Co-Parenting, Self-Expansion and Marital Quality: A Dyadic Analysis of Couples

Abstract

Abstract: By using the actor-partner interdependence model, the current study examined the associations between parents’ co-parenting and their own and partners’ marital qualities, and explored whether these associations were mediated by their self-expansion. A questionnaire survey was conducted in a convenience sample consisting of 567 Chinese families with children in primary school. The results showed that co-parenting had significant actor and partner effects on marital qualities for both husbands and wives. In addition, the actor effects of co-parenting on the marital quality were mediated by self-expansion. Specifically, for both husbands and wives, their co-parenting were indirectly related to their own marital qualities through their own self-expansion. As for indirect partner effects, wives’ self-expansion mediated the association between their co-parenting and their partners’ marital quality while all other indirect partner effects were insignificant. The findings deepen our understanding of the links between the parental and the marital subsystems and highlight the mediating role of self-expansion in these relationships.

Key words: marital quality, co-parenting, self-expansion, dyadic data, actor-partner interdependence model

摘要： 采用主客体互倚模型探究夫妻的共同教养与自身和伴侣婚姻质量的关系，以及自我扩张的中介作用。采用方便取样法，对四所小学的567对学生父母进行问卷调查。结果发现：（1）共同教养能够显著正向预测自身和伴侣的婚姻质量，主客体效应均显著；（2）自我扩张在上述的主体效应中起到中介作用，即无论丈夫还是妻子，共同教养都能通过自身的自我扩张水平影响自身的婚姻质量；（3）自我扩张在丈夫的客体效应中起到中介作用，即妻子的共同教养能够通过自身的自我扩张水平影响丈夫的婚姻质量。结果有助于从成对数据视角理解父母子系统对夫妻子系统的影响，以及自我扩张在以上关系中所起到的中介作用。

关键词: 婚姻质量, 共同教养, 自我扩张, 成对数据, 主客体互倚模型

CLC Number:

B844

LAI Xiaolu, LIU Xuelan, LIN Liyun, ZHOU Zihan. Co-Parenting, Self-Expansion and Marital Quality: A Dyadic Analysis of Couples[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(6): 786-793.

赖晓璐, 刘学兰, 林丽云, 周子涵. 共同教养、自我扩张与婚姻质量：基于夫妻成对数据分析[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2021, 19(6): 786-793.

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