No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of the study is to examine young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the context of post paternal incarceration by focusing on both risks (i.e., parental depressive symptoms), protective factors (i.e., coparenting alliance), and their impact considered together. The final sample included 426 previously incarcerated fathers and the biological mothers of their three-year-old children. Using hierarchical multiple regression, I examined three sets of analyses: 1) the association between parental depressive symptoms and children's behavior outcomes, 2) the association between coparenting alliance and children's behavior, 3) the association between parental depressive symptoms and children's behavior as moderated by coparenting alliance. Expectedly, higher paternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher externalizing behavioral problems in children. Unexpectedly, higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with lower externalizing behavioral problems. Also, unexpectedly, the associations between maternal and paternal coparenting alliance and both child behavioral outcomes were not statistically significant. Further, when mothers reported lower coparenting alliance with their child's father, the negative association between fathers' depressive symptoms and children’s internalizing behavioral problems was not attenuated; in fact, children had higher internalizing behavioral problems. My findings suggests father's depressive symptoms are an important point of consideration given the deleterious effects parental depressive symptoms can have on children, and the risks for depressive symptoms among formerly incarcerated fathers. Further, my findings have implications for addressing and treating fathers' depressive symptoms when children are relatively young in order to lower internalizing behavior problems from persisting across and beyond childhood.

Although resilience is the normative psychological outcome of divorce, parents and children of divorce are disproportionately represented in the mental health and legal systems. Due to the great financial and psychological costs of incessant divorce litigation, interventions that promote positive child adjustment while alleviating the costs of litigation are in high demand. Social policymakers and clinicians have responded to this demand via a number of intervention strategies; however, the implementation of many current interventions has predated supporting empirical evidence.The present study seeks to establish the efficacy of a child-focused, intensive co-parenting therapy (ICT) intervention for divorced parents. ICT is a 14-week manualized therapy with an emphasis on communication and problem-solving training using cognitive-behavioral techniques. ICT's impact on legal outcomes (i.e., resolution of custody/visitation disputes, payment of child support, court order compliance, etc.), communication, co-parenting and parenting (i.e., cooperation, hostility), family functioning, and child adjustment (i.e., internalizing and externalizing behavior) was assessed.Participants were five families of divorce who had at least one child aged 11 to 17 and were court-ordered to participate in co-parenting therapy. Three of the families were African-American and two were Caucasian. A single-case research design with replication was employed. Therapeutic success was monitored by a multi-informant approach (parent, teacher, and child) according to a multiple baseline procedure. Communication and legal outcomes were monitored on a weekly basis. Co-parenting and parenting behaviors, family functioning, and child adjustment symptoms were measured at baseline, session 8, and termination.ICT significantly impacted all outcome variables measured, although the clinical significance of that impact varied across domains. ICT had the greatest impact on legal and communication outcome variables. For example, 100% of families in the study resolved at least some portion of their custody and/or visitation disputes; 40% of families dropped their legal dispute entirely. Additionally, all families significantly increased the quality and quantity of their communication. Results in the domains of co-parenting and parenting behaviors, family functioning, and child adjustment, while noteworthy and reflective of positive outcomes, were more varied. Clinical implications of study findings are discussed as they relate to establishing ICT as a possibly efficacious co-parenting intervention.

Este trabalho investigou o desenvolvimento da relação coparental e conjugal durante o processo de transição para a parentalidade, no contexto da reprodução assistida. Realizou-se um estudo de caso coletivo longitudinal. Três casais responderam a entrevistas individuais semiestruturadas em três momentos: (a) a gestação (b) após o terceiro mês de vida do bebê e (c) após o primeiro ano do bebê. Os dados foram submetidos a uma análise narrativa, que enfocou tanto as particularidades de cada casal, como suas semelhanças. Sugere-se a existência de um processo de diferenciação crescente da relação do casal, que passa a englobar coparentalidade e conjugalidade. Propõe-se que, no contexto da reprodução assistida, considere-se o período do tratamento como marco inicial da relação coparental. Destaca-se a necessidade de considerar a história do casal, sua experiência da infertilidade e do tratamento, suas relações com a família de origem e sua configuração familiar na compreensão desse processo. / This study investigated the development of the marital and the coparental relationships during the transition to parenthood, in couples who conceived trough assisted reproduction techniques. A collective longitudinal case study was carried out. Three couples answered individual semi-structured interviews during three moments: (a) pregnancy, (b) after baby’s third month, and (c) after baby’s first year. The data were submitted to a narrative analysis, which focused both the particularities of each couple and the similarities between them. It has been identified a process in which couples’ relationships became more differentiated and divided into marital and coparental relationships. It is proposed that in couples who conceive through assisted reproduction, the treatment should be considered as a milestone of coparenthood beginning. It is also highlighted the need to consider the couple’s history, their infertility and treatment experience, the relationships with their families of origin, and their family form to understand this relationship development process.

Coparenting emerges across the transition to parenthood and refers to the way individuals coordinate, support each other in their parental roles and share responsibility in childrearing. Despite the increase in research on coparenting, relatively few studies have focused on non- North American or non-European families, which has hindered practice and policy targeting diverse countries. Likewise, qualitative research on coparenting is relatively rare, yet critical to shed light on details and complexities not well captured by other methods, including insights into sociocultural factors linked to coparenting in distinct contexts. Moreover, a qualitative longitudinal approach is particularly well suited to examine important life course transitions and turning points, such as the transition to parenthood. To address these gaps, we investigated coparenting across the transition to parenthood in South-Brazilian families, using a qualitative, longitudinal, multiple case study. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 12 first-time mother and fathers (six nuclear families altogether), at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum (36 interviews altogether). In two families only the father was employed, with the mother caring for the child; in two families both parents were employed, and they hired a nanny to care for the child in their home; and, in two families both parents were employed, and the child started attending daycare at the end of maternity leave. Through the two articles that comprise the current doctoral dissertation, we explored three components of Feinberg’s (2003) coparenting framework: division of labor (how parents divide childcare tasks and household chores, as well as their satisfaction with this division); agreement/disagreement (e.g., regarding children’s emotional needs and discipline); and, support/undermining (appreciation and cooperation, or criticism and competition). The first article is focused on the division of labor, whereas the second is focused on agreement/disagreement and support/undermining. Deductive thematic analysis revealed similarities and singularities between families. As presented in the first article, we found weaker sharing of household chores over time, against greater sharing of childcare tasks during the first few days postpartum, followed by a downward tendency in the fathers’ contributions during the first few months postpartum. This more unequal division of labor remained stable over time only for families who had chosen maternal care, changing after the end of maternity leave for families who had chosen nanny care and daycare. Parental satisfaction regarding the division of labor remained relatively high over time only for families who had chosen nanny care, which suggests that counting on a domestic worker since the beginning of the transition to parenthood contributed to preventing parental feelings of overload or unfairness across the transition to parenthood. Findings were discussed in the 10 light of the role that instrumental and social support, as well as the prevailing Brazilian gender norms, may play in the division of labor for new parents. With respect to the second article, our findings showed that agreement among parents remained relatively stable during the first year, whereas disagreements concerning discipline demanded more parental negotiation as infants advanced toward toddlerhood. Support and undermining coexisted in the same families, although mothers and fathers expressed undermining differently. Aspects of the ecological context, such as family of origin, instrumental and social support, as well as labor market, also appeared to influence coparenting agreement/disagreement and support/ undermining. Following each article, we presented strengths, limitations, suggestions for future research, as well as implications for practice (e.g., counseling) and policy (e.g., childcare arrangements and parental leave).

Objective. This study examined the factors associated with higher levels of paternal involvement among low-income, nonresidential, Black fathers. Method. Participants were 110 fathers of children up to the age of 10. Participants completed psychometrically sound measures of social support, spirituality, family of origin relationships, coparenting relationship quality, psychological well-being, motivation, conviction history, resilience, and father involvement. Results. A simultaneous multiple regression indicated that better psychological well-being and coparenting relationship quality and lower conviction rates since the birth of the child were significant predictors of higher levels of paternal involvement. Mediational analysis revealed that coparenting relationship quality partially mediated the relationship between psychological well-being and paternal involvement. Moderation analysis showed that social support moderated the relationship between psychological well-being and paternal involvement. Conclusions. This study provided evidence that several factors are related to higher levels of paternal involvement, specifically higher quality coparenting relationships and psychological well-being, more parenting-specific support from influential individuals, lower conviction rates since the birth of the child, and higher levels of resilience. The present study also illustrated the importance of examining disadvantaged fathers' strengths as targets for future interventions. Implications. Clinicians, social workers, program directors, and other individuals working with low-income, nonresidential, Black fathers should educate their clients on the factors associated with higher levels of paternal involvement as well as provide necessary resources to aid fathers to become more involved with their children.

The demands on fathers to be more involved with their children have steadily been increasing since the 1970s. However, fathers have received less attention in the social science literature compared to mothers. This difference is evident regarding the parenting practices of ethnic minority fathers such as nonresident Black fathers. This dissertation investigates the effects of nonresident Black fathers’ perceptions of the coparenting relationship and coparenting support on their perceived father involvement and their perceived paternal stressors; while testing the mediating effects of maternal gatekeeping. The dissertation is presented in a three manuscript-style format with the intent to publish each manuscript in peer-reviewed journals. The aim of the first manuscript is to assess the cross-cultural adaptation and reliability of a modified Everyday Stressors Index titled, the Everyday Stressors Index-Minority Nonresident Fathers version (ESI-MNF). Using a sample of 105 nonresident Black fathers, the ESI-MNF was developed to include items that measure aspects of ethnic minority stressors and characteristics of nonresident fathering. The results indicate that the ESI-MNF is reliable. A paternal stressors subscale emerged that indicated specific areas of stress for nonresident fathers. The goal of the second manuscript is to test the effects of nonresident Black fathers’ perceptions of the coparenting relationship and coparenting support on their perceived paternal stressors; while testing the mediating effects of maternal gatekeeping. Results show that the mediating effects of maternal gatekeeping behaviors are minimized when the relationships with their children’s mothers are good and their children’s mothers are perceived as supportive. The purpose of the third manuscript is to test two models of nonresident Black father involvement with maternal gatekeeping as a mediator. Model 1 tests the mediating effects of maternal gatekeeping when parenting with one mother. Model 2 tests the effects of maternal gatekeeping when parenting with two mothers. For the sample of fathers with multiple sets of nonresident children, the results indicate that the dimensions of father involvement may be different when parenting with the first mother and when parenting with the second mother.

Coparenting emerges across the transition to parenthood and refers to the way individuals coordinate, support each other in their parental roles and share responsibility in childrearing. Despite the increase in research on coparenting, relatively few studies have focused on non- North American or non-European families, which has hindered practice and policy targeting diverse countries. Likewise, qualitative research on coparenting is relatively rare, yet critical to shed light on details and complexities not well captured by other methods, including insights into sociocultural factors linked to coparenting in distinct contexts. Moreover, a qualitative longitudinal approach is particularly well suited to examine important life course transitions and turning points, such as the transition to parenthood. To address these gaps, we investigated coparenting across the transition to parenthood in South-Brazilian families, using a qualitative, longitudinal, multiple case study. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 12 first-time mother and fathers (six nuclear families altogether), at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum (36 interviews altogether). In two families only the father was employed, with the mother caring for the child; in two families both parents were employed, and they hired a nanny to care for the child in their home; and, in two families both parents were employed, and the child started attending daycare at the end of maternity leave. Through the two articles that comprise the current doctoral dissertation, we explored three components of Feinberg’s (2003) coparenting framework: division of labor (how parents divide childcare tasks and household chores, as well as their satisfaction with this division); agreement/disagreement (e.g., regarding children’s emotional needs and discipline); and, support/undermining (appreciation and cooperation, or criticism and competition). The first article is focused on the division of labor, whereas the second is focused on agreement/disagreement and support/undermining. Deductive thematic analysis revealed similarities and singularities between families. As presented in the first article, we found weaker sharing of household chores over time, against greater sharing of childcare tasks during the first few days postpartum, followed by a downward tendency in the fathers’ contributions during the first few months postpartum. This more unequal division of labor remained stable over time only for families who had chosen maternal care, changing after the end of maternity leave for families who had chosen nanny care and daycare. Parental satisfaction regarding the division of labor remained relatively high over time only for families who had chosen nanny care, which suggests that counting on a domestic worker since the beginning of the transition to parenthood contributed to preventing parental feelings of overload or unfairness across the transition to parenthood. Findings were discussed in the 10 light of the role that instrumental and social support, as well as the prevailing Brazilian gender norms, may play in the division of labor for new parents. With respect to the second article, our findings showed that agreement among parents remained relatively stable during the first year, whereas disagreements concerning discipline demanded more parental negotiation as infants advanced toward toddlerhood. Support and undermining coexisted in the same families, although mothers and fathers expressed undermining differently. Aspects of the ecological context, such as family of origin, instrumental and social support, as well as labor market, also appeared to influence coparenting agreement/disagreement and support/ undermining. Following each article, we presented strengths, limitations, suggestions for future research, as well as implications for practice (e.g., counseling) and policy (e.g., childcare arrangements and parental leave).