Finances, depressive symptoms, destructive conflict, and coparenting among lower-income, unmarried couples: A two-wave, cross-lagged analysis.

Following from an adapted family stress model (FSM), we used two-wave, secondary data the Building Strong Families project, focusing on 4,424 primarily lower-income, unmarried couples expecting their first child together. We cross-lagged analyses to test directionality of associations among financial difficulties, depressive symptoms, destructive interparental conflict, and coparenting alliance for both fathers mothers when children were 15 36 months old. Two three hypotheses provided support FSM. First, conflict predicted (but not reverse). Specifically, higher at lower mothers. Second, symptoms fathers' mothers') own mothers' months. Contrary predictions, difficulties did predict symptoms; instead, found reverse: For only, Collectively, results use FSM understand key risk factors, especially (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).