The role of the mother-toddler attachment relationship in moderating the relations between behavioral inhibition and changes in salivary cortisol levels in response to novel events was examined in 77 18-month-olds. Behavioral inhibition was determined by observing toddler inhibition of approach to several novel events. Attachment security to mother was assessed using the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Changes in salivary cortisol were used to index activity of the stress-sensitive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system. In addition, toddler coping behaviors and the behaviors used by mothers to help toddlers manage novel events were examined. Elevations in cortisol were found only for inhibited toddlers in insecure attachment relationships. Mothers in these relationships appeared to interfere with their toddlers' coping efforts. These results are discussed in the context of a coping model of the relations between temperament and stress reactivity.

The present study examined the role of maternal gatekeeping behavior in relation to fathers' relative involvement and competence in child care in 97 families with infant children. Parents' beliefs about fathers' roles were assessed prior to their infant's birth. Parents' perceptions of maternal gatekeeping behavior (encouragement and criticism) and coparenting relationship quality were assessed at 3.5 months postpartum. The authors assessed fathers' relative involvement and competence in child care using a combination of parent report and observational measures. Results suggest that even after accounting for parents' beliefs about the paternal role and the overall quality of the coparenting relationship, greater maternal encouragement was associated with higher parent-reported relative father involvement. Moreover, maternal encouragement mediated the association between coparenting quality and reported relative father involvement. With respect to fathers' observed behavior, fathers' beliefs and parents' perceptions of coparenting relationship quality were relevant only when mothers engaged in low levels of criticism and high levels of encouragement, respectively. These findings are consistent with the notion that mothers may shape father involvement through their roles as "gatekeepers."

This study examined the associations between coparenting and marital behavior from infancy to the preschool years. Coparenting and marital behavior were assessed in 46 families during observations of family play and marital discussions at 6 months and 3 years. Both coparenting and marital behavior showed moderate stability from 6 months to 3 years. In addition, coparenting and marital behavior were more consistently associated at 3 years than at 6 months. When the predictive capabilities of early coparenting and marital behavior for later coparenting and marital behavior were considered, early coparenting predicted later marital behavior but not vice versa. This study highlights the importance of early coparenting behavior, especially undermining coparenting behavior, for understanding both subsequent coparenting behavior and subsequent marital behavior.

This study examined how aspects of triadic-level family interaction relate to preschoolers' externalizing behavior problems. The quality of coparenting, family affective processes, and family structure was assessed at 3 years, and mothers, fathers, and teachers reported on children's externalizing behavior problems at 4 years. High levels of supportive coparenting and more adaptive family structures were associated with fewer externalizing behavior problems, whereas high levels of undermining coparenting and negative affect and less adaptive family structures were associated with more externalizing behavior problems. Moreover, the quality of family affectivity and family structure interacted with coparenting and appeared to influence its effects on the family. This study highlights the importance of focusing on triadic, family-level variables for understanding children's behavior problems.Family systems theory considers the family to be more than just the sum of its parts. It is an organized whole that has stable interaction patterns of its own, which are related to and yet distinct from the interaction patterns of the dyads and other subsystems that compose the family. In turn, although dyadic and other subsystem relationships within the family can be described individually, they can never be completely understood separate from the overarching qualities of the family whole (Cox & Paley, 1997;P. Minuchin, 1988).Although much past research on family relationships focused on dyadic relationships or whole-family functioning in clinical samples, recently there has been an emerging interest in broader levels of the family system (e.g., triadic family processes and family organization), their associations with well-researched dyadic relationships (e.g., marital, parent-child), and the implications of the quality of family relationships for child functioning in nonclinical samples (P.

Early childhood antecedents of elementary school aggression and passive-withdrawal were evaluated in a large longitudinal study (N = 191). With teacher ratings as outcome measures, a variety of predictor variables were selected from a comprehensive data base. Predictors were selected to represent several major factors: (a) a developmental history of insecure attachment and poor adjustment; (b) inadequate or hostile parental care; and (c) stressful or chaotic life circumstances. Support was found for the prediction of these behavior problems from early childhood measures (up to one third of the variance), with results varying with sex and outcome measure. Results were stronger for boys than girls, and stronger for aggression than for passive-withdrawal. Boys' outcome was strongly related to attachment classification at 18 months. It is suggested that these findings support Bowlby's view that early acquired "working models" of self and other affect later interpersonal functioning.