James P. McHale

Coparenting and Triadic Interactions during Infancy: The Roles of Marital Distress and Child Gender.

The interaction patterns of 47 intact couples at play with infant sons and daughters were examined. Play in the triad was characterized along dimensions of hostility-competitiveness, family harmony, and parenting discrepancy, and correlates of these 3 patterns were investigated. Though family patterns were generally not related to self-reported distress, they were associated with observed marital distress, with marital-family links differing as a function of child gender. Maritally distressed parents of boys more commonly displayed hostile-competitive coparenting behavior in the triad, whereas distressed parents of girls were more likely to show discrepant levels of parenting involvement. Two systemic hypotheses suggested by family theory (linking marital conflict to hostile-competitive coparenting and marital power to parenting discrepancies) were also supported. These findings indicate the importance of conceptualizing coparenting as a construct separable from marital distress.

Coparental and family group-level dynamics during infancy: Early family precursors of child and family functioning during preschool

This study examines longitudinal correlates of coparental and family group-level dynamics during infancy. Thirty-seven couples observed at play with their 8-11-month-old infants (15 boys, 22 girls) rated their childs internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and their own coparenting behavior 3 years later. Teachers also rated child behavior at the 3-year follow-up. Several significant relationships emerged between observed family process (high hostility-competitiveness, low family harmony, and high parenting discrepancies in the triad) at Time 1, and subsequent reports of child and coparenting behavior at Time 2. Larger parenting discrepancies at Time 1 predicted greater child anxiety as rated by teachers; greater hostility-competitiveness and lower harmony forecast higher child aggression. Time 1 family process continued to predict Time 2 aggression even after controlling for individual and marital functioning. Several links were also found between distressed family process and later parental reports of negative coparenting behavior. These parental reports of coparenting also explained unique variance in concurrent child behavior ratings. The significance of coparenting as a distinct family construct is discussed.

Parental reports of coparenting and observed coparenting behavior during the toddler period.

Fifty-two married partners played with their 30-month-olds in both dyadic (parent-child) and whole family contexts and reported on their own coparenting activities (family integrity-promoting behavior, conflict, disparagement, and reprimand). Coparenting behavior observed in the whole family context was evaluated for antagonism, warmth and cooperation, child-adult centeredness, balance of positive involvement, and management of toddler behavior. Parallel balance and management scores were also formed using dyadic session data. Mens reported family integrity-promoting activities and womens reported conflict and reprimand activities were reliable correlates of family group process in both bivariate and discriminant analyses, with links enduring even after controlling for marital quality. Whole family- and dyad-based estimates of coparenting were altogether unrelated, and reported coparenting was tied only to behavior in family context, not to family measures created from dyad-based data.

Understanding triadic and family group interactions during infancy and toddlerhood.

This paper outlines recent conceptual and methodological developments in the assessment of triadic and family group process during infancy and toddlerhood. Foundations of the emerging family group process are identified, and conditions specific to the assessment of the family during the early phases of family formation are summarized. Both microanalytic and global approaches to evaluating mother–father–child interactions are discussed. We highlight both similarities and differences in the strategies and methods employed by several different investigators who have been studying the group dynamics of families with infant and toddler children, and underscore several important family patterns and emerging themes that appear to be cutting across these different methods and measurement strategies. Preliminary evidence for the validity and clinical significance of family-level assessments is summarized, and directions currently being pursued by researchers engaged in studies of the family triad are outlined. We close by identifying several conceptual and clinical issues that remain to be addressed by subsequent work.

Constructing family climates: Chinese mothers’ reports of their co-parenting behaviour and preschoolers’ adaptation.

This report examines how contemporary middle class urban mothers in Beijing, People’s Republic of China (PRC), characterise their own co-parenting conduct in the family. One hundred mothers of 4-year-old preschoolers (95% of whom were only-children) estimated how frequently they engaged in several different activities hypothesised to contribute to co-parenting solidarity. Mothers also reported on their children’s academic competence and behavioural adaptation. Self-reported coparenting activities factored into three major dimensions: behaviours promoting family integrity, co-parental conflict, and frequency of co-parental limit-setting or reprimand activities. Children whose mothers reported more frequent and active efforts to promote family integrity were rated as more academically competent than their peers. Children whose mothers acknowledged more frequent interparental discord and conflict were described both as showing more conduct problems, and as more anxious than their peers. Child conduct problems were also associated with mothers’ reports of more regular reprimand activities by the co-parenting partners. These co-parenting variables accounted for significant proportions of the variance in child behaviour measures over and above the contributions of maternal parenting practices. The implications of these findings for studies of co-parental conflict and solidarity within the PRC, and directions for future co-parenting research with Chinese families, are discussed.

A Qualitative Analysis of Vietnamese Adolescent Identity Exploration Within and Outside an Ethnic Enclave

Focusing on identity development explorations enables a greater understanding of contexts that affect immigrant adolescents. Utilizing thematic and grounded narrative analysis of 46 journal writings, during a one-month period, from first and second generation Vietnamese adolescents ranging in age from 15 to 18 (26 residents of a culturally and politically active ethnic enclave in Southern California; 20 adolescents living outside the enclave), this study establishes ways in which a focus on social context and exploration processes illuminates the complexity of immigrant adolescents’ identity formation. The two groups shared many similarities, including precipitants to exploration and steps undertaken to explore identity. However, two factors—social and cultural influences and emotional reactions—revealed interesting contrasts distinguishing enclave from non-enclave dwelling Vietnamese adolescents. Data also suggested that immigrant adolescents strive to integrate different domains of identity (ethnicity, gender, career) both with one another and with the historical, social, and cultural contexts they occupy.

Observed coparenting and triadic dynamics in African American fragile families at 3 months’ postpartum.

This report examines coparenting and triadic interactions in 19 unmarried, first-time African American families as fathers, mothers, and 3-month-old infants navigated the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP; E. Fivaz-Depeursinge & A. Corboz-Warnery, ). Parents in 10 of the 19 families reported coresidence at the time of the 3-month assessment, and the other 9 sets of coparents lived apart. All participating families had taken part in a prenatal intervention emphasizing the importance of father engagement in childrens lives, and in all families, parents reported episodic to regular father contact with the children at 3 months. Analyses of LTP sessions revealed that 9 of the 19 families exhibited high levels of coparenting solidarity-cooperation and family warmth accompanied by low levels of coparenting competition and disengagement. Among the remaining 10 families, competitiveness (verbal sparring, interference) and/or disengagement (repeated, episodic absenting by one or both parents from the ongoing interaction) signaled strain and challenges to solidarity. Differences between the higher and lower solidarity groups were found in father-reported relationship rapport. However, coresidentiality versus noncoresidentiality of the parents did not distinguish high- from low-solidarity groups. A case analysis of one familys triadic session is presented to elucidate the rich potential for clinical intervention in triadic work with fragile family systems. Implications of the study and its findings for theory, research, and clinical work with unmarried fathers and families, along with limits of the study design and generalizability of findings, are discussed.

Introduction to the Special Section

Although two of every five births in the United States now occur outside of marriage, family scholars are still working hard to understand ways in which infantfamily dynamics evolve in these “fragile families” led by unmarried parents (both those cohabiting and those living apart). Federal initiatives to promote healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood devoted significant attention to the status and quality of unmarried parents’ romantic unions over the past 10 years, but gave far less consideration to how mothers and fathers in fragile families build coparenting relationships. This was a significant lapse. Gradually, policy experts are beginning to recognize that if positive coparenting alliances can be encouraged, even outside of marital unions, mothers, fathers, and most importantly young children may benefit substantially. This special section features new perspectives on coparenting interventions for fragile families, fresh analyses of national survey data establishing characteristics and consequences of coparenting in representative samples of unmarried families, and original data from field studies of unmarried families where typically overlooked coparenting phenomena were examined qualitatively. The section opens with a review of interventions designed to support coparenting in fragile families, as well as those marriage and relationship enhancement (MRE) and responsible fatherhood initiatives that included any explicit targeting, strengthening, and assessment of fragile family coparenting in their designs. McHale, Waller, and Pearson (2012) examine results from Access and Visitation programs for nonresidential fathers, MRE programs for low-income, unmarried couples, and the first wave

Coparenting in Europe, 2015: Celebrations of advances and cautions about misdirection

McHale, Rao, and their colleagues have been encouraging ‘emic’ approaches to the study of coparenting since the late 1990s, calling upon indigenous researchers to explore and illuminate the meaning of coparenting within their specific national and cultural contexts. Toward this end, the articles in this special section mark a watershed moment of sorts for the field of coparenting research. Family scientists from one northern European (England) and three Western European (France, Germany, and Switzerland) countries have organized to provide sightings of mother–father coparenting in four different European nations. While certainly not the first or only studies of coparenting completed in the individual countries, each article does afford a snapshot of a ‘moment in time’ that highlights issues thought by the authors to hold special salience for understanding mother–father coparenting in their country. This commentary integrates topics highlighted in the articles of this special section within a broader discussion of conceptual and methodological decision points crucial for assuring additional, generative progression of the coparenting field.