Poster #93 - Parental Interactions in a Triadic Play Setting: Longitudinal Associations With Maternal Gatekeeping and Coparenting

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Child-parent triadic play allows researchers to observe the various interconnected relationships within the family, including the coparenting relationship (CPR; i.e., the extent to which parents cooperate as a team in rearing children; McHale, 1997). Given increases in child autonomy and increased father involvement following infancy (Lamb, 2004), the preschool years may represent an important transitional period during which to observe the CPR wherein cooperative or contentious parental behaviour may be particularly salient. However, to date, most studies on triadic interactions have been conducted in infancy (e.g., Lindsey & Caldera, 2006). Further, considerable attention in CPR research has been dedicated to maternal resistance to paternal involvement in child-rearing practices (maternal gatekeeping, MGK; see Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2008). While the presence and negative effects of MGK have been documented in infancy (e.g., Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2008), there is currently a lack of evidence that such a phenomenon extends into subsequent developmental periods (e.g., middle childhood). As such, the current mixed-methods longitudinal study aimed to determine whether parental behaviour (i.e., cooperation and competition) during a triadic interaction with a preschool-aged child is associated with maternal and paternal reports of CPR quality and MGK five years later. Based on previous research (Lindsey & Caldera, 2006; Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2008), we hypothesized that parental competition in a triadic interaction would be associated with parental reports of MGK, while parental cooperation would be linked with higher CPR quality. At Time 1, sixty-four heterosexual families with a preschool child (35 girls; M=45.92 months, SD=8.55) participated in a mother-father-child triadic play interaction at home. Parental cooperation and competition subscales were coded using the Triadic Interaction Scale (cooperation: ICC=.79, competition: ICC=.79; Dufresne & Provost, 2011). At Time 2, five years after the initial session, parents reported on aspects of their relationship using the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale (MGS; Allen & Hawkins, 1999) and the Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS; Feinberg et al., 2012). Correlation analyses (Table 1) revealed that parental competition at Time 1 was significantly associated with a combined parental-report of MGK at Time 2, whereas this association was not significant for parental cooperation. Additional correlation analyses (Table 2) showed that parental cooperation at Time 1 was only significantly associated with mother-reported coparenting agreement. Furthermore, we found significant correlation differences between mother- and father-reports (Cohen’s q=.10-.37, small to moderate effect). Specifically, parental cooperation in a triadic interaction was linked with mother-reported CPR quality in the expected directions (i.e., positive for agreement, closeness and support; negative for undermining and exposure to conflict), while father-reports generally showed the opposite pattern. Findings support the idea that competitive parental behaviour in a triadic context is associated with higher MGK, and that this link extends into middle childhood. Moreover, results emerged whereby the correlational pattern between parental cooperation and CPR quality for mothers and fathers differed significantly from one another. This suggests that parental cooperation in a triadic play context in the preschool years may take on a different meaning for mothers and fathers over time.

Authors

• Sage Sezlik, University of Ottawa
  Presenting Author

• Audrey-Ann Deneault, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Camille Guérin-Marion, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kim Yurkowski, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jean-Francois Bureau, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author