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An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children's attachment patterns with mothers and fathers "jointly" predict developmental outcomes. In this study, we used individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to assess whether early attachment networks with mothers and fathers are associated with children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Following a pre-registered protocol, data from 9 studies and 1,097 children (mean age: 28.67 months) with attachment classifications to both mothers and fathers were included in analyses. We used a linear mixed effects analysis to assess differences in children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems as assessed via the average of both maternal and paternal reports based on whether children had two, one, or no insecure (or disorganized) attachments. Results indicated that children with an insecure attachment relationship with one or both parents were at higher risk for elevated internalizing behavioral problems compared with children who were securely attached to both parents. Children whose attachment relationships with both parents were classified as disorganized had more externalizing behavioral problems compared to children with either one or no disorganized attachment relationship with their parents. Across attachment classification networks and behavioral problems, findings suggest (a) an increased vulnerability to behavioral problems when children have insecure or disorganized attachment to both parents, and (b) that mother-child and father-child attachment relationships may not differ in the roles they play in children's development of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. [This article was co-authored by the Collaboration on Attachment to Multiple Parents and Outcomes Synthesis.]

Father involvement contributes uniquely to children's developmental outcomes. The antecedents of father involvement among unmarried, African American fathers from rural areas, however, have been largely overlooked. The present study tested a conceptual model linking retrospective reports of childhood trauma and early adulthood social instability to father involvement among unmarried, African American men living in resource-poor, rural communities in the southeastern United States. We hypothesized these factors would influence father involvement indirectly, via DNA methylation of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). A sample of 192 fathers participated in 3 waves of data collection in early adulthood. Fathers reported on social instability at Wave 1; OXTR methylation was assessed via saliva samples at Wave 2; and measures of father involvement, retrospective childhood trauma, and quality of the fathers' relationships with their children's mothers were collected at Wave 3. Structural equation modeling indicated that childhood trauma was related directly to reduced levels of father involvement and to increased social instability. Social instability was associated with elevated levels of OXTR methylation, which in turn predicted decreased father involvement. The indirect effect from social instability to father involvement via OXTR methylation was significant. These associations did not operate through fathers' relationship with the child's mother and remained significant even accounting for associations between interparental relationship quality and father involvement. Findings suggest that OXTR methylation might be a biological mechanism linking social instability to father involvement among unmarried, African American fathers in vulnerable contexts and underscore the detrimental influence of childhood trauma on father involvement.

Background: Teen pregnancy is associated with increased risk of school dropout, employment challenges and long-term poverty; these risks are exacerbated for foster youth who are at elevated risk for teen pregnancy. Sex education and relationship education can facilitate the development of attitudes and skills associated with behaviors that reduce risky sexual behaviors. However, research on sex education with foster youth is limited as is research exploring the potential benefits of combining relationship education with sex education. Objective: This study examines variations in the experiences and outcomes of non-foster youth (n = 160) and foster youth (n = 165) who participated in a federally funded teen pregnancy prevention program that included both relationship and sex education. Methods: Path analysis models examined the relationship between several exogenous variables (i.e., youth characteristics, pre-program risky sexual behavior, program experience) and three endogenous variables (i.e., post-program perceived change in intercourse, condom use, and contraceptive use intentions). Multi-group analyses were used with foster youth status as a moderator to determine if the model was invariant by foster youth status. Results: Although foster youth entered programming with elevated rates of risky sexual behavior, both groups reported positive program experiences and safer sexual behavior intentions post-programming. Conclusion: Regardless of their elevated rates of risky sexual behavior prior to receiving programming, foster youth, like non-foster youth, may benefit from both relationship and sex education. For foster youth specifically, their positive program experience and reduced intentions to engage in risky sexual behaviors is an encouraging finding that contrasts with existing literature.

Prior research into the factors which contribute to religious development in adolescence has primarily focused on either societal or familial forces. The current study seeks to illuminate the role played by more mid-ranged, faith-based structures such as religious congregations and the faith traditions in which they operate. Using hierarchical linear modeling and a multi-dimensional approach to adolescent religiosity, the current study provides evidence that religious communities (both at the local and institutional level) play an important role in religious development from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Specifically, findings indicate that while parental transmission efforts significantly predict subsequent religiosity in every dimension, engagement with a religious congregation also predicts future levels of external religious practice, religious exclusivity, and belief in the supernatural. Furthermore, affiliation with a faith tradition that more highly prioritizes youth integration predicts future levels of personal religious practice. Implications for religion researchers, parents, and religious communities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parent-child conversations about shared events may facilitate important aspects of psychosocial development through the family's references to emotions. Although past research has begun examining features of speakers and topics that predict emotion talk in these conversations, the potential contribution of personality traits has been overlooked. The current study investigated whether parental personality and participant gender were related to emotion talk during conversations between parents and their 5-year-old children. Results revealed discussion differences as a function of gender and discussion topic. Moreover, higher levels of trait Social Closeness in mothers corresponded to their richer emotional talk during discussions, particularly when conversing with daughters.

An individual participant data meta‐analysis was conducted to test pre‐registered hypotheses about how the configuration of attachment relationships to mothers and fathers predicts children's language competence. Data from seven studies (published between 1985 and 2014) including 719 children (Mage: 19.84 months; 51% female; 87% White) were included in the linear mixed effects analyses. Mean language competence scores exceeded the population average across children with different attachment configurations. Children with two secure attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one or no secure attachment relationships (d =.26). Children with two organized attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one organized attachment relationship (d =.23), and this difference was observed in older versus younger children in exploratory analyses. Mother–child and father–child attachment quality did not differentially predict language competence, supporting the comparable importance of attachment to both parents in predicting developmental outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how child temperament was related to parents' time spent accessible to and interacting with their 2-year-olds. Bivariate analyses indicated that both fathers and mothers spent more time with temperamentally challenging children than easier children on workdays, but fathers spent less time with challenging children than easier children on non-workdays. After accounting for work hours, some associations between temperament and fathers' workday involvement dropped to non-significance. For fathers, work hours also moderated the relation between irregular temperament and workday play. For mothers, work hours moderated the relation between both difficult and irregular temperament and workday interaction. Mothers also spent more time with girls (but not boys) who were temperamentally irregular. Results speak to the influence of child temperament on parenting behavior, and the differential construction of parenting roles as a function of child characteristics and patterns of work. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)

This study examined associations between supportive coparenting and infant-mother and infant-father attachment security. Observed and parent-reported coparenting, and observed maternal and paternal sensitivity were assessed in a sample of 68 families with 3.5-month-old infants. Infant-mother and infant-father attachment security were assessed in the Strange Situation Procedure at 12 and 13 months of age, respectively. Observed and reported supportive coparenting were associated with greater attachment security in the infant-father, but not the infant-mother, attachment relationship. The link between observed coparenting and infant-father attachment remained after accounting for paternal sensitivity. Furthermore, child gender moderated some associations between coparenting and infant-parent attachment security. Amongst families with boys, observed and reported supportive coparenting were related to greater infant-mother and infant-father attachment security, respectively. Coparenting was unrelated to infant-mother or infant-father attachment security amongst families with girls. Results highlight a possible link between the coparental and father-child relationships and the need to consider both parent and child gender when examining associations between family functioning and attachment. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

The present research examined five-year-old children's psychological self-concepts. Non-linear factor analysis was used to model the latent structure of the children's self-view questionnaire (CSVQ; Eder, 1990), a measure of children's self-concepts. The coherence and reliability of the emerging factor structure indicated that young children are capable of meaningfully reporting about their own emotions and personalities. Moreover, these self-reports from five-year-olds converged with maternal perceptions of child personality. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the study of emergent personality, continuity/discontinuity in personality assessment across the lifespan, and self-concept formation in early childhood.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether mothers' beliefs about the role of the father may contribute to mothers influencing the quantity of father involvement in their children's lives. Participants were 30 two-parent families with children between the ages of 2 and 3 years. A combination of self-report and interview data were collected from both mothers and fathers. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that fathers' perceived investments in their parental roles and actual levels of paternal involvement are moderated by mothers' beliefs about the role of the father. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for future research on parenting identity and maternal gatekeeping as well as the development of parenting programs for fathers.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of early parenting on later parental school involvement and student achievement. The sample, pulled from the 1st and 2nd waves of the Child Development Supplement data set of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, consisted of 390 children age 2-5 at Time 1 and their families. Fathers' and mothers' participation in 5 dimensions of early parenting behaviors was assessed at Time 1, and later parental school involvement and student achievement were assessed at Time 2. Although early paternal and maternal parenting behaviors were not directly related to later student achievement, differences were revealed in the pattern of relationships between early parenting and later parental school involvement for fathers and mothers. In addition, fathers' later school involvement was found to be negatively related to student achievement, whereas maternal school involvement was found to be positively related to student achievement. These findings provide partial support for the hypothesized differential relationship between fathers' and mothers' early parenting and later student achievement. Keywords: father involvement, early parenting, achievement

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2008.00268.x Byline: ELIZABETH A. CANNON (*), SARAH J. SCHOPPE-SULLIVAN (*), SARAH C. MANGELSDORF ([dagger]), GEOFFREY L. BROWN ([dagger]), MARGARET SZEWCZYK SOKOLOWSKI ([double dagger]) Keywords: Maternal Gatekeeping; Fathering; Coparenting; Transition to Parenthood; Idealization; Communion Abstract: The present study examined the role of prebirth parent characteristics as predictors of maternal gatekeeping (mothers' attempts to encourage or discourage fathers' interaction with their infant) and fathering behavior. Parents' idealization of their relationships within their families of origin, beliefs about the roles of fathers, and personality attributes (negative emotionality and communion) were assessed before their infant's birth. At 3.5 months postpartum, maternal gatekeeping behaviors (negative control, facilitation) and fathers' involvement and competence with their infants were assessed during observation of triadic play and child care. Results suggest reciprocal relations between maternal gatekeeping and fathering behavior. Furthermore, greater paternal communion was associated with greater paternal competence during play, whereas greater maternal communion was associated with lower paternal competence during child care. Greater maternal communion and greater maternal idealization related to fathers' lower relative involvement during play. As for maternal gatekeeping behavior, high negative emotionality in 1 parent was only accompanied by high levels of inhibitory maternal gatekeeping when the other parent had less progressive beliefs about the father's role. The implications of these findings for clinicians and practitioners are discussed. Abstract (French) RESUMEN El presente estudio examino el papel de las caracteristicas de los padres y las madres antes del nacimiento de su hijo como factores pronostico del control por parte de las madres (sus intentos de alentar o disuadir la interaccion de los padres con sus hijos) y la conducta paternal. La idealizacion por parte de los padres de sus relaciones en sus familias de origen, sus creencias sobre los roles de los padres, y sus caracteristicas personales (emocionalidad negativa y expresion de sentimientos) fueron evaluadas antes del nacimiento del nino. A los 3 meses y medio despues del parto, las conductas de control de las madres (control negativo, facilitacion) y la implicacion de los padres y su habilidad con sus hijos fueron evaluadas durante observaciones de interaccion triadica y atencion al bebe. Los resultados sugieren relaciones reciprocas entre el control materno y la conducta de los padres. Ademas, el hecho de que los padres compartiesen mas sus sentimientos se vio asociado con una mayor habilidad de estos durante las interacciones, mientras que la expresion de los sentimientos por parte de las madres se vio asociada a una menor habilidad de los padres en los cuidados del bebe. El hecho de que las madres compartiesen mas sus sentimientos e idealizasen mas se vio asociado a una menor implicacion relativa de los padres durante las interacciones. En cuanto a la conducta de control de las madres, una mayor emocionalidad negativa en los padres o las madres siempre se veia acompanada de altos niveles de control inhibidor por parte de las madres cuando sus parejas creian estar progresando menos en su papel como padres. Se discuten las implicaciones de estos resultados para los medicos y los profesionales de clinica.Palabras clave: control materno, paternidad, coparentalidad, transicion a la paternidad, idealizacion, compartir sentimientos Author Affiliation: (*)Department of Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. ([dagger])Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL. ([double dagger])Naperville, IL. Article note: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elizabeth A. Cannon, Department of Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University, 1787 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210. E-mail: cannon.104@osu.edu.

This study examined the parenting predictors of father-child attachment security in early childhood. Results suggest that multiple dimensions of fathers' parenting quality moderated the associations between father involvement, in its [...]