Emotion Regulation, Coercive Parenting, and Child Adjustment: A Serial Mediation Clinical Trial

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Child Development
• Family Studies

Background:

• Prior research established the Fathering Through Change (FTC) program's effectiveness in reducing coercive parenting and child behavior problems.
• The current study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms mediating this intervention's impact.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mediational role of emotion regulation in the relationship between the FTC intervention and changes in fathers' parenting and child behavior.
• To expand on previous intent-to-treat (ITT) evaluations of the FTC program.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 426 recently divorced or separated fathers with children aged 4-12 were randomly assigned to the FTC program or a waitlist control.
• Serial mediation hypotheses were tested to examine the pathway from the FTC intervention to reduced coercive parenting, mediated by emotion regulation.

Main Results:

• The FTC intervention showed a significant causal link to reduced child behavior problems (d = .39).
• Emotion regulation did not fully mediate the intervention's effect on parenting but contributed to explained variance both directly and indirectly.
• The intervention demonstrated significant total and unique pathways to improved child adjustment.

Conclusions:

• The FTC program effectively reduces child behavior problems through changes in parenting.
• Emotion regulation plays a partial role in the intervention's success, highlighting its importance in fathering.
• Online parent training programs, like FTC, have clinical implications for pediatric settings.