Jean L. McHale

Associations between coparenting and marital behavior from infancy to the preschool years.

This study examined the associations between coparenting and marital behavior from infancy to the preschool years. Coparenting and marital behavior were assessed in 46 families during observations of family play and marital discussions at 6 months and 3 years. Both coparenting and marital behavior showed moderate stability from 6 months to 3 years. In addition, coparenting and marital behavior were more consistently associated at 3 years than at 6 months. When the predictive capabilities of early coparenting and marital behavior for later coparenting and marital behavior were considered, early coparenting predicted later marital behavior but not vice versa. This study highlights the importance of early coparenting behavior, especially undermining coparenting behavior, for understanding both subsequent coparenting behavior and subsequent marital behavior.

Infant attachment: Contributions of infant temperament and maternal characteristics

This study examined the joint contributions of maternal characteristics and infant characteristics to quality of attachment. When infants were 8 months, one hundred and two mothers and their infants completed a videotaped interaction and infants completed a laboratory assessment of temperament. Mothers completed personality and infant temperament questionnaires. At 12 months, infant mother attachment quality was measured in the Strange Situation. In a discriminant function analysis using both child and maternal characteristics, seventy-eight percentage of infants were correctly classified as secure, resistant, or avoidant. Insecurely attached infants were higher on activity and distress to novelty and had mothers who were lower on Constraint than securely attached infants. Infants classified as avoidant were lower on positive affect and higher on fearfulness and had mothers lower on positive affectivity than infants classified as resistant. The results of this study point to the importance of examining both parent and child characteristics in the prediction of attachment.