THE DETERMINANTS OF COPARENTING IN FAMILIES WITH TODDLER BOYS - SPOUSAL DIFFERENCES AND DAILY HASSLES

In order to advance understanding of the phenomenon of coparenting, na turalistic observations of firstborn sons were undertaken when they we re 15 months of age at a time when both parents were home and family l ife was demanding. Narrative records of coparenting events were scored to determine the frequency with which parents supported and undermine d each other and to test two hypotheses pertaining to individual diffe rences in coparenting: that greater differences between spouses in dem ographic factors, personality, styles of relatedness and child-rearing attitudes would forecast more unsupportive and less supportive copare nting; and that the adverse effects of such spousal differences would be amplified by high levels of family stress, as indexed by frequency and intensity of daily hassles. Both hypotheses received support and a re discussed in turn.