HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
DISSERTATION DEFENSE FOR
ELIZABETH MARIE-BLANCHE RIINA
TITLE: ECOLOGICAL AND FAMILY SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVES ON
COPARENTING DURING ADOLESCENCE
Dissertation Committee:
Susan McHale
Director, Social Science Research Institute
Professor of Human Development
Dissertation Advisor
Chair of Committee
Michael Rovine
Professor of Human Development
J. Douglas Coatsworth
Associate Professor of Human Development
Alysia Blandon
Assistant Professor of Psychology
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:
July 15, 2011
3 - 5 p.m.
S211 Henderson Building
Areas of Specialization: Family Studies
ABSTRACT
A fundamental family systems relationship, coparenting, is defined by the ways in which
parental figures work together in their parenting roles. Prior research demonstrates that
coparenting is susceptible to developmental transitions that bring about changes in family roles
and relationships. However, longitudinal research on coparenting during later phases of family
life, when family circumstances and offspring’s adolescent development pose new sets of
challenges for mothers and fathers, is far more limited. The goal of this dissertation was to
explore questions about how changes in coparenting are linked to adolescent development, and
the dynamic links with individual adjustment, family processes, and the broader social and
cultural context in which families are embedded. Multiple methods were used to examine
longitudinal changes in coparenting in separate ethnic-homogenous samples of two-parent
families with adolescent offspring.
The goal of the first study was to chart the trajectory of coparenting satisfaction as a function of
marital duration in155 two-parent African American families, and to examine the links between
marital characteristics and changes in coparenting satisfaction over time. Multilevel growth
curve models revealed an inverted-U quadratic pattern of change in coparenting satisfaction
across the first two decades of marriage for both mothers and fathers, but this effect was
qualified by youth age, such that the quadratic pattern was evident in families with older but not
younger offspring. Increases in marital love were linked to increases in coparenting satisfaction,
increases in marital conflict were associated with declines in coparenting satisfaction, and these
links were stronger for fathers than to mothers.
Using the same sample of two-parent African American families, study two described changes in
coparenting satisfaction as a function of offspring age, and examined the role of sociocultural
stressors (economic strain, racial discrimination) and supports (socio-economic resources,
religiosity) for coparenting satisfaction over time. Multilevel growth curve analyses revealed that
changes in coparenting satisfaction differed for mothers and fathers: Mothers were less satisfied
on average but showed no change over time whereas fathers experienced a linear decline,
becoming less satisfied with coparenting over the course of youth’s adolescent development.
Findings were generally consistent with hypotheses that stressors were negatively linked and
religiosity was positively related to coparenting satisfaction. Findings for racial discrimination
and income differed by parent and highlighted gender dynamics within couple relationships.
Study three examined two dimensions of coparenting in two-parent European American families
of adolescents -- shared decision-making and shared time with offspring -- and assessed the
bidirectional associations between dimensions of coparenting and boys’ and girls’ risky
behaviors and depressive symptoms across four time points (six years) of adolescent
development. Across adolescence, parents of boys made more decisions together than parents of
girls, and shared triadic time occurred relatively infrequently for all families. Parents’ shared
decision-making was linked to fewer risky behavior problems for boys one year later, and boys’
and girls’ risky behavior problems were linked to lower shared decision-making one year later;
there were no significant links between shared decision making and depressive symptoms.
Coparents’ shared time with offspring was bidirectionally related to both risky behaviors and
depressive symptoms, and these links were present earlier in adolescence for girls’ than for boys.
These studies confirm that evaluations of coparenting are susceptible to changes that coincide
with offspring’s adolescence, and results elucidated some of the family and sociocultural factors
that contribute to mothers’ and fathers’ coparenting satisfaction. Findings also suggest that
dimensions of coparenting practices had distinct implications for boys’ and girls’ adjustment at
different points in adolescence. Discussions center on coparenting as a fundamental family
systems dynamic and suggest future directions for research on coparenting during adolescence.