A growing number of studies have explored fathers' parenting quality and its effects on children during infancy and early childhood; however, gaps remain toward understanding fathers' and mothers' parenting quality from a family systems' perspective in late childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, prior research has focused on modeling the overall average changes in fathering and mothering across years (e.g., intraindividual change), but it is also important to directly evaluate the shorter-term day-to-day dynamics of fathering and mothering.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) emerges during the prenatal period and helps fathers and mothers prepare for the transition to parenthood. Few studies have considered how PRF could support at-risk fathers and their partners across this transition. In a sample of moderate to heavy drinking fathers, an actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) was used to examine concurrent indirect effects between prenatal psychological symptoms and paternal and maternal PRF through interparental relationship satisfaction while accounting for the interdependence among father-mother dyads.

During the transition from late childhood into adolescence, parents' support of their children's autonomy plays an increasingly important role in facilitating healthy emotion regulation and protecting children against the development of internalizing problems. Although theoretical work suggests that fathers' autonomy support may be particularly protective, little empirical work has explored the effects of fathers' autonomy support on internalizing problems. The present study focused on the relations between fathers' autonomy support and adolescent internalizing problems, as well as whether there were interactions between paternal and maternal autonomy support on adolescent adjustment.

Clinicians caring for families impacted by substance use disorder often feel uncomfortable assessing for child protective concerns in the setting of non-prescribed parental substance use. This leads to a lack of standardization of care, where some clinicians choose to not ask any questions about the care of children for fear of receiving information that will leave them in an uncomfortable position as a mandated reporter, while others may reflexively report any identification of substance use to child protective services. The primary aim of this descriptive manuscript is to present a framework developed by a multidisciplinary team in a medical setting to address concerns about a recurrence of parental substance use.

The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the impact of birth mother's post-adoption perinatal grief - stemming from ambiguous loss - on their perceptions of their parenting years later and the relationship quality they have with the children who they raise; and (b) to evaluate the potential contribution that social support and substance use severity play in moderating the impact of post-adoption perinatal grief.

Maternal control and directiveness in Latina/o families often do not show the negative associations with child adjustment seen in European American samples. This study tested the self-determination hypotheses that Latina maternal involvement and structure would be positively associated with preschool children's later self-regulation, whereas directiveness and control would show negative relations.

To test three competing models of the nature and structure of maternal parenting practices with infants in U.S. national and multiple international samples. The three models were a one-factor dimensional model, a multi-factor style model, and a hybrid two-factor/six-domain model. Undertaking this evaluation of parenting with national and international samples permits a wide yet judicious analysis of culture-common versus culture-specific models of maternal parenting practices with young infants.

This study examines the development of minor parenting stress, parenting satisfaction, and dyadic dysregulation across early childhood and evaluates their roles in predicting maternal and child well-being one year later.

Children differ in the extent to which they reap the benefits of maternal sensitive care or suffer the adverse consequences of insensitive care, and these differences can be accounted for by biological characteristics. However, susceptible children adapt to maternal sensitivity in ways that either maximize positive development or lead to maladjustment has yet to be determined. Here, we propose a novel model of socioemotional mechanisms by which the joint influences of maternal sensitivity and child biological characteristics influence child adjustment.

Both parents may report high levels of stress during the perinatal period with possible negative consequences for parental well-being and child development. Parental sense of efficacy moderates the effect of stress. To date, no studies have assessed links between parental stress and mother-father-infant interactions in terms of family alliance and the extent to which each parent's sense of efficacy moderates these links. In this study, 65 dual-parent families answered a questionnaire about parental stress between 36 and 38 weeks of pregnancy and at 3 months after birth. Families were also observed while playing with their 3-month-old infant in the Lausanne Trilogue Play, and they completed a questionnaire about parental efficacy. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that higher maternal or paternal postnatal stress has a direct link with higher family alliance and the links between stress and family alliance are moderated by complex interaction effects between maternal and paternal senses of efficacy. This study shows the necessity of considering the interaction between the senses of self-efficacy of both parents as moderators of parenting stress.

Fathers are of great importance for healthy child development. This randomized controlled study investigated the longer-term effects of an intervention using a soft baby carrier on fathers' observed sensitive caregiving, involvement, and oxytocin and cortisol levels. First-time fathers were randomly assigned to use a baby carrier ( = 41) or baby seat ( = 39) and were asked to use the carrier or seat for at least 6 h per week for 3 weeks. Pretest (  = 2.67 months), posttest (  = 3.99 months), and follow-up (  = 8.25 months) father data were collected. No intervention effects of baby carrier use on fathers' sensitivity, involvement, and oxytocin or cortisol levels at follow-up emerged. Unexpectedly, fathers in the baby seat condition reported an increase in the amount of time spent with the infant. Fathers' sensitivity and oxytocin levels decreased over time, while cortisol levels increased over time, irrespective of condition. This study showed less optimal hormonal levels in fathers over time, suggesting that support during the first months of fatherhood is needed. Furthermore, use of a baby seat may have contributed to fathers enjoying their time with their infant and consequently their involvement in child caregiving.

The present study aimed to enhance understanding of continuity and stability of positive parenting of infants, across age and different settings in women with a history of depression who are at elevated risk for postpartum depression.

Drawing on existing literature concerning the interrelations among toddler fearful temperament, maternal protective parenting, and maternal cognitions, the current study sought to test how mothers' abilities to predict their children's distress expressions and behaviors in future novel situations ("maternal accuracy"), may be maintained from toddlerhood to children's kindergarten year.

Brief, reliable, and cost-effective methods to assess parenting are critical for advancing parenting research.

Families with trans parents are an increasingly visible family form, yet little is known about parenting and child outcomes in these families. This exploratory study offers the first quantitative assessment of parent-child relationship quality and child socio-emotional and behavioral adjustment in families with a self-identified trans parent with school-aged children. A sample of 35 families (37 trans parents, 13 partners, and 25 children aged 8-18 years) was recruited primarily through social media. Parents, children, and teachers were administered a range of standardized interview and questionnaire assessments of parent-child relationship quality, quality of parenting, psychological adjustment, and gender-related minority stress. Parents and children had good quality relationships, as assessed by both parents and children, and children showed good psychological adjustment. Child age at the time the parent communicated their gender identity to the child was unrelated to child outcomes. Parents and children in trans parent families had good quality relationships and children showed good psychological adjustment. The findings of this exploratory study challenge commonly held concerns about the potentially negative effects on children of growing up with a trans parent.

We evaluated eight recruitment methods (Craigslist, Facebook ads, Google AdWords, in-person, newspaper, parenting magazines, ResearchMatch, and direct mailing) in terms of their ability to accrue fathers of 3- to 7-year-old children into a laboratory-based behavioral trial for parents. The trial was related to child obesity risk and parental health behaviors.

This article examined two-wave longitudinal paths among maternal self-efficacy, maternal warmth, and early adolescents' prosocial behavior.

Children of Latinx adolescent mothers are at risk for regulatory difficulties. However, a paucity of research has examined parenting behaviors and children's early emotional development in such families.