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. 2019 May;31(2):573-586.
doi: 10.1017/S095457941800010X. Epub 2018 Apr 26.

An examination of father vulnerability and coercive family process after the birth of a sibling: A spillover cascade model

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An examination of father vulnerability and coercive family process after the birth of a sibling: A spillover cascade model

Matthew M Stevenson et al. Dev Psychopathol. 2019 May.

Abstract

Fathers are a crucial source of support for children following the birth of an infant sibling. This study examined whether fathers were more vulnerable to the effects of interparental conflict than mothers, and whether there was a subsequent spillover cascade from interparental conflict to children's externalizing behavior problems. We followed 241 families after the birth of a second child. Mothers and fathers reported on interparental conflict and parental efficacy at 1 and 4 months postpartum and punitive discipline and firstborn children's externalizing behavior problems across a longitudinal investigation (prenatal and 4, 8, and 12 months postpartum). For both mothers and fathers, interparental conflict prenatally predicted decreased parental efficacy following the birth. Fathers' lower parental efficacy was significantly associated with increased punitive discipline toward the older sibling at 4 months, whereas mothers' lower parental efficacy was not. Coercive family processes were present between mothers' and fathers' punitive discipline and older siblings' externalizing behavior problems. Results were inconsistent with the father vulnerability hypothesis in that both mothers and fathers were vulnerable to interparental conflict, which in turn spilled over to create coercive family processes that exacerbated children's externalizing behavior problems in the year following the birth of a second child.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Conceptual Father Vulnerability Spillover Cascade Model. M = Mother. F = Father. OS = Older sibling.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Model 1: Father Vulnerability Hypothesis. M = Mother. F = Father. Results are reported in unstandardized coefficients. Non-significant paths are omitted for ease of interpretation. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001. Results are reported for the model with unconstrained cross-lagged paths from interparental conflict to mothers’ and fathers’ parental efficacy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Test of Spillover Cascade Process. Results are reported in unstandardized coefficients. M = Mother. F = Father. OS = Older sibling. Family income was significantly correlated with mothers’ and fathers’ punitive discipline and was retained as a covariate. Non-significant paths are omitted for ease of interpretation. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001. We included a path from prenatal interparental conflict to 4 months mothers’ and fathers’ punitive discipline in order to test for mediation by parental efficacy. Results are presented with the paths unconstrained to be equal across mothers and fathers from 1-month parental efficacy to 4-month punitive discipline.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Overall model linking the parent-parent subsystem with the parent-child system via parental efficacy to punitive discipline. Results from the unconstrained model are presented, only stability paths from 4 to 8 and 8 to 12 months are constrained equal across mothers and fathers for punitive discipline. M = Mother. F = Father. OS = Older sibling. Results are reported in unstandardized coefficients. Non-significant paths are omitted for ease of interpretation. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.

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