Mother–grandmother parenting stress, coparenting relationship, and depression: A cross‐level dyadic analysis

Abstract Objective This study aimed to examine the associations among parenting stress, coparenting relationships, and depression in mothers and grandmothers and how these associations differ between families with maternal grandmothers and paternal grandmothers. Background Studies have indicated a correlation between parenting stress experienced by grandmothers and mothers and levels of depression for both parties in intergenerational coparenting families. However, the underlying mechanism responsible for this association remains unclear. Method Participants were mothers and grandmothers from 445 Chinese coparenting families sampled in urban China. A cross‐level dyadic model that integrated the common fate model and the actor–partner interdependence model was conducted to test the hypothesized paths. Multigroup analysis was used to examine the differences between the maternal and paternal grandmother groups. Results Our findings indicated that parenting stress experienced by mother and grandmother had direct actor effects on their depression, and coparenting closeness mediated the grandmothers' parenting stress and depression. The grandmothers' parenting stress had indirect partner effects on the mothers' depression through coparenting closeness and exposure to conflict. The relationship between coparenting relationships and parenting stress and depression showed a stronger connection in maternal grandmother coparenting families compared to paternal grandmother coparenting families. Conclusion Dyad‐level coparenting relationships mediate the link between individual‐level parenting stress and depression in mothers and grandmothers, with distinct patterns observed in paternal and maternal grandmother coparenting families. Implications This study supplements the proposed grandmother role difference hypothesis and highlights appropriate methodologies for examining dyadic data.