Coparenting and children's temperament predict firstborns' cooperation in the care of an infant sibling

Ju-Hyun Song1, Brenda L Volling2

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.

This study examined how coparenting and firstborn children's temperament predicted children's cooperative behavior in response to maternal requests for assistance in the care of a 1-month-old infant sibling. Children's cooperative responding was observed during a diaper change session for 216 firstborns (ages 13 to 70 months; M = 32). Parents also completed questionnaires assessing coparenting and children's temperament. Results suggested that coparenting quality moderated the association between children's temperament (i.e., soothability) and children's cooperation as revealed in a Temperament × Cooperative Coparenting × Undermining Coparenting interaction. Specifically, low soothability predicted low levels of children's cooperation in families with high undermining and low cooperative coparenting, over and above the effects of child age, gender, and mothers' education. Findings further our understanding of how temperamental characteristics and coparenting quality conjointly predict individual differences in firstborn children's positive adjustment across the transition to siblinghood.

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
1.4K
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings01:29

Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings

Other adult family members and siblings play a crucial role in shaping children’s social and emotional development. While parents or primary caregivers are often the central figures in early attachment and socialization, other adults in a child’s life, such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles, can significantly influence developmental outcomes. These influences depend on each adult’s personality and may help compensate when a primary caregiver is emotionally distant or...
267
Parental Care00:55

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
13.2K
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
370
Parenting Styles01:27

Parenting Styles

Diana Baumrind's four parenting styles — authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful, and permissive — each influence children's socio-emotional development differently.
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative...
958
Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs01:23

Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs

Behavior genetics explores how genetic inheritance influences human behavior. It focuses on how genes, passed from parents to offspring, contribute to the development of behavioral traits and tendencies. This branch of genetics seeks to understand the complex interplay between inherited genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping our behaviors.
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
1.4K