Developmental Characteristics And Bidirectional Relationship Between Parental Attitudes Toward Paternal Parenting Roles And Co-parenting

Co-parenting refers to the activities of parents who collaborate with each other in the process of parenting their children,representing the quality of synergy between parents and the synergistic behaviour of one parent.Of these,solidarity and consistency are positive co-parenting and conflict and devaluation are negative co-parenting.Positive co-parenting helps to promote the child’s adaptive development,reduces parenting stress on both parents,and enhances the cohesion between family members and the sense of togetherness in the family atmosphere.Negative co-parenting,on the other hand,is detrimental to the healthy development of children,undermines the parenting experience of both parents and damages the harmony and solidarity within the family.Therefore,an in-depth examination of co-parenting is important for family education.In traditional education culture,fathers are responsible for the upbringing of their children and paternal parenting role has an important impact on the development of their children.However,traditional gender roles suggest that ‘men are primarily responsible for the outside of the family and women are primarily responsible for the inside of the family’.Fathers are increasingly marginalised in the parenting of their children as they are more responsible for the economic role of providing for the family.The marginalisation of fathers’ parenting roles may be closely linked to parental attitudes toward paternal parenting roles.Parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles refer to the father’s or mother’s perceptions and expectations of how the father should play the role of father.There may be a strong link between parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles and co-parenting.However,no previous research has examined the deeper links between perceived attitudes to parenting roles and interactive parenting behaviour.Therefore,focusing on the relationship between parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles and co-parenting is important in enhancing the cohesiveness of family parenting cooperation and may provide effective guidance for family education practice.In this study,816 mothers and 805 fathers from the central region were recruited for the follow-up study using the Father’s Parenting Role Attitude Scale and the Co-parenting Scale,measured three times at one-year intervals.Data were saved,collated and analysed using data analysis software such as SPSS 25.0 and MPLUS 8.3.In Study 1,the trajectories and characteristics of changes in parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles and co-parenting over time are explored separately for the first time.Study 2 explores the bidirectional relationship between parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles and co-parenting and the underlying mechanisms from an individual perspective.Study 3,based on the perspective of family interaction,explores the intersectional and bidirectional relationship between parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles and co-parenting.The findings of the study are as follows:(1)The development of paternal attitudes towards their own parenting role was not significant,maternal attitudes towards paternal parenting roles showed a significant downward trend over time;paternal positive co-parenting showing a significant downward trend over time,maternal positive co-parenting showed a significant downward trend;paternal negative co-parenting showing a significant upward trend,while maternal negative co-parenting did not change significantly.(2)Among fathers,T1 to T3,there was a bidirectional relationship between paternal attitudes towards their own parenting role and paternal positive co-parenting;T1 paternal attitudes towards their own parenting role negatively predicted T2 paternal negative co-parenting.Two virtuous cycles were found in the dynamics of paternal attitudes towards their parenting role and their co-parenting.(3)Among mothers,T1 to T3,there was a bidirectional relationship between maternal attitudes towards paternal parenting roles and maternal positive co-parenting.T1 negative co-parenting negatively predicted T2 maternal attitudes towards paternal parenting roles.T2 maternal attitudes towards paternal parenting roles negatively predicted T3 negative co-parenting.And both virtuous and vicious cycles were found in the dynamic development process.(4)There were differences in the paired samples of parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles and co-parenting.there were differences in parental attitudes towards paternal parenting roles between T1-T3,with fathers having higher attitudes towards their own parenting roles than mothers;T1 maternal negative co-parenting was higher than T1 paternal negative co-parenting;T3 maternal positive co-parenting was higher than T3 paternal positive co-parenting.(5)There was a cross-over bi-directional relationship between paternal attitudes towards their own parenting role and maternal positive co-parenting.In the middle and late stages,there was a cross-over bi-directional relationship between paternal attitudes towards their own parenting role and maternal negative co-parenting.And a virtuous circle was found in the intra-family interaction.(6)There was a cross-over bi-directional relationship between maternal attitudes towards paternal parenting and paternal positive co-parenting.T1 maternal attitudes towards paternal parenting role negative predictors paternal negative co-parenting and In addition,a virtuous circle mechanism was found at the family level.