Abstract

Several studies document the important role of child-related interparental conflicts for the development of a negative interpersonal dynamic in families of children with behavioral problems. This study focused on the relationship between coping with regard to parenting and stress with reported child-related marital discord. Data from 96 couples (mothers and fathers) were used to conduct correlations, multiple regressions, path analyses, and analyses based on the APIM, in order to examine the role of parental competencies such as positive parenting and individual and dyadic coping with regard to child-related marital conflicts. All three parental competencies are negatively related to parental discords, but the strongest correlations are found between dyadic coping and child-related conflicts. The results suggest that in addition to the enhancement of parenting competencies, the promotion of coping with stress in marital relationships should be strengthened in order to prevent negative dynamics in families.