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1. Mothers' and fathers' joint profiles for testosterone and oxytocin in a small‐scale fishing‐farming community: Variation based on marital conflict and paternal contributions

   https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1367  

   Gettler, Lee T. ; Sarma, Mallika S. ; Lew‐Levy, Sheina ; Bond, Angela ; Trumble, Benjamin C. ; Boyette, Adam H. ( August 2019 , Brain and Behavior)

   Testosterone and oxytocin are psychobiological mechanisms that interrelate with relationship quality between parents and the quantity and quality of parenting behaviors, thereby affecting child outcomes. Their joint production based on family dynamics has rarely been tested, particularly cross‐culturally.

   We explored family function and salivary testosterone and oxytocin in mothers and fathers in a small‐scale, fishing‐farming society in Republic of the Congo. Fathers ranked one another in three domains of family life pertaining to the local cultural model of fatherhood.

   Fathers who were viewed as better providers had relatively lower oxytocin and higher testosterone than men seen as poorer providers, who had lower testosterone and higher oxytocin. Fathers also had higher testosterone and lower oxytocin in marriages with more conflict, while those who had less marital conflict had reduced testosterone and higher oxytocin. In contrast, mothers in conflicted marriages showed the opposite profiles of relatively lower testosterone and higher oxytocin. Mothers had higher oxytocin and lower testosterone if fathers were uninvolved as direct caregivers, while mothers showed an opposing pattern for the two hormones if fathers were seen as involved with direct care.

   These results shed new light on parents' dual oxytocin and testosterone profiles in a small‐scale society setting and highlight the flexibility of human parental psychobiology when fathers' roles and functions within families differ across cultures.

    

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2. Parent and Child Depressive Symptoms and Authoritarian Parenting: Reciprocal Relations From Early Childhood Through Adolescence

   https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026231170871  

   Chad-Friedman, Emma ; Jordan, Leslie_S ; Chad-Friedman, Simone ; Lemay, Edward ; Olino, Thomas ; Klein, Daniel_N ; Dougherty, Lea_R ( May 2023 , Clinical Psychological Science)

   We conducted cross-lagged panel models to examine reciprocal relations between parent and child depressive symptoms and authoritarian-parenting behaviors across development in a community sample of 599 youths (89.1% White, 7.7% Black/African American, 2.3% Asian, 0.7% multiracial/other; 65.3% had at least one parent with a 4-year college degree). Mothers and fathers completed self-report measures about their own depressive symptoms and authoritarian-parenting behaviors during the years their children were 3 to 15 years old. Child depressive symptoms were assessed with a developmentally appropriate semistructured clinical interview at all time points. Results demonstrated reciprocal pathways between maternal and child depressive symptoms from ages 3 to 15 years serial mediators. Moreover, although child depressive symptoms at age 3 years led to greater maternal and paternal negative authoritarian parenting from ages 3 to 15 years, these effects were not reciprocal. Pathways between paternal and child depressive symptoms were not observed. Our findings highlight the importance of examining reciprocal pathways to identify mechanisms in the development of depression within families.

    

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3. How does work affect fathers' daily interaction with adolescents? An expanded self‐regulation perspective

   https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2770  

   French, Kimberly A. ; Liu, Songqi ; Ohannessian, Christine M. ; Tennen, Howard ( January 2024 , Journal of Organizational Behavior)

   The management of the daily rhythm of work and childrearing, two central responsibilities of working fathers, has received limited research attention. Drawing from an expanded self‐regulation perspective, this study seeks to understand the within‐person depletion and compensation mechanisms that explain how fathers' daily work experiences spillover to influence their next‐day parenting interactions. We also posit that actual childrearing support by mothers and its unavailability may shape fathers' day‐to‐day caregiving rhythm by injecting resources and/or cuing demands for father parenting involvement. Using daily triadic data (N = 631 within‐person observations) from 96 fathers, mothers and their adolescent children in the United States, we found that the lagged relationship between fathers' negative work events and next‐day father–adolescent conflict was mediated by fathers' psychological distress. In addition, we found that negative work events were associated with increased father–adolescent routine activities the next day via time‐based work–family conflict, but only when mothers worked the next day. We further found that negative work events were associated with decreased father–adolescent interactive activities the next day via psychological distress, but only when mothers provided less routine care than normal the next day. Our study portrays fathers juggling work and parenting as a sequenced balancing act. Importantly, incorporating mothers' daily work status and routine parent–adolescent interactions enriches our understanding of fathers' daily work‐to‐parenting spillover process.

    

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4. The Roles of Mothers' Perceptions of Grandmothers' Gatekeeping and Fathers' Parenting Competence in Maternal Gatekeeping

   https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12569  

   Wang, Jingyi ; Schoppe‐Sullivan, Sarah J. ( July 2021 , Family Relations)

   This study investigated how new mothers' perceptions of maternal grandmothers' gatekeeping behaviors and perceptions of fathers' parenting competence are associated with maternal gatekeeping behaviors.

   In the development of coparenting relationships at the transition to parenthood, the roles of extended family members, although important, have received little research attention. Grandmothers' gatekeeping may serve as a reference for maternal gatekeeping behaviors, but its role depends on mothers' own perceptions of fathers' parenting competence.

   Mothers from 172 dual‐earner, different‐gender couples reported their own mothers' gatekeeping behaviors and their own perceptions of fathers' parenting competence at 3 months postpartum. Maternal gatekeeping behaviors toward fathers were reported by mothers at both 3 and 9 months postpartum.

   When mothers perceived that maternal grandmothers engaged in higher levels of gatekeeping behaviors, mothers engaged in more gate‐opening behaviors but only when mothers perceived fathers as highly competent. There were no significant associations between mothers' perceptions of grandmothers' gatekeeping and maternal gate‐closing behaviors.

   Adult mothers, who likely have developed their own sets of ideas about parenting, are still susceptible to support and criticism from their own mothers.

   Practitioners would do well to encourage expectant and new parents to consider the role of extended family in the development of their coparenting relationships and to develop plans for support‐seeking, boundary management, and negotiation of conflicts. To help reduce maternal gate‐closing and enhance maternal gate‐opening behaviors, practitioners could support fathers' development of parenting skills and help mothers develop awareness of fathers' skills.

    

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5. Parenting stress in caregivers of young children with ASD concerns prior to a formal diagnosis

   https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2213  

   DesChamps, Trent D. ; Ibañez, Lisa V. ; Edmunds, Sarah R. ; Dick, Catherine C. ; Stone, Wendy L. ( October 2019 , Autism Research)

   Robust findings demonstrate that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience high levels of parenting stress that are associated with negative outcomes for families. Although the majority of research on parenting stress has focused on parents of children with an existing diagnosis, parents of young children with concerns about ASD‐related behaviors also face many unique challenges before the time of diagnosis. However, no study to date has examined patterns of parenting stress among parents of children with ASD concerns prior to a formal ASD diagnosis. Therefore, the current study investigated longitudinal trajectories of parenting stress among parents of young children with ASD concerns compared to parents of children with non‐ASD developmental concerns (e.g., language delay), and parents of children with no developmental concerns. Known predictors of parenting stress were also examined. Results from multilevel model analyses revealed that parents of children with ASD concerns experienced consistently higher levels of parenting stress across early child development compared to parents of children with non‐ASD developmental concerns and those with no concerns. Additionally, parenting efficacy, psychological functioning, social satisfaction, and child social communication behaviors predicted levels of parenting stress for all parents.Autism Res2020, 13: 82–92. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

   This study examined parenting stress across time among parents of young children with ASD concerns before receiving a diagnosis. Parents of children with ASD concerns reported consistently higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents of children with other developmental concerns and parents of children with no concerns. Also, ASD concerns predicted parenting stress in addition to other parent and child predictors of parenting stress. These findings highlight the need to better support families before an ASD diagnosis.

    

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