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The power of routines: Impact of parent-grandparent coparenting relationship quality on post-lockdown child adjustment over the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Authors :
Wu, Dazhou
Jiang, Yongqiang
Zheng, Liu
Ren, Wei
Lin, Xiuyun
Source :
Children & Youth Services Review. Sep2024, Vol. 164, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

• The three-wave longitudinal study collected data in Chinese intergenerational coparenting families before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdown. • Mother and grandmothers perceive coparenting relationship differently, resulting in different effects on child outcomes. • Child routines effectively mediated the effect of mothers' perceived coparenting relationship quality on child social competence. • Grandmothers only showed direct effect on children's behavioral and emotional problems. Child routines and coparenting relationships are respectively recognized in past literature as valid predictors of child adjustment, representing structured daily living and source of support in children's lives. Under the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, established family processes were shaken by social and mental challenges, which lacked relevant literature regarding the working mechanism in the Chinese cultural context, where parent-grandparent coparenting families commonly reside. The current longitudinal study explores the role of child routines in the effect of mother-grandmother coparenting relationship quality on child adjustment over the period of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The study collected data from 163 mother-grandmother coparenting families before, during, and after the pandemic lockdown in Beijing, China, in a one-year span. The results showed that the consistency of child routines during the pandemic mediated the effect of mothers' perceived coparenting relationship quality before the pandemic on child social competence after the lockdown, but not on child behavioral and emotional problems. Grandmother's perceived coparenting relationship quality before the pandemic negatively predicted behavioral and emotional problems after the lockdown, while no indirect effects were found. The current study reiterates the critical role of routine maintenance in the coparenting context on child social-emotional development, particularly when other parts of daily lives were disturbed. Also, separately examining mothers' and grandmothers' perceived coparenting relationship quality validates the idea that caregivers played different roles in the family, resulting in disparities in child development mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
01907409
Volume :
164
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Children & Youth Services Review
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
179501275
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107869