The current study examined the relations between parental and relationship functioning and infant social-emotional functioning, with an emphasis on the differential predictive power of mothers and fathers. This is the first study to examine certain specific predictors of parent functioning: parental alliance, parental identity, relationship adjustment and relationship conflict in an infant sample during the transition to parenthood. Results indicated that fathers’ functioning better predicted infants’ dysregulatory problems, while mothers’ functioning better predicted infants’ internalizing problems. Specifically, fathers’ functioning predicted negative emotionality and eating problems in their infants, while mothers’ functioning predicted general anxiety and separation distress in their infants. Results also showed that several combinations of differential predictive power (e.g., the highest functioning parent vs. the lowest functioning parent) were not significant predictors of difficulties in their infants, indicating that the impact of one parent does not depend on the functioning of the other. Important theoretical implications based on the gender differences in predictive power found, as well as the lack of contextual effects found in the present sample, are discussed.

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).

O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar o processo de transição para a parentalidade no contexto de cardiopatia congênita do bebê. Participaram do estudo quatro casais, pais de crianças que nasceram com malformação cardíaca, que estavam acompanhando seus filhos durante a internação em Unidade de Tratamento Intensivo. Foi utilizado delineamento de estudo de casos coletivo e a coleta de dados foi feita através de uma entrevista individual com a mãe e com o pai sobre os primeiros momentos após o nascimento do bebê com malformação e a experiência da maternidade e da paternidade, respectivamente. Os dados foram analisados segundo os pressupostos da análise de conteúdo qualitativa. Os resultados do estudo indicaram que a notícia da malformação cardíaca do bebê interfere no processo de parentalização de maneira profunda. Destacou-se a intensa preocupação das mães com a sobrevivência dos bebês, evidenciada através de uma dedicação exclusiva a eles. Já os pais demonstram-se muito envolvidos com seus filhos, assumindo também a tarefa de proteger as mães. / The present study aimed to investigate the transition process to parenthood in the context of congenital heart disease. Four couples, whose children were born with heart malformation, took part in the study. They all stayed with their children when they were in an Intensive Care Unit. A collective-case study design was used and data were collected through an individual interview with mothers and fathers on the first moments after giving birth to a child with malformation, and the experience of motherhood and fatherhood, respectively, in the context of heart malformation. Data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The results indicated that the diagnosis of heart malformation interferes in the parentalization process in a very intense way. Mothers were extremely concerned about the infant's survival and very dedicated to him/her. Besides being very involved, fathers also assumed the task of protecting mothers.

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).

O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar o processo de transição para a parentalidade no contexto de cardiopatia congênita do bebê. Participaram do estudo quatro casais, pais de crianças que nasceram com malformação cardíaca, que estavam acompanhando seus filhos durante a internação em Unidade de Tratamento Intensivo. Foi utilizado delineamento de estudo de casos coletivo e a coleta de dados foi feita através de uma entrevista individual com a mãe e com o pai sobre os primeiros momentos após o nascimento do bebê com malformação e a experiência da maternidade e da paternidade, respectivamente. Os dados foram analisados segundo os pressupostos da análise de conteúdo qualitativa. Os resultados do estudo indicaram que a notícia da malformação cardíaca do bebê interfere no processo de parentalização de maneira profunda. Destacou-se a intensa preocupação das mães com a sobrevivência dos bebês, evidenciada através de uma dedicação exclusiva a eles. Já os pais demonstram-se muito envolvidos com seus filhos, assumindo também a tarefa de proteger as mães. / The present study aimed to investigate the transition process to parenthood in the context of congenital heart disease. Four couples, whose children were born with heart malformation, took part in the study. They all stayed with their children when they were in an Intensive Care Unit. A collective-case study design was used and data were collected through an individual interview with mothers and fathers on the first moments after giving birth to a child with malformation, and the experience of motherhood and fatherhood, respectively, in the context of heart malformation. Data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The results indicated that the diagnosis of heart malformation interferes in the parentalization process in a very intense way. Mothers were extremely concerned about the infant's survival and very dedicated to him/her. Besides being very involved, fathers also assumed the task of protecting mothers.

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.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar o processo de transição para a parentalidade no contexto de cardiopatia congênita do bebê. Participaram do estudo quatro casais, pais de crianças que nasceram com malformação cardíaca, que estavam acompanhando seus filhos durante a internação em Unidade de Tratamento Intensivo. Foi utilizado delineamento de estudo de casos coletivo e a coleta de dados foi feita através de uma entrevista individual com a mãe e com o pai sobre os primeiros momentos após o nascimento do bebê com malformação e a experiência da maternidade e da paternidade, respectivamente. Os dados foram analisados segundo os pressupostos da análise de conteúdo qualitativa. Os resultados do estudo indicaram que a notícia da malformação cardíaca do bebê interfere no processo de parentalização de maneira profunda. Destacou-se a intensa preocupação das mães com a sobrevivência dos bebês, evidenciada através de uma dedicação exclusiva a eles. Já os pais demonstram-se muito envolvidos com seus filhos, assumindo também a tarefa de proteger as mães. / The present study aimed to investigate the transition process to parenthood in the context of congenital heart disease. Four couples, whose children were born with heart malformation, took part in the study. They all stayed with their children when they were in an Intensive Care Unit. A collective-case study design was used and data were collected through an individual interview with mothers and fathers on the first moments after giving birth to a child with malformation, and the experience of motherhood and fatherhood, respectively, in the context of heart malformation. Data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The results indicated that the diagnosis of heart malformation interferes in the parentalization process in a very intense way. Mothers were extremely concerned about the infant's survival and very dedicated to him/her. Besides being very involved, fathers also assumed the task of protecting mothers.

The percent of families with parents from different racial or ethnic backgrounds has risen exponentially in the last decades. Approximately 14% of children were born into multiethnoracial (MER) families in the United States in 2015, more than double the rate from 1980 (Bialik, 2017). Studies show that MER couples are more likely to separate or divorce than their monoethnoracial (MoER) counterparts, perhaps due to greater conflict stemming from differing values, coping strategies, and conflict management styles and decreased access to family and community support (Fu, Tora, & Kendall, 2001; Zhang & Van Hook, 2009). With the growing rates of MER couples, there has been increased interest and research addressing the unique benefits and challenges of being in a MER relationship. It is likely that the challenges that arise in MER families peak across the transition to parenthood when couples must negotiate how to merge their respective values, behaviors, and beliefs into a new family unit. The proposed study examines how the ethnoracial composition of couples (i.e., same versus different racial/ethnic backgrounds) predicts levels and increases in coparental conflict across early parenthood; and, in addition, the role of familial support as both a mediator and moderator of this relationship. Identifying the processes linking couples’ ethnoracial composition to the quality of family relationships could help inform parent interventions to better support MER parents across the transition to parenthood.

This study examined some of the factors that influence father involvement for first time parent s. These variables included: general or cultural attitudes of father involvement, personal expectations for father involvement, and level of satisfaction with the marriage. A secondary purpose was to examine factors that buffer the decline of marital satisfaction associated with the transition to parenthood. It was proposed that marital satisfaction was associated with having similar expectations for father involvement, having father involvement that met or exceeded personal expectations, and accurately perceiving spousal identity. A final purpose was to create a model of father invol vement, originally represented by the level of time, awareness, and support a father provides for his child. Ninety-six couples enrolled in two prenatal classes participated in this study. Both mothers and fathers were given nearly identical surveys for the prenatal (or the third trimester of pregnancy) and postnatal (when the target child was between 3 and 6 months old) phases of the study With a 29% attrition rate, the final sample consisted of68 couples. The results indicated that postnatal father involvement was predicted by the level of marital satisfaction and also by the personal expectations that both spouses have for father involvement. Results failed to support the hypotheses that father involvement would be significantly related to prenatal general attitudes of father involvement. However, there was some support that general (or cultural) attitudes change as a fun ction of personal experience for father s; the standard set for other fathers seems to be based from and conform to their own level of involvement. As expected, postnatal marital satisfaction for both spouses was strongly related to father involvement. Although postnatal marital satisfaction was slightly related to the similarity in spouses' expectations for father involvement, the exploratory analysis shows that spouses with high personal expectations for father involvement (during the prenatal phase) tend to experience high levels of postnatal marital satisfaction, regardless of similarity of expectations between spouses. There was a general trend for postnatal marital satisfaction to be high when father involvement met or exceeded personal expectations, and low when father involvement fell short of personal expectations. The exception is when expectations were high; spouses with high expectations tend to report high levels of postnatal marital satisfaction regardless of whether father involvement met, surpassed, or fell short of those expectations. Contrary to expectations, accurately perceiving spousal identity was not related to marital satisfaction. Implications are given.