The association between marital satisfaction and coparenting quality: A meta-analysis.

Background: Coparenting refers to the way parents or caregivers relate to each other within their roles as parents, particularly regarding the extent to which they show support and coordination in childrearing. Family systems theory (FST) posits that the coparenting relationship is distinct from, yet intimately connected to, the marital relationship. Marital satisfaction can be defined as the evaluation of the correspondence of one’s actual relationship to their expected relationship, or an alternative. The main objective of this study was to summarize and analyze the current evidence regarding the association between marital satisfaction and coparenting quality. Methods: Based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, manuscripts relevant to the research questions were identified, screened, and evaluated for eligibility. Meta-analyses of 96 published and unpublished manuscripts (including 99 studies) were conducted to evaluate the association between marital satisfaction and coparenting. Analog ANOVA and meta-regression were conducted to examine the moderating effects of individual, family, and study factors. Results: Through the meta-analysis of samples including both mothers and fathers, a medium association was found between marital satisfaction and coparenting quality (r = .40; 95% CI [.36, .43]; Q(82) = 751.75 (p <.001); I2 = 89.09%; tau2 = 0.032). Separate meta-analyses of samples including only mothers and only fathers and an analog ANOVA examining the moderating effect of parent gender (Q = 4.30, p = .038, k = 143) found larger effects for mothers than fathers. Several family and study level variables were found to be statistically significant moderators: length of the relationship between parents, number of children, country, person reporting on coparenting quality, measure of marital satisfaction, measure of coparenting quality, and type of publication. After removing one outlying study, type of publication was no longer a significant moderator. Implications: By improving the information available on the link between marital satisfaction and coparenting quality in families of typically developing children and children in clinical populations, this research may inform the work of parent and family support services and contribute to positive family functioning across generations.