The Importance of Parents' Dyadic Coping for Children

• Author: Martina Zemp,Sabine Backes,Dorothee Sutter‐Stickel,Tracey A. Revenson,Guy Bodenmann
• Date: 01 April 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12189
• Published date: 01 April 2016

M Z, G B, S B,  D S-S

University of Zurich

T A. R City University of New York∗

The Importance of Parents’ Dyadic Coping

for Children

Stress and coping in couples have received

increased researchattention during the past two

decades, particularly with regardto how couples

cope with stress. Dyadic coping has emerged

as a strong predictor of relationship satisfac-

tion. Less research has focused on the effects of

dyadic coping on other outcomes or family mem-

bers. In the present study, the authors addressed

this gap by examining parents’ dyadic coping as

a predictor of children’s internalizing symptoms,

externalizing symptoms, and prosocial behav-

ior in three independent studies. In Studies 1

and 2 self-report data were used to assess par-

ents’ dyadic coping through the parents’ and

the children’s perspective, and Study 3 included

observational data on dyadic coping. Parental

dyadic coping was related to children’s exter-

nalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, and

prosocial behavior, although results for the lat-

ter two outcomes were not consistent across the

three studies. The ndings suggest that parents’

dyadic coping deserves greater consideration

within the context of child development.

Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binz-

muehlestrasse 14/23, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland (martina.

zemp@psychologie.uzh.ch).

∗The Graduate School, City University of New York, 365

Fifth Ave., NewYork, NY 10016–4309.

Key Words: conict, couple, dyadic coping, parenting, rela-

tionship, stress.

The notion that the parents’ relationship is

essential to children’s well-being has been a

cornerstone of family psychology and fam-

ily science. Parental divorce and discord are

well-established risk factors for child maladjust-

ment (Amato, Kane, & James, 2011; Cummings

& Davies, 2010); however, little is known about

the association between supportive interparental

interactions, such as the way in which couples

jointly cope with stress (dyadic coping), and

children’s development. In the present study we

addressed this gap by examining dyadic coping

in parents as a predictor of children’s internal-

izing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and

prosocial behavior in three studies of healthy,

typically developing children.

Stress and coping have received increased

attention in couples research throughout the past

two decades (Revenson, Kayser, & Bodenmann,

2005). Daily stress plays a crucial role in under-

standing close relationships, in part because

it is toxic to relationship quality and stability

(Randall & Bodenmann, 2009). In the process

model of parenting (Belsky,1984), stress caused

by work or social and intimate relationships

undermines parenting behavior directly as well

as indirectly by reducing parents’ well-being.

Cina and Bodenmann (2009) found that per-

ceived parental stress was statistically associated

with inadequate communication and inappropri-

ate parenting, which in turn predicted the child’s

externalizing symptoms a year later.

Given the impact of parental stress on chil-

dren’s well-being, parental coping skills might

Family Relations 65 (April 2016): 275–286 275

DOI:10.1111/fare.12189