Parental reports of coparenting and observed coparenting behavior during the toddler period

Fifty-two married partners played with their 30-month-olds in both dyadic ( parent-child) and whole family contexts and reported on their own coparenti ng activities (family integrity-promoting behavior, conflict, disparagement , and reprimand). Coparenting behavior observed in the whole family context was evaluated for antagonism, warmth and cooperation, child-adult centered ness, balance of positive involvement, and management of toddler behavior. Parallel balance and management scores were also formed using dyadic sessio n data. Men's reported family integrity-promoting activities and women's re ported conflict and reprimand activities were reliable correlates of family group process in both bivariate and discriminant analyses, with links endu ring even after controlling for marital quality. Whole family- and dyad-bas ed estimates of coparenting were altogether unrelated, and reported coparen ting was tied only to behavior in family context, not to family measures cr eated from dyad-based data.