TY - JOUR
T1 - Marital relationship quality and couples' cognitive stimulation practices toward their infants
T2 - Actor and partner effects of White and Hispanic parents
AU - Sotomayor-Peterson, Marcela
AU - Wilhelm, Mari S.
AU - Card, Noel A.
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - The present study explores actor and partner effects on mothers' and fathers' cognitive stimulation within an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). This model allows us to evaluate whether mothers' and fathers' practices are impacted not only by their own experiences but also by their partners' experiences. The APIM treats the couple as the level of analyses, thus explicitly modelling such interdependence. The model assessed associations among marital conflict and happiness, closeness with own parents and depressive symptoms of both fathers and mothers among White, high acculturated Hispanic, and low acculturated Hispanic couples. The data used comes from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative dataset. Results show that marital conflict is associated with less cognitive stimulation for White mothers, White fathers and low acculturated Hispanic fathers. For high acculturated Hispanic couples, results show that fathers' perception of conflict is associated with more cognitive stimulation by the mother. Marital happiness is associated with increased cognitive stimulation by White and high acculturated Hispanic fathers. Closeness with their own parents is associated with higher levels of cognitive stimulation, especially for low acculturated Hispanic fathers as well as for White fathers and mothers. Depression was not found to have a direct impact on behaviours, but within low acculturated Hispanic couples, mother's depressive symptoms were associated with less cognitive stimulation by the father.
AB - The present study explores actor and partner effects on mothers' and fathers' cognitive stimulation within an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). This model allows us to evaluate whether mothers' and fathers' practices are impacted not only by their own experiences but also by their partners' experiences. The APIM treats the couple as the level of analyses, thus explicitly modelling such interdependence. The model assessed associations among marital conflict and happiness, closeness with own parents and depressive symptoms of both fathers and mothers among White, high acculturated Hispanic, and low acculturated Hispanic couples. The data used comes from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative dataset. Results show that marital conflict is associated with less cognitive stimulation for White mothers, White fathers and low acculturated Hispanic fathers. For high acculturated Hispanic couples, results show that fathers' perception of conflict is associated with more cognitive stimulation by the mother. Marital happiness is associated with increased cognitive stimulation by White and high acculturated Hispanic fathers. Closeness with their own parents is associated with higher levels of cognitive stimulation, especially for low acculturated Hispanic fathers as well as for White fathers and mothers. Depression was not found to have a direct impact on behaviours, but within low acculturated Hispanic couples, mother's depressive symptoms were associated with less cognitive stimulation by the father.
KW - Couples' cognitive stimulation
KW - Dyadic analysis
KW - Ethnicity
KW - Hispanic
KW - Marital quality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78651107905&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78651107905&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03004430903271160
DO - 10.1080/03004430903271160
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78651107905
SN - 0300-4430
VL - 181
SP - 103
EP - 122
JO - Early Child Development and Care
JF - Early Child Development and Care
IS - 1
ER -