2023/09/25 by Tiago Miguel Pinto, Bárbara Figueiredo · 1 voice
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Family Support in Illness #Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
paper · doi:10.1111/infa.12561
openalex publication_date 2023/09/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Coparenting can be a development-enhancing or risk-promoting environment for infant regulatory capacity, mainly in the presence of adversity. This study aimed to analyze the association between positive and negative coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic and infant regulatory capacity in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, an adverse condition. A sample of 71 first-born infants and their mothers and fathers from a longitudinal cohort in Portugal were assessed at 2 weeks postpartum before the COVID-19 pandemic and again at 6 months postpartum, before (n = 35) or during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 36). Parents completed measures of positive and negative coparenting and infant regulatory capacity in both assessment waves. Results revealed that the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic moderates the association between mothers' and fathers' positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic and infant regulatory capacity at 6 months. The association between positive coparenting and regulatory capacity was stronger in infants facing the COVID-19 pandemic, than in infants who did not face the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic may be a development-enhancing environment for infant regulatory capacity in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive coparenting may buffer regulatory problems in infants facing adverse conditions.