Mother's coparental regulation behavior to father in the challenging time of child rearing

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24330191
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: KATO Michiyo 東北大学, 教育学研究科(研究院), 教授 (60312526)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KAMIYA Tetsuji 東北大学, 大学院教育学研究科, 准教授 (60352548) ; KUROSAWA Tai 茨城キリスト教大学, 生活科学部, 助教 (00723694)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 子育て / 夫婦 / coparenting / 父親の子育て関与 / 親発達 / 夫婦ペアレンティング調整

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We developed the inventory to assess the regulatory behavior of mothers in involving fathers with child rearing. The resulting Coparental Regulation Inventory with two subscales labeled “encouragement” and “criticism” had high construct validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Using the inventory, we found the interactive coparenting between father and mother in different stages of child rearing as follows; the relationship between mothers’perceptions of fathers’involvement and fathers’ involvement in fathers’response was mediated by mothers’encouragement to fathers. Moreover, children’s externalizing behaviors had a positive effect on mothers’criticism, although there was no significant relationship between mothers’criticism and fathers’involvement in fathers’response. These findings suggest that mothers’encouragement has a supportive effect on harmonious coparenting; however, mothers’criticism does not necessarily activate fathers’involvement.

Free Research Field

発達心理学