Coparenting satisfaction refers to the degree of contentment each parent feels regarding the coordination, division of labor, and support between partners in their joint parenting roles and responsibilities. It involves both partners’ appraisals of the adequacy of the other parent’s involvement in childrearing duties as well as the effectiveness of how well they work together as a parenting team.
Key Points
Rationale
However, research revealsparenting behavior and sensitivityonly partially explain variation in infant attachment security (de Wolff & van Ijzendoorn, 1997).
More recently, attention has shifted to examining the broader family context and systems that shape the parent-child relationship. For example, the quality of the coparenting relationship between caregivers has been identified as an important precursor to sensitive parenting and infantattachment patterns(Cox & Paley, 1997).
Yet, no study has specifically examined how parents’ subjective satisfaction with the coparenting relationship might also relate to attachment outcomes.
Parents’ feelings about the division of parenting duties and adequacy of support from the coparenting partner could uniquely impact parenting quality and attachment above and beyond coparenting dynamics.
This may be especially relevant for parents facing depression, who show greater co-parenting negativity, lower sensitivity toward infants, and higher rates of insecure attachment (Bigelow et al., 2018; Hayes et al., 2013; Teti et al., 1995).
Depressed parents juggle more personal distress along with the new demands of parenthood, likely amplifying needs for coparental support.
In this context, coparenting satisfaction could have pronounced effects on parenting capacity and infant bonding.
Assessing these potential links could shed light on family-level protective factors against attachment issues in at-risk groups.
Method
Pregnant women were enrolled prior to 16 weeks gestation and completed diagnostic interviews assessing lifetime depression to determine eligibility.
Eligible mothers provided demographic information. At 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum, mothers completed depression symptom ratings, coparenting responsibility questionnaires, and face-to-face mother–infant interactions.
At 12 months, dyads also completed theStrange Situation procedure. The methods disclose sample size justification, exclusions, manipulations, and all measures used. Study data and materials were not made publicly available.
Sample
234 infants and their mothers with a history of depression and/or anxiety disorder. Mostly white, middle class.
Measures
Statistical Analysis
Tested indirect effects of satisfaction on disorganized attachment through parenting quality usinglongitudinal(3 month satisfaction, 6 month parenting, 12 month attachment) andcross-sectional(12 month satisfaction, parenting, attachment) models.
Results
Hypothesis 1: There will be longitudinal indirect links between mothers’ satisfaction with division of parental responsibilities at 3 months, quality of parenting at 6 months, and infant disorganized attachment at 12 months.
Findings
Hypothesis 2: There will be cross-sectional indirect links between mothers’ satisfaction with division of responsibilities, quality of parenting, and infant disorganized attachment at 12 months.
Insight
In summary, the longitudinal mediation hypothesis was not supported, but the cross-sectional mediation hypothesis was supported for the 12 month variables.
The cross-sectional mediation suggests mothers’ satisfaction with fathers’ childrearing support indirectly impacts infant disorganization through parenting quality, but only later in the first year.
Earlier coparenting satisfaction may not matter as much initially. Mothers likely expect less from fathers in infants’ first months when mothers are often on leave and able to provide more constant care.
By 12 months, as infants become more demanding, mothers expect greater father involvement and are more dependent on their support to be sensitive parents themselves.
For mothers prone to depression, coparenting is still important forattachment security, but the type of support that matters likely shifts from more practical to emotional across the transition to parenthood.
Future research should clarify which aspects of coparental support influence depressed mothers in their parenting across infancy.
Ultimately, a warm, collaborative coparenting relationship that makes mothers feel supported in childrearing may strengthen mothers’ capacity for sensitive caregiving in the second half of infancy.
In turn, this protects against infant disorganization when mothers are depression-prone.
Strengths
Limitations
Implications
Accounting for coparenting and family context, not just focusing efforts at the individual parent-child level, may better buffer infant attachment security risks in families with maternal depression histories.
References
Primary reference
Kim, C. Y., & Goodman, S. H. (2024). Satisfaction with parental responsibilities and disorganized attachment among infants of mothers at risk for depression.Journal of Family Psychology, 38(2), 212–222.https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001179
Other references
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Bell, S. M., & Stayton, D. F. (1974). Infant–mother attachment and social development: Socialization as a product of reciprocal responsiveness to signals. In M. P. M. Richards (Ed.),The integration of a child into a social world(pp. 99–135). Cambridge University Press.
Bigelow, A. E., Beebe, B., Power, M., Stafford, A. L., Ewing, J., Egleson, A., & Kaminer, T. (2018). Longitudinal relations among maternal depressive symptoms, maternal mind-mindedness, and infant attachment behavior.Infant Behavior and Development, 51, 33–44.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2018.02.006
Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (1997). Families as systems.Annual Review of Psychology, 48(1), 243–267.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.48.1.243
de Wolff, M. S., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (1997). Sensitivity and attachment: A meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment.Child Development, 68(4), 571–591.https://doi.org/10.2307/1132107
Hayes, L. J., Goodman, S. H., & Carlson, E. (2013). Maternal antenatal depression and infant disorganized attachment at 12 months.Attachment & Human Development, 15(2), 133–153.https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2013.743256
Teti, D. M., Gelfand, D. M., Messinger, D. S., & Isabella, R. (1995). Maternal depression and the quality of early attachment: An examination of infants, preschoolers, and their mothers.Developmental Psychology, 31(3), 364–376.https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.31.3.364
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Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
Saul McLeod, PhD
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
