Two Decades of Coparenting Research: A Scoping Review

Abstract

In response to recent theoretical advances in coparenting and increased scholarly interest, coparenting research in resident families has burgeoned in the past twenty years making it difficult to assess primary findings. This review integrates findings from the research and provides an overview of supported conclusions, offering access to the research in a manageable and approachable form. Research evidence demonstrates how the characteristics of each parent, the state of their romantic relationship, the contexts in which they reside, and their child’s characteristics all influence how they function as a coparental team. Positive coparenting, in turn, leads to better marital relationships, greater parental well-being, more paternal involvement, and positive children’s development. Implications of these findings for practitioners and suggested areas of research are also discussed.

Keywords:

• coparenting
• family relations
• father involvement
• maternal gatekeeping
• parenting

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).