Emotional regulation during the construction and maintenance of the coparenting relationship

Abstract

During the transition to parenthood, two-thirds of couples experience hostile conflicts in the coparenting relationship, which can lead to negative effects on the marital relationship, the parents' mental health and the socio-emotional development of the child. Emotion regulation skills are important in this context, but studies conducted in Brazil are needed to prepare materials that can be used in psychoeducational programs for the development of the coparenting relationship, in Brazil. Thus, the objectives of this study are to verify relationships among emotion regulation skills, dyadic coping skills, and the quality of the coparenting relationship. Participants will include fathers and mothers (> 18 years) in a stable relationship, raising their first child, of up to 6 years of age. Social networks will be used to recruit 60 participants, who will complete a socioeconomic questionnaire, the Emotional Self-Regulation Scale-Adult version, the Dyadic Coping Inventory and the Coparenting Relationship Scale, via Google Forms. The correlations among total and subscale scores for emotional regulation, dyadic coping and quality of the coparenting relationship will be analyzed. Thus, evidence will be gained about the importance of socio-emotional skills for the coparenting relationship, which are important for developing psychoeducational materials to help Brazilian couples during the transition to parenthood.