a Research Institute of Child Development and Education , University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , the Netherlands.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2018 Jul-Aug;47(4):569-580. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2015.1121823. Epub 2016 Feb 24.
This study investigated the bidirectional relations between two dimensions of coparenting (the way parental figures cooperate in parenting), undermining and support, and child fearful temperament longitudinally from infancy to toddlerhood, while inspecting the moderating role of parents' anxiety disorders. Questionnaire data on coparenting and child fearful temperament were obtained from 135 mothers, fathers, and their firstborns at 4 months, 12 months, and 30 months. Parental anxiety disorder severity was assessed with a semistructured interview before the birth of the child. Multilevel analysis revealed that, across measurement moments, undermining coparenting, but not supportive coparenting, was concurrently related to higher child fearful temperament. Parental anxiety disorder severity was related to more undermining coparenting but not to supportive coparenting. No moderation effects for parental anxiety disorder or for parent gender were found in the relations between coparenting and child fearful temperament. We conclude that more parental anxiety is related to a lower quality of the coparenting relationship, which in turn is associated to more child fearful temperament. More specifically, it appears that undermining coparenting, and not supportive coparenting, is related to child fearful temperament and parental anxiety disorder severity. Our results suggest that undermining coparenting, by both father and mother, is one of the mechanisms that may contribute to the intergenerational transmission of anxiety from parent to child. The coparenting relationship may be a useful target in the prevention and treatment of child anxiety.
这项研究从婴儿期到幼儿期,调查了亲代合作(父母合作育儿的方式)的两个维度(合作和支持)与儿童恐惧气质之间的双向关系,同时检查了父母焦虑障碍的调节作用。在孩子出生前,通过半结构化访谈评估了父母的焦虑障碍严重程度。从 4 个月、12 个月和 30 个月的 135 位母亲、父亲和他们的长子/长女那里获得了亲代合作和儿童恐惧气质的问卷调查数据。多水平分析显示,在整个测量时刻,破坏亲代合作,但不是支持亲代合作,与更高的儿童恐惧气质有关。父母焦虑障碍的严重程度与更多的破坏亲代合作有关,而不是支持亲代合作。在亲代合作与儿童恐惧气质之间的关系中,没有发现父母焦虑障碍或父母性别有调节作用。我们的结论是,更多的父母焦虑与亲代合作关系质量下降有关,而这种关系质量下降又与儿童恐惧气质有关。更具体地说,似乎是破坏亲代合作,而不是支持亲代合作,与儿童恐惧气质和父母焦虑障碍严重程度有关。我们的研究结果表明,父亲和母亲的破坏亲代合作是焦虑从父母传给孩子的代际传递的机制之一。亲代合作关系可能是预防和治疗儿童焦虑的一个有用目标。