Mother Satisfaction with Father Caregiving and Multigenerational Coparenting

The present study examined the between and within-person effects of father-child contact on mother satisfaction with father caregiving in a sample of 682 first-time high-risk and low-risk mothers. The moderating effects of mother sociodemographic factors, consistency in father-child contact, and paternal and maternal grandparent involvement were tested in a series of multilevel models. The between and within-person effects of father-child contact on mother satisfaction with father caregiving were significant throughout all models. The final model revealed that the between-person effects were moderated by marital status, age, and paternal grandparent involvement. The within-person effects were moderated by age and variability in father-child contact. Implications are discussed.