A growing body of research suggests that, compared with single parent-child attachment relationships, child developmental outcomes may be better understood by examining the configurations of child-mother and child-father attachment relationships (i.e., attachment networks). Moreover, some studies have demonstrated an above-chance level chance of concordance between the quality of child-mother and child-father attachment relationships, and child temperament has been offered as a plausible explanation for such concordance. To assess whether temperament plays a role in the development of different attachment network configurations, in this preregistered individual participant data meta-analysis we tested the degree to which the temperament dimension of negative emotionality predicts the number of secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and disorganized attachment relationships a child has with mother and father. Data included in the linear mixed effects analyses were collected from seven studies sampling 872 children (49% female; 83% White). Negative emotionality significantly predicted the number of secure (d = -0.12) and insecure-resistant (d = 0.11), but not insecure-avoidant (d = 0.04) or disorganized (d = 0.08) attachment relationships. Nonpreregistered exploratory analyses indicated higher negative emotionality in children with insecure-resistant attachment relationships with both parents compared to those with one or none (d = 0.19), suggesting that temperament plays a small yet significant role in child-mother/child-father insecure-resistant attachment relationships concordance. Taken together, results from this study prompt a more in-depth examination of the mechanism underlying the small yet significantly higher chance that children with increased negative emotionality have for developing multiple insecure-resistant attachment relationships.

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a widely used measure in developmental science that assesses adults' current states of mind regarding early attachment-related experiences with their primary caregivers. The standard system for coding the AAI recommends classifying individuals categorically as having an autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved attachment state of mind. However, previous factor and taxometric analyses suggest that: (a) adults' attachment states of mind are captured by two weakly correlated factors reflecting adults' dismissing and preoccupied states of mind and (b) individual differences on these factors are continuously rather than categorically distributed. The current study revisited these suggestions about the latent structure of AAI scales by leveraging individual participant data from 40 studies (N = 3,218), with a particular focus on the controversial observation from prior factor analytic work that indicators of preoccupied states of mind and indicators of unresolved states of mind about loss and trauma loaded on a common factor. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that: (a) a 2-factor model with weakly correlated dismissing and preoccupied factors and (b) a 3-factor model that further distinguished unresolved from preoccupied states of mind were both compatible with the data. The preoccupied and unresolved factors in the 3-factor model were highly correlated. Taxometric analyses suggested that individual differences in dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved states of mind were more consistent with a continuous than a categorical model. The importance of additional tests of predictive validity of the various models is emphasized.

Positive and cohesive mother-father-child triadic interactions have substantial benefits for socio-emotional growth in early childhood. Nonetheless, the joint contributions of infant-mother and infant-father attachment relationships to triadic interaction quality are not well understood. The present study examined associations between attachment configurations with mother and father in infancy (i.e., double secure, double insecure, or discordant) and observed triadic interaction quality in early childhood, as well as the possible mediating role of children's preferences for one parent over the other during the triadic interaction. Infant-mother and infant-father attachment quality were assessed in laboratory procedures at one year of age in a predominantly White and middle-class sample ( N = 67) of American families. Triadic family interaction quality and children's parental preferences were assessed from semi-structured observations at age 3. Results indicated that double secure families exhibited significantly better triadic interaction quality than both double insecure and discordant families, with no differences between the latter two groups. Children in discordant families were disproportionately likely to show a preference for one parent over the other. In turn, stronger parental preferences were related to less cohesive, less affectively positive, and more disengaged triadic interactions, and mediated links from attachment dis-cordance to both lower cohesiveness and greater disengagement. Findings speak to the importance of incorporating observational assessments of dyadic and triadic family interactions involving both mothers and fathers to elucidate family system influences on early development. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In this chapter, we provide an outline of the debate in the psychological literature regarding the constructs of independence and dependence from the 1950s to 1960s. We then review three theoretical perspectives, including psychoanalytic, social-learning, and attachment theories, on the development of independence and dependence. Later in the chapter, we discuss how independence and dependence are related to the construct of autonomy and how contextual factors such as culture and socioeconomic status (SES) are likely to influence parents' socialization goals and behaviors, which may, in turn, influence their children's independence and/or dependence. We argue that development of independence and dependence is best understood within the context of close parent-child relationships, as well as the ecologies in which children and parents are situated.

This study examined the correlates of fathers' satisfaction with physical affection (SPA) in their marital relationship before and after the birth of a new baby. Both parents (N = 97) completed surveys assessing SPA, and fathers completed surveys assessing division of household labor and coparenting quality during the third trimester of pregnancy and again at 3 months post-birth. An actor-partner interdependence model revealed partner effects, such that mothers' SPA post-birth was predicted by fathers' SPA pre-birth but not viceversa. Cross-lagged path analyses indicated that fathers who have high SPA pre-birth reported more supportive coparenting post-birth. Furthermore, fathers who believed pre-birth that they would be more involved in child-related household labor had increased SPA after the birth of a new baby. Results are discussed in terms of implications for couple and family therapy, education for new fathers, as well as programs designed to support parents during the transition to parenthood.

Reflective functioning (RF) is a measure of mentalization-the capacity to think about one's own and others' thoughts and feelings and to understand the connections between mental states and behaviors. Previous research indicates a decline in marital quality across the transition to parenthood, and some studies have found that parents are less happy than non-parents. Thus, researchers have called for research into possible moderators of these patterns. RF may help couples navigate this transition by more easily taking each other's (and the infant's) perspective and understanding each other's behaviors. Much of the research on RF has focused on mothering behavior; research has not yet examined associations between RF and other family interactions. We examined associations between RF and marital and coparenting quality for both wives and husbands. Reflective functioning was coded from Adult Attachment Interviews conducted during pregnancy. We assessed marital quality at 3.5 months, and coparenting quality at 13 months, after the birth of the target child. Wives' higher RF was associated with higher levels of positive-and lower levels of negative-marital and coparenting interactions. Wives who were better able to reflect on their early experiences with their parents were involved in marital interactions that were more positive and supportive and less conflicted and undermining. Husbands' RF did not predict marital or coparenting quality. These findings highlight the importance of reflective functioning in understanding family functioning.

Parents' attachment representations and child-parent attachment have been shown to be associated, but these associations vary across populations (Verhage et al., 2016). The current study examined whether ecological factors may explain variability in the strength of intergenerational transmission of attachment, using individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Analyses on 4,396 parent-child dyads (58 studies, child age 11-96 months) revealed a combined effect size of r = .29. IPD meta-analyses revealed that effect sizes for the transmission of autonomous-secure representations to secure attachments were weaker under risk conditions and weaker in adolescent parent-child dyads, whereas transmission was stronger for older children. Findings support the ecological constraints hypothesis on attachment transmission. Implications for attachment theory and the use of IPD meta-analysis are discussed.

This study examined associations between father involvement and father-child attachment security, and whether those associations differed as a function of timing (workday and nonworkday) and/or type (accessibility, caregiving, and play) of involvement. Eighty father-child dyads participated when children were approximately 3 years old. Fathers completed a time diary interview assessing the various forms of involvement, and attachment was assessed using the Attachment Q-Set (Waters, 1995) following 90 min of father-child observation in the home. On nonworkdays, father involvement in play predicted greater attachment security and involvement in caregiving was marginally associated with greater attachment security. On workdays, father involvement in caregiving was related to greater attachment security, whereas father involvement in play was related to less attachment security. Results were independent of observed paternal sensitivity and relevant demographic covariates. Findings highlight the differential impact of father involvement for the father-child attachment relationship depending on when involvement occurs and what types of activities fathers engage in. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Parent–child conversations about shared events may facilitate important aspects of psychosocial development through the family's references to emotions. Although past research has begun examining features of speakers and topics that predict emotion talk in these conversations, the potential contribution of personality traits has been overlooked. The current study investigated whether parental personality and participant gender were related to emotion talk during conversations between parents and their 5-year-old children. Results revealed discussion differences as a function of gender and discussion topic. Moreover, higher levels of trait Social Closeness in mothers corresponded to their richer emotional talk during discussions, particularly when conversing with daughters. Children's emotion talk regarding negative events was associated with their mothers' Positive Emotionality. No significant associations emerged for fathers' personality. The findings suggest that personality traits and gender may influence the very words that parents and children use, thus shaping the developmental environment in important ways.

The current study examined whether autobiographical memories from parents' own childhoods, prebirth expectations, and personality traits contributed to their perceptions of their infants' temperament. It also investigated whether mothers and fathers differed in the extent to which these three sources of subjectivity predicted their perceptions. During the third trimester of pregnancy, expectant mothers and fathers in 96 families completed assessments of their personality traits and expectations for their children's temperament, as well as provided characteristic memories of their relationships with their own caregivers as children. Memories were then coded for themes of growth versus safety and compared to parents' ratings of perceived child temperament 15 months later. Analyses revealed that, for both parents, prebirth expectations predicted perceptions of positive temperament behaviors. Moreover, fathers who described childhoods characterized by exploration and opportunities for growth also perceived their children as displaying more positive temperamental behaviors, whereas those who described greater safety focus in memories and who had higher levels of negative affectivity reported more negative temperamental behaviors. These findings suggest that mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their children are differently related to psychological variables, including autobiographical memories. In turn, it is possible that these subjective perceptions may affect the parenting environment.

This investigation examined the structure of reflective functioning (RF) - an understanding of the links between mental states and behaviors - and adult attachment scales. Both RF and traditional adult attachment scales were coded based on 194 prebirth Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI). Correlational and factor analyses indicated considerable overlap between RF and traditional AAI coding. Exploratory factor analyses of RF and AAI state-of-mind scales indicated that RF loaded, along with coherence of mind, on the primary factor distinguishing between individuals categorized as secure and dismissing. These findings indicate substantial overlap between RF and AAI scales; however, the magnitude of the correlations between these scales indicates that they are not redundant.

Empirical studies concerning the temperament of school aged children who stutter (CWS) have been limited. CWS (aged 6 to 12) have been found to be more sensitive and withdrawn compared to their non-stuttering peers (Fowlie& Cooper, 1978; Oyler&Ramig, 1995) more anxious and introverted (Fowlie& Cooper, 1978) and less likely to take risks (Oyler, 1996). The questionnaires used in these studies involved parents making global judgements about their child rather than asking them to rate behaviours and reactions in specific situations. Given thenature of these questionnaires, parents’ ratings may have been influenced by common stereotypes of the temperament of a child who stutters, which may be stronger given the longer stuttering history of older children. While children's temperament has typically been measured using parent ratings, self-report isalso considered to be an important source of information, particularly when investigating older children's temperament. A significant part of temperament refers to internal and hidden reactions and tendencies that are not easily observable to others and therefore would not be measured via observational methods (Carver &Scheier, 1996; Matthews, Deary& Whiteman,2003; Muris et al., 2007). Children at age 7 and older seem to be able to reliably report about their own attributes, feelings, behaviours, and experiences (Danielson & Phelps, 2003;Measelle, John, Ablow, Cowan, & Cowan, 2005) and while parents tend to be better reporters of external behaviour, children are more accurate at conveying internal feelings, states and moods(Goodman, Ford, Simmons, Gatward, & Meltzer, 2000; Wrobel&Lachar, 1998). Using acomputerized self-report measure Simonds and Rothbart (2006) demonstrated that 7- to 10-year-olds were able to reliably report on their own temperament.

The current study explored how family characteristics (i.e., family cohesiveness and marital adjustment) and child characteristics (i.e., temperament) assessed when the child was 13 months old predicted child behavior with mothers and fathers at 36 months. Mother–father–child interaction was observed to assess family cohesiveness at 13 months. Mothers and fathers also completed questionnaires assessing their perceptions of marital adjustment and their child’s temperament at 13 months. Based on dyadic parent–child interactions at 36 months, under-controlled behavior and positive engagement were examined as outcome variables. Results indicated that observed family cohesiveness predicted positive engagement with both parents. Moreover, in families with high cohesiveness at 13 months, child behavior was significantly consistent across mother–child and father–child interactions, whereas in families with low cohesiveness, consistency of child behavior was not observed. Results also revealed that fathers’ perceptions of marital adjustment directly predicted child behavior with fathers, while the combination of low family cohesiveness/low marital adjustment and difficult temperament predicted child behavior with mothers.

This investigation explored how parent personality and infant temperament were associated with the development and stability of coparenting over the first 3 years of life. We examined the stability of supportive and undermining coparenting from 13 months to 3 years and whether infant difficult temperament moderated the stability of coparenting. We also examined how two dimensions of parent personality, communion and negative emotionality, were directly associated with coparenting quality and how these personality variables interacted with infant difficult temperament in predicting subsequent coparenting quality. Both supportive and undermining coparenting demonstrated moderate stability; however, stability in undermining coparenting was present only for families with less difficult infants. Fathers' communion and negative emotionality were associated with higher and lower coparenting quality, respectively, but only for families with an infant with a more challenging temperament. Mothers' negative emotionality was associated with higher coparenting quality. The results of this study suggest that parents' and children's characteristics are associated in direct and interactive ways with the development of the coparenting relationship across the first few years of a child's life.

This study examined trajectories of relationship satisfaction for couples (n = 99) who had recently experienced the birth of an infant, and further examined the roles of parent gender, personality, depression, and first-time parent status in initial levels of relationship satisfaction and change over time. Expectant parents reported their personalities during the third trimester of pregnancy, and relationship satisfaction and depression during the third trimester and at 3.5 and 13 months postpartum. Hierarchical Linear Modeling analyses indicated that individuals who were initially more satisfied in their relationships were those whose partners were low in negative emotionality. In addition, first-time fathers had higher initial relationship satisfaction than non-first-time fathers, but experienced fathers had higher initial relationship satisfaction when their partners had greater agency. Declines in relationship satisfaction were more pronounced for mothers and those with higher levels of depressive symptoms across the transition.

This study examined parent characteristics as correlates of coparenting behavior in 57 primiparous couples. Parents' negative emotionality and perceptions of maternal acceptance in childhood, mothers' beliefs about fathers' roles, and observed marital behavior and family socioeconomic status were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy, and coparenting behavior was observed at 3.5 months postpartum. Couples who exhibited high-quality marital interaction showed higher supportive coparenting behavior, but couples who showed lower quality marital interaction demonstrated higher supportive coparenting behavior when mothers held more progressive beliefs about fathers' roles. Couples showed more undermining coparenting behavior when family socioeconomic status was lower and when fathers were higher on negative emotionality. Greater perceived maternal acceptance in childhood was only associated with lower levels of undermining behavior when prenatal marital interaction was high in quality. Thus, the characteristics of both parents, especially in combination with preexisting marital behavior, are important determinants of coparenting behavior.