From the videotape, researchers rated the quality of each couple's marital relationship.
Researchers conducted a second home-based assessment when their infants were about 3.5 months old. The parents completed questionnaires rating their child's temperament, and the researchers also rated temperament based on their home visit. In addition, the parents were videotaped interacting with their infant, including free play and changing their infant's clothes together.
Researchers watched the videotapes and rated how well the couples cooperated with each other when playing with their infant and changing his or her clothes, and how well they seemed to get along while dealing with the baby.
The results showed that couples who showed a good marital relationship before the birth seemed to do better when dealing with a fussy and uncooperative baby when compared to those couples whose relationship was not as good.
Couples who did not have a strong relationship were more critical of each other when dealing with a challenging infant, according to Schoppe-Sullivan.
"They are more likely to say things to their partner like Don't hold the baby that way.' Or they will compete with each other to get the baby's attention. They tend to undermine each other's efforts," she said.
In previous research, Schoppe-Sullivan and her colleagues found that the quality of coparenting has long-term effects on children. When couples are poor coparents, they are more likely to have children who show aggressive and inappropriate behavior at home and school.
"It is not just what the mother is doing, or just what the father is doing, but how they handle parenting together," she said. "Even if you have one parent who is very good with their children, if the other
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Contact: Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan
schoppe-sullivan.1@osu.edu
614-688-3437
Ohio State University
16-Apr-2007