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.
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
Key Points
- The study examined how mothers’ satisfaction with fathers’ support in childrearing responsibilities relates to infant-mother attachment quality, specifically disorganized attachment.
- Less satisfied mothers had poorer quality interactions with their infants at 12 months. Poorer quality parenting mediated the link between lower satisfaction and greater infant disorganization at 12 months.
- There were no longitudinal mediational links between satisfaction at 3 months, parenting at 6 months, and attachment at 12 months. Satisfaction may matter more for parenting and attachment when infants get older.
- Infants of mothers at risk for depression are already prone to attachment issues. Understanding precursors is key for early intervention.
Rationale
Attachment theory positions sensitive, prompt, and responsive parenting as the core predictor of secure infant-parent attachment bonds (Ainsworth et al., 1974; Bowlby 1969).
However, research reveals parenting behavior and sensitivity only 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 infant attachment 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
This was part of a larger longitudinal study examining pathways to infant psychopathology vulnerability, approved by the Emory University IRB. The study was not pre-registered.
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 the Strange 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
- SCID (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV): Assessed for lifetime history of major depressive episodes to determine eligibility
- BDI-II (Beck Depression Inventory – Second Edition): Measured mothers’ depressive symptoms at 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum
- Combined Parental Responsibility Scale and Child Care Activity Questionnaire: Mothers reported actual and ideal divisions of 24 childrearing responsibilities to compute coparenting satisfaction scores
- Observational rating system: Coded qualities of mothers’ interactions with infants from video-recorded free play at 6 and 12 months
- Strange Situation: Assessed infant-mother attachment security at 12 months, coded as organized versus disorganized
Statistical Analysis
Tested indirect effects of satisfaction on disorganized attachment through parenting quality using longitudinal (3 month satisfaction, 6 month parenting, 12 month attachment) and cross-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
- No significant association found between 3 month satisfaction and 6 month parenting quality (path a)
- Poorer 6 month parenting quality was significantly associated with greater 12 month disorganized attachment (path b)
- No significant direct, indirect, or total effects found between 3 month satisfaction and 12 month disorganized attachment
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.
Findings
- Lower satisfaction at 12 months was significantly associated with poorer quality parenting at 12 months (path a)
- Poorer parenting quality at 12 months was significantly associated with greater disorganized attachment at 12 months (path b)
- A significant indirect effect was found between 12 month satisfaction and 12 month disorganized attachment through 12 month parenting quality, but no significant direct or total effects.
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 for attachment 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
- High risk sample where findings have greater real-world relevance
- Multi-method data collection
- Sophisticated analyses
- Observational measures limit self-report biases
Limitations
- Homogenous sample limits generalizability
- Cross-sectional mediation lacks temporal precedence
- Did not examine emotional coparenting support
- Only assessed mothers’ behaviors and perceptions
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.
- Interventions for maternal depression should continue targeting parenting quality throughout infancy and aim to improve coparenting relationship.
- Mothers’ satisfaction with fathers’ childrearing support affected parenting capacity.
- Fathers should be educated on increasing emotional and instrumental childrearing support as infants age.
- Findings emphasize family-level factors beyond mother-infant dyad.
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
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss (2nd ed., Vol. 1). Basic Books.
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
Keep Learning
Here are some potential Socratic discussion questions about this paper for a college class:
- How might culture influence coparenting satisfaction and its impact on sensitive parenting? Would the findings generalize outside a Western context?
- What are some reasons why coparenting satisfaction early in infancy may not relate to later parenting quality? How might leave policies and gender norms play a role?
- If coparenting matters more for parenting quality as infants age, should interventions target coparenting earlier or later in the postpartum period? What are the tradeoffs?
- Why might emotional coparenting support be more beneficial than instrumental support for depressed mothers’ parenting capacity? How else might postpartum depression change coparenting needs?
- Are the links found between coparenting, parenting quality, and attachment specific to disorganized attachment? Could they extend to other attachment categories?
