The Role of Infant Temperament in Stability and Change in Coparenting Across the First Year of Life

The current study investigated the role of infant temperament in stability and change in coparenting behavior across the infant's first year. Specifically, bidirectional relations between infant temperament and coparenting were examined and temperament was further considered as a moderator of longitudinal stability in coparenting behavior.

Fifty-six two-parent families were recruited to participate during their third trimester of pregnancy. Coparenting behavior was assessed in families' homes when infants were age 3.5 months and in a laboratory setting at 13 months postpartum. Mothers and fathers also reported on their infant's temperamental difficulty at 3.5 and 13 months.

Evidence for bidirectional relations between infant temperament and coparenting was obtained. Early infant difficulty, as reported by fathers, was associated with a decrease in supportive coparenting behavior across time; conversely, early supportive coparenting behavior was associated with a decrease in infant difficulty. Moreover, infant difficult temperament moderated stability in undermining coparenting behavior, such that undermining behavior at 3.5 months predicted undermining behavior at 13 months only when infants had less difficult temperaments.

These findings suggest that infants may play a role in the early course of the family processes that shape their development. With respect to practice, these results suggest that early intervention in the coparenting subsystem is essential for families, particularly those with temperamentally difficult infants.