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This study aimed to understand the strategies families used to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, and their effects on family, parent, child, and couple functioning and well-being. In April and May 2020, and again one month later, 277 parents from 174 families who previously participated in a trial of a family preventive intervention were invited to participate in an online survey regarding the pandemic. Parents completed measures regarding family cohesion, couple coparenting and relationship quality, parenting quality, and parent and child mental health and well-being. Parents were asked to share the coping strategies they found most effective, and responses were coded into four groups: Family Unity, Healthy Habits, Adaptability, and Child-Focused. Adaptability was associated with increases in couple relationship quality but also in child internalizing and externalizing behaviors from Month 1 to Month 2. The results suggest that the strategies parents use may have differing effects on parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of this study was to assess the factor structure and the measurement invariance of the Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS) across 10 countries based on the seven-factor coparenting model (i.e., Coparenting Agreement, Coparenting Closeness, Exposure to Conflict, Coparenting Support, Endorsement of Partner's Parenting; Division of Labor) proposed by Feinberg (2003). The results of research on coparenting from numerous countries have documented its foundational importance for parent mental health, family relationship quality, child development, and psychopathology. Yet, a cross-country perspective is still lacking. Such a perspective can provide insight into which dimensions of coparenting are universally recognized and which are especially prone to variation. A unique multinational data set, comprised of 15 individual studies collected across 10 countries (Belgium, Brazil, China, Israel, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, USA) in nine languages was established (N = 9,292; 51.1% mothers). Measurement invariance analyses were conducted. A six-factor structure (original seven factors minus Division of Labor) of the measure was consistent across the different contexts and measurement invariance was achieved at the configural level. There was no support for metric or scalar invariance. These findings provide a basis for the CRS to be used across countries and should inspire future quantitative and qualitative research in cross-country coparenting research to understand what aspects are universal and what aspects of coparenting are linked to specific material, relational, or ideational conditions that underlie high-quality coparenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aims to test the reliability and validity of the Swedish translation of the Brief Coparenting Relationship Scale (B‐CRS) among Swedish fathers. Background: The transition to parenthood is a challenging period for many parents, but high‐quality coparenting can promote parental mental health, self‐efficacy, positive parenting skills, and children's healthy development. However, no study has validated a measure of coparenting for Swedish parents. In addition, it is unknown whether primiparous and multiparous fathers' coparenting differs. Method: For this pilot study, 170 fathers of infants participated in an online survey and completed a follow‐up survey 6 months later. Results: t‐Tests comparing primiparous and multiparous fathers showed no significant differences, and, therefore, these participants were grouped together for subsequent analyses. This reinforces that the coparenting relationship, is consistent and thus reflects its importance for couples to develop high‐quality coparenting with their first child. Consistent with previous research from other countries, this study demonstrates good internal consistency with the B‐CRS. Six subscales were highly correlated with the overall B‐CRS score: Coparenting Agreement, Endorsement of Partner's Parenting, Coparenting Closeness, Coparenting Support, Coparenting Undermining, and Exposure to Conflict. Better coparenting quality, as measured by the B‐CRS, was linked to lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of father–infant bonding. Conclusions: These results support the use of the B‐CRS in Sweden as a reliable and valid measure of coparenting. Implications: Coparenting should be given greater consideration in future studies of new parent experiences and adjustment in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This article examines whether family resilience can be enhanced among military families via an online prevention program for military couples at the transition to parenthood. Background: Military families experience normative stressors similar to those of civilian families, as well as military‐specific stressors, such as deployment, frequent moves, and uncertainty. Method: Participants were 56 heterosexual couples who, at the time of recruitment, were expecting their first child and were living together (regardless of marital status). Mothers and fathers completed measures online: Pretest was administered upon recruitment during pregnancy, and posttest was administered at 6 months postpartum. After pretest, couples were randomized to control and intervention conditions; intervention couples were provided access to the online version of Family Foundations. Results: Although outcomes require replication given the sample size and issues with attrition, results indicated significant program impact, with moderate to strong effect sizes, on parent depression, mothers' report of coparenting support, and infant mood and soothability. Conclusion: These results suggest online delivery of prevention programming is a potentially effective means of enhancing military family well‐being—and thus resilience. Implications: Low‐cost and effective support for military families is possible via online modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to parenthood is a common yet stressful experience faced by many young and midlife adults, and the risk of cardiometabolic conditions also begins to rise at this time. Consequently, parenthood represents an opportune time to intervene with adults to support their psychological and physical health. We examined whether the benefits of the Family Foundations program, a perinatal preventative intervention promoting positive coparenting, extend beyond documented mental health and family relationship outcomes to better cardiometabolic risk factors among parents. We analyzed data from 183 couples (n = 366 participants) who, eight years prior, were randomly assigned to the 9-session perinatal preventative intervention program or a control condition. We collected dried blood spots to measure C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and cholesterol; parents also reported on their self-rated health. Randomization to the intervention condition was associated with lower cholesterol (B=−.081, p =.049). Among parents who demonstrated more negative communication styles at pretest (during pregnancy), the intervention was further associated with better self-rated health (B=.181, p =.018). Participation in the intervention program was also marginally associated with lower CRP (B=−.261, p =.077), particularly among mothers (B=−.428, p =.076). These findings indicate that coparenting-focused interventions, such as Family Foundations, can lead to benefits beyond psychosocial and behavioral outcomes, and suggest that Family Foundations may improve parents' longer-term physical health, with potentially more benefits among couples who demonstrated more negative communication styles during pregnancy. • Long-term effects of Family Foundations, a coparenting intervention, were examined. • Outcomes were C-reactive protein, Interleukin-6, cholesterol, self-reported health. • Parents in the intervention group had better health at follow-up. • Parents with more negative communication styles at baseline may benefit more. • Even purely psychosocial interventions can impact physical health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the impact of Family Foundations, a transition‐to‐parenting intervention, on parent and child outcomes 2 years after birth. Background: Couples transitioning to parenthood face many stressors and challenges that are not typically addressed through commonly available childbirth preparatory classes. The Family Foundations program was designed for couples expecting their first child and addresses family stressors related to coparenting, parenting, and mental health. Method: The recruited sample of 399 couples expecting their first child were randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions. Data were obtained through home observation and parent surveys before and after intervention. Results: Intent‐to‐treat analyses indicated effects on several targeted domains including coparenting, parenting, and relationship quality, as well as on child sleep habits and internalizing behavior problems at 2 years of age. Effects for several outcomes were larger for those couples at greater risk based on pretest‐observed negative dyadic communication styles. Conclusion: Longer‐term impact found here on parent and child outcomes provides new evidence of the effectiveness of this program for first‐time parents. Implications: Programs directed toward broader issues related to aspects of coparenting, parenting, and mental health have the potential to have longer‐term positive impact on the couples and the developing child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines long-term effects of a transition to parenthood program, Family Foundations, designed to enhance child outcomes through a strategic focus on supporting the coparenting relationship. Roughly 5 to 7 years after baseline (pregnancy), parent and teacher reports of internalizing and externalizing problems and school adjustment were collected by mail for 98 children born to couples enrolled in the randomized trial. Teachers reported significantly lower levels of internalizing problems among children in the intervention group compared with children in the control group and, consistent with prior findings at age 3, lower levels of externalizing problems for boys in the intervention group. Baseline level of observed couple negative communication moderated intervention effects for parent and teacher report of child adjustment and teacher report of school adjustment and adaptation. Effect sizes ranged from 0.40 to 0.98. Results indicate that relatively brief preventive programs for couples at the transition to parenthood have the capacity to promote long-term positive benefits for children's adjustment. Although we attended to missing data issues in several ways, high levels of attrition in this long-term follow-up study is a cause for caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We explored how parent gender, infant temperament, and coparenting dynamics worked together to shape mothers’ and fathers’ depressive symptoms, stress, and parental efficacy during early parenthood. We were interested in the coparenting relationship as a context that shapes how parents respond to their infant''s temperamental qualities. Participants were 139 couples who had recently given birth to their first child. Parent reports of temperament were collected when the infant was 4–8 months old and reports of coparenting and parent adjustment were collected at 13 months. Two-level random intercept models revealed interactions between temperament and coparenting, highlighting the family system as a context for how men and women adapt to their parenting role. There was little evidence for mother–father differences in these associations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigated the ability of a psychosocial prevention program implemented through childbirth education programs to enhance the coparental and couple relationship, parental mental health, the parent-child relationship, and child outcomes. A sample of 169 heterosexual, adult couples expecting their first child was randomized to intervention and control conditions. The intervention families participated in Family Foundations, a series of eight classes delivered before and after birth, which was designed as a universal prevention program (i.e., applicable to all couples, not just those at high risk). Intent-to-treat analyses utilizing data collected from child age 6 months through 3 years indicated significant program effects on parental stress and self-efficacy, coparenting, harsh parenting, and children's emotional adjustment among all families, and maternal depression among cohabiting couples. Among families of boys, program effects were found for child behavior problems and couple relationship quality. These results indicate that a universal prevention approach at the transition to parenthood focused on enhancing family relationships can have a significant and substantial positive impact on parent and child well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the ability of a theoretically driven, psychosocial prevention program implemented through childbirth education programs to enhance the coparental relationship, parental mental health, the parent-child relationship, and infant emotional and physiological regulation. A sample of 169 heterosexual, adult couples who were expecting their 1st child was randomized to intervention and control conditions. The intervention families participated in Family Foundations, a series of 8 classes, delivered before and after birth, that was designed as a universal prevention program (i.e., it was applicable to all couples, not just those at high risk). Intent-to-treat analyses indicated significant program effects on coparental support, maternal depression and anxiety, distress in the parent-child relationship, and several indicators of infant regulation. Intervention effects were not moderated by income, but greater positive impact of the program was found for lower educated parents and for families with a father who reported higher levels of insecure attachment in close relationships. These findings support the view that coparenting is a potentially malleable intervention target that may influence family relationships as well as parent and child well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to examine contextual (daily relationship quality, daily stressors, daily work hours), parent (daily negative emotions, gender), and child factors (daily child-induced parenting stress) as predictors of mothers' and fathers' perceptions of daily coparenting quality. Mothers and fathers from 174 families completed a 14-day diary study. Utilizing multilevel modeling, our results suggest that daily coparenting is multidetermined. Indeed, daily fluctuations in coparenting were predicted by similar daily fluctuations in couple relationship quality, parent negative mood, parenting stress, and father work hours. Moreover, as daily risk factors accumulated the quality of daily coparenting deteriorated further, suggesting that a buildup of stressors and daily difficulties may be particularly detrimental to parents' abilities to cooperate with one another and coordinate their parenting together on a daily basis. Overall, our results suggest that there are many avenues through which we can intervene in the family system to improve the quality of daily coparenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This randomized trial tested the impact of an established prevention program for first-time parents, Family Foundations, adapted for low-income mothers and fathers as a series of sessions provided to couples in their homes. To assess program impact, we recruited and randomly assigned a sample of 150 low-income adult mother–father dyads (not necessarily still romantically involved, cohabiting, or married) during pregnancy or shortly after birth. The randomly assigned intervention families participated in Family Foundations Home Visiting (FFHV), consisting of 11 in-home sessions focusing on parental cooperation, collaboration, and conflict management to support children's development. Complier average causal effect (CACE) analysis was used to examine program impact on parental adjustment and parenting for families completing nine or more program sessions. Results indicated significant positive complier effects for mothers' and fathers' reports of depression, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, coping with stress, and psychological aggression by fathers toward mothers at post-intervention, controlling for pre-intervention scores. Intervention parents also demonstrated higher levels of affection, engagement, and sensitivity with the infant based on observer coding of videotaped parent–child interactions. These findings indicate that the focus of Family Foundations on enhancing coparenting offers similar benefits for low-income parents and children who are compliers as has the group-format Family Foundations (FF) version in trials with universal samples of cohabiting or married parents. Results are discussed in terms of implications for home visiting, engaging fathers, and optimizing child outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is a need to adapt effective parenting interventions for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. • Researchers have called for detailed documentation of adaptation processes undertaken. • We present a successfully implemented, five-phase adaptation process. • Research on adaptations in community contexts is required to maximize child and family well-being. The purpose of this paper is to describe a community-engaged evidence-based program (EBP) adaptation process informed by existing frameworks that incorporates program theory and recommendations from professionals and members of the target population, or parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To inform adaptation, we conducted qualitative interviews, recorded detailed process notes, convened an implementation team, and completed a pilot study of the adapted program. We present a five-phase, systematic adaptation process that resulted in Autism Parent Navigators , a 6-week in-home coparenting program delivered by peer support parents to parents of young children recently diagnosed with ASD. The adaptation process highlighted could be used to adapt other EBPs for ASD. Future research on adaptation processes used in community contexts is imperative to maximize the potential for EBPs to improve well-being for children with ASD and their parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The couple and coparenting relationships are demonstrated to be prospectively and bidirectionally associated over months to years during the early parenting years. However, little is known about these associations at the daily level within the first year of parenthood, when coparenting first emerges. The goal of the current study was to examine the association between couples' daily feelings of relationship closeness and coparenting support in first-time parents and determine directionality of these effects using a dyadic daily diary design. At 10 months postpartum, heterosexual couples (N = 141 dyads) completed daily diaries for 8 consecutive days. An autoregressive cross-lagged model was incorporated within an Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling framework to examine at the daily level: (a) within-person cross-day associations between relationship closeness and coparenting support, (b) cross-partner cross-day associations within relationship closeness and coparenting support, (c) cross-partner cross-day associations between relationship closeness and coparenting support, and (d) gender differences in these associations. Results revealed a prospective, within person bidirectional link between daily relationship closeness and perceived coparenting support for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, an indirect effect from mothers' experiences of coparenting support to fathers' relationship closeness through fathers' experiences of coparenting support was found at the daily level. Findings highlight the interdependent nature of the couple and coparenting relationship at the daily level during the first year of parenthood and suggest that mothers' feeling supported by their coparenting partners may facilitate a "virtuous cycle" between coparenting support and relationship closeness early in the coparenting relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]