The Role of Infant Temperament in Stability and Change in Coparenting Across the First Year of Life

SYNOPSIS

Objective . The current study investigated the role of infant temperament in stability and change in coparenting behavior across the infant's first year. Specifically, bidirectional relations between infant temperament and coparenting were examined, and temperament was further considered as a moderator of longitudinal stability in coparenting behavior. Design . Fifty-six two-parent families were recruited to participate during their third trimester of pregnancy. Coparenting behavior was assessed in families' homes when infants were age 3.5 months and in a laboratory setting at 13-months postpartum. Mothers and fathers also reported on their infant's temperamental difficulty at 3.5 and 13 months. Results . Evidence for bidirectional relations between infant temperament and coparenting was obtained. Early infant difficulty, as reported by fathers, was associated with a decrease in supportive coparenting behavior across time; conversely, early supportive coparenting behavior was associated with a decrease in infant difficulty. Moreover, infant difficult temperament moderated stability in undermining coparenting behavior, such that undermining behavior at 3.5 months predicted undermining behavior at 13 months only when infants had less difficult temperaments. Conclusions . Infants play a role in the early course of the family processes that shape their development. With respect to practice, early intervention in the coparenting subsystem is essential for families, particularly those with temperamentally difficult infants.

ACKNOWLEdGEMENTS

This investigation is part of a longitudinal study of family development conducted at the University of Illinois, and was funded by support for the second author's dissertation research from the University of Illinois. Portions of this paper were presented at the 2007 Society for Research in Child Development biennial meeting, Boston, Massachusetts. We wish to thank the families who participated in this study and the individuals who contributed to data collection and coding, especially Kathy Anderson, Katie Bliss, Catherine Buckley, Brieanne Kraft, and Margaret Szewczyk Sokolowski. Thanks also to Carolyn Reed for helpful comments on this manuscript.