Hawkins, 2004),

which is often reflected as supportive parenting (used interchangeably with cooperative

parenting). Substantial evidence suggests that supportive coparenting positively con-

tributes to children’s socioemotional and behavioral development (Teubert & Pinquart,

2010). Research has shown that when coparenting relationships are cooperative, children

in early and middle childhood exhibit fewer behavior problems (McHale, Johnson, &

*Department of Child, Youth & Family Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.

†

Extension Center for Family Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jeong-Kyun Choi, Department of Child,

Youth, & Family Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 135 Mabel Lee Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0236.

E-mail: jchoi@unl.edu.

404

Family Process, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2019 ©2018 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12373