The role of coparenting in the relationships between power sharing and differentiation of self with parenting behaviors and child adjustment: Actor-partner interdependence mediation model
Authors: KARABABA Alper 
Published: December 2024

The aim of this study, which is based on Family Systems Theory and Ecological Coparenting Model, is to examine the role of coparenting relationships in the relationships between power sharing in the marriages differentiation of self of mothers and fathers with children attending primary school (6-9 years old) and child adjustment and parenting behaviours in a dyadic context. The study group consisted of 399 married mothers and fathers (n=798) with at least one child aged 6-9 years. Both mothers and fathers responded to the Power Sharing in Couple Relationships Scale, Differentiation of Self Scale, Coparenting Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Scale and Parenting Behaviours Scale and the demographic information form prepared by the researcher. Descriptive analyses were used to analyse the data, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to reveal the relationship between variables and dyadic analysis techniques were used to test the proposed structural models using path analysis. SPSS and AMOS package programmes and MEDYAD macro were used for statistical analysis of the data. In the study, Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM), one of the dyadic analysis approaches, was used. In the study, a total of six models were analysed: the role of coparenting in the relationship between power sharing and child adjustment, positive parenting behaviours and negative parenting behaviours, and the role of coparenting in the relationship between differentiation of self and child adjustment, positive parenting behaviours and negative parenting behaviours.In the first model of the study, it was found that both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of power sharing significantly affected the child's adjustment through their perceptions of coparenting. When the indirect partner effects are analysed, the power sharing perceptions of the couples affect the child's adjustment through the coparenting of their spouses. These findings suggest that spouses who perceive power sharing in their relationships exhibit mutual coparenting behaviour, which in turn strengthens the child's adjustment. In the second model, it was revealed that couples' coparenting behaviours played a role in the effect of both mothers' and fathers' power sharing perceptions on both mothers' and fathers' positive behaviours. Moreover, in the third model, the indirect effect of both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of coparenting played a role in the effect of mothers' perceptions of power sharing on fathers' negative behaviours. Another finding shows that fathers' power sharing perceptions have an indirect effect of mothers' perceptions of coparenting on mothers' negative behaviours. Therefore, as the power sharing of the couples in the relationship increases, the coparenting relationship also increases, which increases the positive behaviours of mothers and fathers towards their children and decreases their negative behaviours.The results of the fourth model tested in the study show that as the mothers' differentiation of self increases, their perceptions of their spouses' coparenting also increase and thus, child adjustment also increases. Therefore, it can be said that mothers' high differentiation of self strengthens the coparenting relationship and this increases the child's adjustment. When the analysis results of the fifth and sixth models were evaluated together, it was found that both mothers' and fathers' differentiation of self positively affected their positive behaviours and negatively affected their negative behaviours through their perceptions of coparenting. When indirect partner effects were examined, it was found that as mothers' differentiation of self increased, both their own and their partners' perceptions of co-parenting increased and this increased fathers' positive behaviours and decreased fathers' negative behaviours. These results show that the effect of mothers' differentiation of self in the family system and this determines fathers' positive and negative behaviours by strengthening the coparenting relationship.The findings show that there are various spillovers and cross-effects within the family system. It further supports the claim that coparenting is a central executive subsystem in the family at the intersection of connections between family members and the family subsystem. The results are discussed within the framework of Family Systems Theory and the Ecological Coparenting Model and recommendations are made to researchers and practitioners.