(PS10-B35) High Quality Coparenting Protected Families During the Acute Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a pervasive and detrimental impact on families worldwide. Elevated stress due to economic, physical, and social disruptions and changes to family routines has led to increased parenting stress and harsher parenting practices (Lucassen et al., 2021). However, relatively less attention has been given to pre-pandemic factors that might buffer against the negative effects of COVID-19. Identifying resiliency factors within the family that promote adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic is vital to inform models of family stress. For example, the ABC-X model of family stress suggests that family resources determine the family’s ability to respond and cope with adversity (Boss, 2002). Indeed, recent research suggests that the quality of the coparenting relationship in dual parenting households is associated with lower levels of parental pandemic-related stress (Giannotti et al., 2021), perhaps due to parents being on the same page and working well as a team while adapting to rapid changes in their environment. Accordingly, the overarching aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which a strong coparenting relationship prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to changes in physical and emotional health of the family during the acute phase of the pandemic. As part of an ongoing longitudinal investigation of families (N = 159 dyads), we tested the hypothesis that a more supportive and cohesive coparenting relationship pre-pandemic would predict fewer disruptions in the family during the first 6 months of the pandemic. Preliminary analyses revealed that maternal reports of a higher quality pre-pandemic coparenting relationship (i.e., the extent to which parents divide labor equally, agree on childrearing practices, support one another’s parenting, and engage in constructive conflict; Coparenting Relationship Scale; Feinberg et al. 2012) was associated with fewer emotional and physical health disruptions—including child behavioral problems and parent alcohol use—in response to the pandemic reported by both parents on the Epidemic – Pandemic Impacts Inventory (Grasso et al., 2020), r(91) = -.27, p = .009. To expand on these findings, we also plan to examine whether coparenting (1) has unique effects on emotional versus physical health outcomes and (2) predicts positive change (i.e., characteristics of flourishing such as more appreciation for aspects of life previously taken for granted and more quality time with children or partner) as a result of the pandemic.