Traditional parenting research has largely treated parents and children as passive respondents rather than active contributors, creating both a knowledge gap (limited understanding of families' lived experiences) and an agency gap (parents are better informed than ever, yet report feeling less efficacious in their parenting). These gaps are especially urgent given today's "polycrises" (i.e. climate change, geopolitical instability, and economic uncertainty) which place heavy psychological burdens on families. This essay argues that research with families should be agentic, intentionally designed to foster participants' capacity to shape their own functioning and life course. We propose participatory research, where parents and children act as co-researchers, as a tool to foster dialogue, co-created and actionable knowledge, and, in turn, agency. However, participatory research faces real challenges: it is time-intensive, complicated by power asymmetries, and difficult to evaluate using conventional research standards. A paradigm shift toward agentic, co-created research therefore requires transforming how research is funded, designed, and valued.
Objective. The accuracy of traditional one- or two-time diaries in caregiving-related studies has yet to be evaluated even though such data are commonly used. A multiday time diary may be best suited for accurately describing caregiving arrangements that are high in variability, such as those with multiple caregivers. Design. Data from three longitudinal Southeast Asian cohort studies were analyzed to ascertain whether a specific combination of days best reflects actual weekly caregiving arrangements. To demonstrate the practical utility of measurement choice, links between caregiving and child outcomes were then examined using various day combinations. Participant questionnaire reports of caregiving arrangements were collected from mothers of infants and preschool-aged children. Results. As childcare varies with child age, a 2-day diary may suitably capture infants' lower variability caregiving arrangements, whereas a 4-day diary may be better suited for preschool-aged children's greater variability caregiving arrangements. Day combination also related differently to children's numeracy, language, and socioemotional skills. Actual 7-day and 4-day time diary maternal time were associated with poorer language skills, whereas 1-day time diary data were associated with better language and socioemotional skills, and poorer numeracy skills, and 2-day diary data were not associated with any child outcomes. Conclusions. The structure of the time diary measure holds implications for both the description of actual caregiving arrangements and the accuracy in associations to child outcomes. As these analyses were conducted with early childhood data, the present study may provide a framework for replication in other similar but nonidentical datasets.
Objective. Parenting stress has well-documented detrimental effects on parental well-being, parent-child interactions, and child outcomes, and many of its contributing factors have been identified. Although parenting is an inherently dyadic experience, the possibility that parents' stress could be influenced by their spouse's parenting stress has received almost no empirical attention. Design. This study used an actor-partner interdependence approach to examine reciprocal connections between paternal and maternal parenting stress during children's transition from infancy to toddlerhood. In a sample of 230 mostly White middle-class mixed-gender couples, both parents reported on three aspects of their own parenting stress at 12 and 18 months: parental distress, parent-child dysfunctional interactions, and child difficultness. Results. Strong within-parent stability (actor effects) emerged on all three dimensions. Above and beyond this stability, mothers' and fathers' perceptions of dysfunctional interactions with the child and child difficultness at 18 months were predicted by their partner's perceptions at 12 months (partner effects). When mothers or fathers experience high levels of stress in their parenting role with their 12-month infant, they are likely to continue experiencing elevated stress 6 months later, and their partner is likely to experience a small increase in his or her own parenting stress. Conclusions. Considering the interdependence of coparents' subjective experience of parenthood provides a richer understanding of the temporal dynamics of parenting stress than focusing on either parent alone.
Parenting research needs to become front and center in public attention. On the internet, in newspapers, and on the evening news, one hears about politics, crime, and conflicts. However, numerous studies have documented that parenting is among the most influential human activities. It is troubling and unhealthy to have relegated parenting to a secondary position of significance in broader society. The goal is to identify three emphases in the study of parenting that are especially vital to rectify this shortcoming. The methods involved a large overview, especially of meta-analyses and research syntheses. This included slightly over 2,500 such studies to determine what emphases in the study of parenting need to be more intensively and accurately examined. A growing number of debates and adjustments are arising that could potentially improve the study of parenting, if implemented properly. To enable parenting research to become front and center in public attention three emphases in the study of parenting are especially vital. First, the primacy of love. Second, similarities and differences in motherhood and fatherhood. Third, better understanding the balance between quality versus quantity in parenting.
