Parents' differential susceptibility to the effects of marital quality on sensitivity across the first year.
The current investigation examined the differential susceptibility of parents to the effects of marital quality on changes in parenting. We predicted that parents who were high on the personality constructs Negative Affect and Constraint would be more susceptible to the effects of marital quality on their level of sensitivity. Sensitivity was assessed at 3.5 and 13 months for both mothers and fathers during a triadic interaction. Consistent with the differential susceptibility theory, results suggested that when mothers were high on Negative Affect and when fathers were high on Constraint, their marital quality was associated with changes in sensitivity. This investigation suggests that personality factors may create "vulnerabilities" in parents that make them differentially susceptible to the effects of the family environment on parenting.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Developmental Psychology, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. ajessee2@illinois.edu
Allison
A
Jessee
Sarah C
SC
Mangelsdorf
Geoffrey L
GL
Brown
Sarah J
SJ
Schoppe-Sullivan
Aya
A
Shigeto
Maria S
MS
Wong
D000328:Adult; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult