About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 9. Family Context & Processes

Abstract

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The transition to parenthood (TTP) is a salient period characterized by the burgeoning coparenting relationship, within which parents renegotiate their roles and parenting responsibilities to ensure their family's well-being (Feinberg et al., 2012). The TTP is also a period of upheaval of one’s individual identity, during which feelings of incompetence are prevalent and support from loved ones is essential (Lévesque et al., 2020). A fundamental feature of the coparenting relationship, coparenting support evaluates the degree to which one perceives their partner as supporting them, as a teammate in caring for their child (Feinberg et al., 2012). The quality of this relationship has repercussions on toddlers’ emotional regulation development (Altenburger et al., 2017). Coparental support in child rearing is considered a critical socialization factor in toddlers’ socioemotional adaptation (Teubert & Pinquart, 2010).
Self-determination theory may provide additional understanding of the mechanisms that underlie this relationship. It considers its quality in perception of support and/or thwarting of three psychological needs (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Examining both partners’ perceived competence support, a psychological need (i.e., feeling confident in achieving one's own goals; Ryan & Deci, 2017), may provide distinct understanding to their perception of their coparenting dynamic. For instance, perceived competence thwarting may promote coparenting undermining, and may distract parents from their child’s needs (Karreman et al., 2008). The oppositive may be true for perceived competence support.
Studies have examined links between coparenting and child outcomes (e.g., temperament; Solmeyer & Feinberg, 2011) and between parental need support and toddlers’ socioemotional adaptation (e.g., Laurin & Joussemet, 2017). To our knowledge, no studies have focused on coparenting, parents’ perceived competence support and toddlers’ socioemotional development throughout the TTP. This study’s objective was to use dyadic analyses to determine whether coparents’ perceived competence support from their spouse at 12 months may be a mediator for perceived coparenting support at 6 months and parents’ evaluation of toddlers’ socioemotional competence at 18 months. Given the role that parental fatigue can have on coparenting interactions during the TTP (Martin & Fabes, 2006), it was controlled.
When children were 6, 12 and 18 months old (T1, T2 and T3, respectively), 205 primiparous couples (n=4 same-sex couples) in two-parent families completed online questionnaires that included the Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire (Rocchi et al., 2017), the Coparenting Relationship Scale (Feinberg et al., 2012), the Fatigue Assessment Scale (Michielsen et al., 2003) and the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (Wendland et al., 2014).
Results from an APIM analysis on AMOS 28 revealed significant actor indirect effect for fathers/partners, but not mothers. Specifically, fathers/partners’ perceived coparenting support (T1) was related to fathers/partners’ reported socioemotional development of their toddler (T3) (b=.053,t=1.51,p=.033) through their perceived competence support (T2), supporting our hypothesis and a partial mediation (direct link:b=.219,p=.002). No direct or indirect effects were found for childbearing mothers, and no partner effects were found either.
There results suggest that throughout the TTP, fathers/partners’ perceived competence support provides additional information in the mechanisms that underlie coparenting and its association to toddlers’ socioemotional adaptation, beyond that of the childbearing mother.

Author information

Author	Role
Rachel Perrier, Universite de Montreal	Presenting author
Julie C. Laurin, Universite de Montreal	Non-presenting author

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