Parental relationship quality and children's behavioural problems: Childcare quality as a protective factor?

Objective: This study investigates how changes in parental relationship quality relate to children's socio-emotional development during early childhood and whether high-quality early childcare arrangements may act as a protective factor in children’s environments. Background: We draw on family systems theory and the bioecological model of human development to conceptualise how different social environments may interact in their influences on children's socio-emotional development during early childhood and across the transition to primary school. Method: Based on a pooled sample of 636 US-American children who took part in the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development (SECCYD), we applied fixed-effects panel models to three time points between age 3 and first grade. Results: Whereas changes in parental relationships quality were not significant in predicting children's socio-emotional development from age 3 to 4.5 years, our results showed that a reduction in parental relationship quality was moderately associated with an increase in behaviour problems of children across the transition to first grade. We did not find any evidence of mitigating effects of the child-specific process quality of the ECEC arrangement, neither for informal nor formal care settings. Conclusion: The results suggest that initiatives designed to improve a couple’'s relationship quality might also be an effective way to further their children’s socio-emotional development.

Perceptions of Parent Behavior and Self-Concealment in Emerging Adults

The tendency to conceal personal information from others that an individual perceives as negative or distressing (i.e., self-concealment). The tendency to “keep secrets” has been associated with negative health and emotional outcomes. While parent behaviors have shown to influence the development of self-concealment among children and adolescents, less is known about self-concealment among college-age adults where parental influences are less direct. This study examined perceptions of parenting style and parental relationship quality on the tendency to self-conceal in a sample of 772 college students. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were computed to analyze the sequential effects of parenting variables (relationship quality and parenting style) on self-concealment. Overall, higher levels of self-concealment in males were found. Effects of perceived parenting style on self-concealment showed differential effects by gender. Among male students, more favorable relationship quality with the father was linked to lower levels of self-concealment while a more Permissive maternal parenting style was associated with greater self-concealment. In females, both father and mother relationship quality were inversely related to self-concealment (more positive relationship quality, less self-concealment). Greater paternal Authoritative parenting style and lower maternal Authoritarian parenting style were associated with lower levels of self-concealment among female students. Findings suggest that perceived parenting behaviors may continue to influence important behavioral tendencies (in this study self-concealment) into emerging adulthood.

PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP QUALITY, FAMILY STRUCTURE HISTORY, AND THE FORMATION OF FIRST UNION IN THE UNITED STATES

This research examines the influence of family structure and parental relationship quality on young adults' first union formation (marriage and cohabitation) from the ages of 16 to 35. This study also examines whether the impact of the family varies significantly by age. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, an event history analysis is conducted to address how the mechanisms of social learning by family affect the timing and types of first union formation. This research shows an individual with lower parental relationship quality and parental divorce cohabit during adolescence and early adulthood to leave the familial conflict home environment. Furthermore, intact family and higher relationship quality between parents are associated with a greater likelihood of marriage than cohabitation. This study suggests that parental divorce during adolescence affects the timing and types of the first union formation. In contrast, parental divorce in the later stage of the transition to adulthood is not associated with the first family formation behavior. Although young adults with different levels of parental relationship quality had the same rates of marriage, lower marital relationship quality is associated with higher rates of cohabitating. Adolescents who suffer from parental divorce and lower parental relationship quality with better socioeconomic status have lower rates of cohabitating but the same odds of marrying with lower socioeconomic status counterparts. These findings suggest that future policy should include socioeconomic factors in assessing parents' relationships and their offspring's family formation behaviors

Children’s Living Arrangements After Divorce and the Quality of the Father-Child Relationship; Father Involvement as an Important Underlying Mechanism

Using data from the multi-actor Divorce in Flanders survey, this study aimed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of linkages between children’s living arrangements after divorce and father-child relationship quality. First, we tested whether father involvement and co-parental relationship quality explained linkages between living arrangements and father-child relationship quality. Second, we examined whether child’s loyalty conflicts and child’s sex moderated associations between living arrangements and father-child relationship quality. Finally, we explored whether results differed when fathers or children reported on their relationship. Results show that father-child relationship quality (irrespectively of the reporter) was significantly higher for children living in JPC but only compared to children who live solely with their mother. Furthermore, father involvement explained the association between living arrangements and father-child relationship quality (again irrespectively of the reporter). The co-parental relationship also explained part of this association, but only when children reported on father-child relationship quality. The association between children’s living arrangement and father-child relationship quality was stronger for sons than daughters. This association did not differ by loyalty conflicts. These findings highlight the importance of enabling fathers to remain involved after divorce and having a positive co-parental relationship for maintaining high quality relationships between fathers and children.