Firstborn Children’s Externalizing Behaviors and Mothers’ Perceived Coparenting across the Birth of a Second Infant

• In Event: 2-066 - Is it Easier the Second Time? Parenting across the Transition from One Child to Two

Integrative Statement

Background: After the Chinese government relaxed the population policy which allows couples to have two children in 2016, the number of two-child families in China has rapidly risen. However, very little practical information about how to raise two children is available for those parents. The current research was designed to remedy this situation by conducting the study on parental support and firstborn children’ adaptation to the birth of a sibling in Chinese families. Previous studies (e.g., Dunn & Kendrick, 1982; Volling et al., 2017) showed that firstborn children, in general, showed an increase in externalizing problem behaviors after their infant sibling’s birth. Therefore, the first goal of the study was to examine whether there would be changes in Chinese firstborn children’s externalizing problem behaviors across the birth of an infant sibling. In addition, the birth of a second child might bring new stressors for parents. Existing research suggested that cooperative coparenting before the birth reduced the risk of children’s externalizing problem behaviors 1 month after the birth (Kolak & Volling, 2013). As the second goal, this study was to examine whether mothers’ perceived coparenting might reduce firstborn children’s externalizing problem behaviors.
Methods: The sample included 120 Chinese families that were participating in an on-going longitudinal investigation of families expecting a second child. The first visit occurred during the second or third trimester of the pregnancy with the second child (T1), the second when the younger child was one month-old (T2). The third when the second child is six months old (T3), and the fourth visit when the second child is one year old (T4) are still in progress. The present study used data from T1 and T2. Co-parenting in each wave was measured through questionnaires completed by mothers. Both fathers and mothers rated firstborn children’s externalizing problem behaviors in each wave.
Results: First, as found in previous studies, firstborn children showed an increase in externalizing problem behaviors after their infant sibling’s birth. Second, although there was a decrease in mothers’ perceived coparenting across the birth of an infant sibling, mothers’ perceived coparenting reduced the risk of firstborn children’s externalizing problem behaviors 1 month after the birth.
Conclusion: The current findings suggested that there was change in externalizing problem behaviors for children undergoing the transition to siblinghood. In addition, coparenting might be helpful for firstborn children to adapt to the birth of a sibling. Interventions should be designed to increase parents’ coordination of their parenting efforts in order to promote firstborn children’s adaptation to the birth of a sibling.

Author

• Bin-Bin Chen, Fudan University
  Presenting Author