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Fathers as Coparents: Positive and Negative Coparenting and Children’s Sleep Quality During the Transition to Kindergarten

Sat, March 23, 8:00 to 9:30am, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 3, Room 320

Integrative Statement

Emerging work documents the role of sleep as a predictor of cognitive and socio-emotional functioning in childhood (Liu et al., 2012). Childhood sleep is rooted in parenting and family life (Teti, 2017); however, most studies have focused on maternal contributions, with scant attention to the role of fathers. The present study examines paternal contributions to child sleep by focusing on fathers as coparents, drawing from evidence that coparenting accounts for variance in children’s outcomes beyond the contributions of individual parent-child relationships (Feinberg, 2003). This study assesses mothers’ perceptions of fathers as coparents and fathers’ own perceptions of coparenting and examines coparenting-sleep linkages during a pivotal time – the transition to kindergarten, a period cited as critical for school success during kindergarten and beyond (Athanasiou, 2006). We hypothesized that higher quality coparenting would predict longer sleep duration, more efficient sleep, and less fragmented sleep. We also hypothesized that higher quality coparenting would predict less variability (greater stability) in child sleep across consecutive nights.

Data from 103 families were drawn from a longitudinal study examining family processes, kindergartner sleep, and children’s school outcomes across the kindergarten year. Data were collected at home and school, across eight consecutive days, at four occasions: pre-K (summer), early transition (September), mid-transition (November), and late transition (April). Assessments of coparenting quality were completed by each parent using the Coparenting Relationship Scale (Feinberg et al., 2012) at all time points. Kindergartners wore AW Spectrum Plus actiwatches (Philips/Respironics, Inc.), which provided data on children’s sleep-wake activity.

The present study focused on coparenting-sleep linkages during the first three timepoints during the transition, from pre-K through mid-transition. Correlational and regression analyses (Table 1) revealed that mothers’ negative perceptions of fathers as coparents (conflict, undermining) at pre-K predicted greater variability in children’s sleep fragmentation at pre-K and early transition. Fathers’ perceptions of positive coparenting (e.g., relationship closeness, satisfaction with division of labor) predicted reduced variability in children’s sleep fragmentation and sleep efficiency at mid-transition, and fathers’ perceptions of negative coparenting predicted greater variability in child sleep at mid-transition. Additional analyses (not depicted in Table 1) revealed that mothers’ negative perceptions of fathers as coparents at pre-K and early transition predicted reduced sleep efficiency in children at early transition and reduced sleep duration at mid-transition. Interestingly, prediction of child sleep during early transition was generally poorer than at other time points. Further examination revealed that day-to-day variation in child sleep across children was greater at early transition than at other points in the K year. The first few weeks following school entry may be a period of greater flux and stress for children compared to other points in the K year, which in turn may impact how well child sleep can be predicted by family factors.

These findings indicate that perceptions of fathers and by fathers as coparents prior to and during early school entry can predict children’s sleep quality later in the K year. Additional results will include an examination of mediational linkages between coparenting, child sleep quality, and children’s school outcomes.

Authors