(PS6-15) Investigating the Moderating Impact of Coparenting on the Longitudinal Relationships Between Toddler Externalizing Problems and Parent Outcomes During Middle Childhood

Child externalizing problems (CEPs) are highly stressful for parents to manage. Robust evidence underscores that elevated CEPs predict subsequent increases in parent depression, negative parenting behavior, and interparental conflict, as well as subsequent decreases in positive parenting behavior and interparental support. The coparenting relationship has been identified as a risk mechanism that interacts with other parent and child factors to amplify or mitigate vulnerability for pathological outcomes. However, it is unknown whether coparenting moderates the prospective link between CEPs and parenting outcomes. Given that most U.S. children live in two-parent households, it is crucial to learn whether the coparenting relationship might serve as a protective factor for parents managing CEPs. Doing so could support the use of coparenting interventions to prevent deleterious parent outcomes and help disrupt the coercive cycle for families including young children with elevated externalizing concerns. The current study aims to address these gaps by examining the effects of toddlers’ externalizing problems on parent outcomes during middle childhood, and whether any of the effects might be strengthened or weakened by the coparenting relationship.

A sample of 308 parents were recruited through hospitals as part of a previous longitudinal coparenting intervention study. The current study used data collected when the child was 2 years of age (i.e., T1) and 7 years of age (i.e., T2). Control variables collected at T1 included intervention status, parent age, socioeconomic strain, child gender, and outcome-related variables of interest (e.g., T1 parent depression). Parent-reported CEPs and positive/negative coparenting were also collected at T1. Outcome variables collected at T2 included parent-reported overreactivity, depression, anxiety, interparental relationship quality, and divorce proneness.

Hierarchical linear regressions indicated negative coparenting interacted with CEPs to predict parent depression (β  = –0.242, p < 0.05; ΔR² = 0.009), such that the positive association between T1 CEPs and T2 parent depression weakened as negative coparenting increased. Negative coparenting also interacted with CEPs to predict divorce proneness (β  = 0.295, p < 0.05; ΔR² = 0.014), such that the association between T1 CEPs and T2 parent divorce proneness strengthened as negative coparenting increased. CEPs did not interact with positive or negative coparenting to predict any other outcome.

Higher levels of CEPs predicted greater divorce proneness, and this effect was amplified among parents with higher negative coparenting. Unexpectedly, higher levels of negative coparenting also appeared to mitigate the impact of T1 CEPs on T2 parent depression. Further research is needed to confirm results and explore mechanisms by which coparenting influences the effect of CEPs on parent outcomes. This may clarify the role that coparenting plays within families experiencing CEPs.