Poster #95 - Emotional Security in the Family System – Links to Parenting, the Parent-Child-Relationship and Child Adjustment

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Given considerable changes in family structure and parents’ labor division, increasing attention has been paid to fathers’ engagement in parenting and their contribution to child well-being. In attachment research, however, the major focus still is on the mother-child relationship. Accordingly, our knowledge about attachment-related features in the father-child relationship and their links to children’s development is limited. Using survey and child report data, the present study seeks to contribute to a family systems perspective in attachment research by considering children’s relationship with both parents. Furthermore, by comparing nuclear and stepfamilies, we consider biological as well as social fathering. Our main focus is on children’s emotional security in relation to mother and (step-)father, its predictors in parenting, and links of parenting and the parent-child relationship to child well-being in longitudinal perspective.
The sample was drawn from waves 5 to 7 of the German Family Panel pairfam, a scientific-use longitudinal study with annual assessments. The sample was restricted to two-parent households with at least one child aged 8 to 15 years. The longitudinal sample comprised 372 family triads (mother, [step]father, child) with complete data in all three consecutive waves. Children reported on the quality of the parent-child-relationship (Emotional Security, Positive Regard; Conflict, Satisfaction with Time) and child adjustment (SDQ subscale on Emotional Problems; Peer Rejection, waves 5-7). Mothers and fathers provided written information about parenting in wave 5 with short but reliable scales on Positive Parenting, Negative Parenting, and Inconsistent Parenting.
As expected, positive parenting was linked to higher emotional security across time. Overall, however, children’s emotional security with parents was only very weakly predicted by parenting as reported by parents. Significant effects were restricted to mothers. In contrast, child-perceived relationship quality was linked to higher emotional security with parents. While positive regard by parents was relevant for emotional security with mother and (step-)father, conflict mattered only in the mother-child relationship, whereas the lack of time proved relevant only in the father-child relationship. Both factors were found to undermine emotional security. Interestingly, no differences by family structure could be observed.
With regard to child adjustment in wave 7, mothers and fathers were found to make partly different contributions. For example, neither mothers’ nor (step-)fathers’ parenting proved relevant for predicting emotional problems. However, conflict with mother (but not [step-]father) was linked to increased emotional problems whereas positive regard by the (step-)father contributed to less emotional problems. While, these effects were moderated by child gender, emotional security proved consistently linked to child outcomes.
The findings are discussed with reference to an attachment-based family systems framework highlighting the role of children’s emotional security in the family. Despite considerable overlap in children’s emotional security with either parent, fathers were found to make a unique contribution to child well-being.

Authors

• Ulrike Lux, German Youth Institute
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sabine Walper, German Youth Institute
  Presenting Author