Although suggestions are that benefits of relationship and marriage education (RME) participation extend from the interparental relationship with parenting and child outcomes, few evaluation studies of RME test these assumptions and the relationship among changes in these areas. This quasi-experimental study focuses on a parallel process growth model that tests a spillover hypothesis of program effects and finds, in a sample of low-income minority mothers with a child attending a Head Start program, that increases in mother reports of coparenting agreement for RME participants predict decreases in their reports of punitive parenting behaviors. Although improvements in parenting behaviors did not predict increases in teacher reports of children's social competence, improvements in coparenting agreement were associated with increases in children's social competence over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, we examined remarriage beliefs as predictors of marital quality and positive interaction in a sample of 179 stepcouples. Three beliefs were measured using subscales from the Remarriage Belief Inventory (RMBI) including success is slim, children are the priority, and finances should be pooled. Several significant actor and partner effects were found for both wives' and husbands' beliefs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies of coparents typically center on the relationship between parents who share a biological child; limited attention in research on community-based programs is given to the coparenting relationship within a stepfamily, even though clinicians note the challenges inherent in this relationship. We examined changes in coparenting agreement, parenting efficacy, and parental involvement for 96 stepparents following participation in a coparenting-focused community education program. A significant main effect of time was found for improvement in coparenting agreement, yet a significant time × gender interaction effect suggests that this is driven by improvements for stepmothers only.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe examined the relationship between family structure and hooking up among emerging adults (N = 881) and the extent to which attachment moderated this relationship. Neither family structure nor number of structure transitions were related to the number of hookup partners in the past 12 months. Having an avoidant attachment, being an underclassman, consuming more alcohol, and not being in an exclusive relationship were related to having a greater number of hookup partners, and avoidant attachment was a stronger indicator of hooking up for men than for women.
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