Examining the dyadic association between marital satisfaction and coparenting of parents with young children

Abstract

Healthy coparenting and marital satisfaction are two main components of within-family functioning, providing the basis for healthy child development. In the current study, we investigated the link between marital satisfaction and coparenting from a dyadic perspective in Turkish families with young children. The sample is composed of 249 married coparent dyads (249 mothers and 249 fathers) with at least one child between the ages of three and seven (M = 56.96 months, SD = 15.16). Couples reported their coparenting and marital relationship satisfaction levels. Three separate Actor-Partner Interdependence Models tested the association between marital satisfaction and coparenting dimensions (cooperation, conflict, and triangulation). Results revealed that marital satisfaction was positively associated with coparenting cooperation and negatively associated with coparenting conflict and triangulation for both parents (actor effect). In addition, fathers’ marital satisfaction was positively associated with mothers’ coparenting cooperation and negatively associated with mothers’ coparenting triangulation (partner effect). These findings suggest that marital satisfaction has both within-person and between-partner links with coparenting, albeit the between-partner effect is pronounced only from fathers toward mothers.