Korean Journal of Child Care and Education Policy
[2021. 15-3] The Effect of Parents` Marital Satisfaction and Marital Conflict on Five-Year-Old Children`s Social Competence: The Mediating Effect of Co-parenting
The Effect of Parents` Marital Satisfaction and Marital Conflict on Five-Year-Old Children`s Social Competence: The Mediating Effect of Co-parenting
Kim, Su-Ah
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of parents` marital satisfaction and marital conflict on five-year-old children`s social competence, mediated by the mother’s role in parenting. The study used research data from the seventh Panel Study on Korean Children (PKSC). The study made use of data from 1,432 parents of five-year-old children who answered questionnaires prepared on the basis of research on digital addiction. The data were analyzed using SPSS and PROCESS Macro Model 4. The main results of this study were as follows: First, it was observed that co-parenting had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between the father's marital satisfaction and marital conflict and the five-year-old child’s social competence. Second, the partial mediating effect of co-parenting on the relationship between the mother's marital satisfaction and marital conflict and the five-year-olds child’s social competence was also noted. These findings suggest that in order to enhance social competence in five-year-old children, it is necessary to develop, actively implement, and evaluate programs based on relationship enrichment and co-parenting for couples.
Keywords: marital satisfaction, marital conflict, parental co-parenting, social competence, mediating effect