母子保健クリニック

概要

Developing a New Co-parenting Awareness Scale for Measuring Effective Co-parenting Awareness Strategies: Relationship with Attribute/Parental Awareness Development

Yoshiko Shimizu, Nobuhiko Suganuma

Objectives: Our study aims to develop the first-ever married couple co-parenting awareness scale by interviewing Japanese parents and examining their narratives regarding cooperation in parenting. The attributes and parental awareness development will be analyzed to clarify the characteristics of the parenting efforts.

Materials and methods: A 44-item co-parenting scale was consequently developed. A questionnaire survey of 668 couples using the co-parenting scale, the marriage “reality” scale, and the parental consciousness development scale was conducted. Age, family structure, and employment status were enquired, and responses were statistically analyzed.

Results: Concurrent validity showed a significant correlation between the co-parenting scale and the marriage “reality” scale. Internal consistency was confirmed by inter-factor correlation. Husbands had a significantly higher level of “compassion and gratitude toward the other spouse” than wives (p<0.05). Those with two children had a significantly higher level of “feeling of wanting to help each other and related behavior” than those with three children. Moreover, “communication between husband and wife” was significantly higher in unemplyoed participants. No attribute was related to “things that hinder cooperation between husband and wife.” In terms of parental consciousness development, “compassion and gratitude toward the other spouse,” “feeling of wanting to help each other and related behavior,” and “communication between husband and wife” in wives of high-level groups were significant. With regards to “things that hinder cooperation between husband and wife,” only “consciousness of the relationship” and “a sense of resource constraint” in wives were significant factors. The developed scale is expected to be incorporated as a co-parenting scale.

Conclusion: The development of this new scale provides invaluable information that contributes to the social sciences, family sciences, and child development. The scale has beneficial implications for therapists, social workers, and child life specialists who wish to help married parents adopt effective co-parenting strategies.