Marital Dyadic Coping and Its Associations with Parental Dimensions and Adolescents' Adjustment: Preliminary Cross-Sectional Results from an Italian Sample

The present study aims to extend research on Dyadic Coping (DC) and its role in broader family functioning by investigating its associations with parenting dimensions (PD) and child adjustment (CA). Little is known about the specific link between marital DC and child adjustment and further studies are needed to investigate this association (Zemp et al., 2016). Our contribution focuses on the mechanism through which supportive or unsupportive partners’ coping interactions influence the way they engage, as parents, in the relationship with their children. According to parenting process models (e.g Belsky,1984), marital characteristics work as fundamental determinants of parenting by affecting in turn child development. We expect parent’s perceptions of positive or negative DC to be associated with child adjustment through different dimensions of parent-child relationship. Interviews were conducted in Italy (Rome and Naples) with mothers (188), fathers (144), and with their children (n = 188, mean age=14.24, SD=.65; 51% boys), all involved in an ongoing longitudinal study (e.g. Lansford et al.,2014). Both parents were asked to report on their parent-child relationship (Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire-Short Form; Rohner, 2005), children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviours and school performance (Child Behaviour Checklist; Achenbach,1991). Dyadic coping was assessed via an adapted version of the Dyadic Coping Inventory (Bodenmann, 2008). Cross-sectional path analysis models will be implemented to examine the associations between negative and positive DC and parental dimensions. We will examine the potential effects of these associations on child adjustment. Theoretical and practical implications of these results will be discussed.