Parenting Stress and Couple Relationship Quality Among Transgender and Nonbinary Parents
The Roles of Discrepancy in Division of Childcare Labor and Gender Identity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17190880 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shixin Fang (0009-0001-5773-3622, Department of Human Development and Family Studies The Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania USA, corresponding author), Samantha L Tornello (0000-0002-1387-6314, Department of Human Development and Family Studies The Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania USA), Emma Spadaro (0009-0003-5411-568X, Department of Human Development and Family Studies The Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania USA) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | e70141-e70141 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Family Process (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0014-7370 • E-ISSN: 1545-5300 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/famp.70141 |
| PMID | 41887408 |
| OpenAlex | W7140724072 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 64 |
A substantial population of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals is becoming parents. However, research on how TNB parents navigate parenthood, family dynamics, and couple functioning remains limited. This study investigated the association between parenting stress and relationship quality and tested the mediating role of discrepancy in the division of childcare labor (i.e., satisfaction with the current allocation of childrearing tasks) and the moderating role of gender identity (i.e., transgender man and woman vs. nonbinary) in an international sample of 228 TNB parents primarily from the United States. Results of structural equation modeling identified a conditional indirect pathway: Higher levels of parenting stress were negatively associated with lower couple relationship quality through greater discrepancy in the division of childcare labor only among nonbinary parents rather than transgender man and woman parents. The findings of this study shed light on the understudied intricacies of TNB parents' intersectional experiences of their gender identity, intimate relationships, and parenthood. The practical significance of this study lies in its potential to inform targeted intervention programs that ultimately enhance couple relationship well-being through the development of a more desirable division of childcare labor considering the nuanced experiences of TNB parents
Division of labour · Gender identity · Identity (music) · Population · Quality (philosophy) · Structural equation modeling · Transgender · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Work-Family Balance Challenges
Decentering Heteronormativity
The Dyadic Effects of Supportive Coparenting and Parental Stress on Relationship Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood
Interparental Conflict and Parent–Child Relationships
Health disparities between genderqueer, transgender, and cisgender individuals
Longitudinal associations between relationship quality and coparenting across the transition to parenthood
Gender minority stress, mental health, and relationship quality
The role of stress on close relationships and marital satisfaction
A conceptual framework for clinical work with transgender and gender nonconforming clients
Families as Systems
A Test of Missing Completely at Random for Multivariate Data with Missing Values
Division of Labor and Relationship Quality among Male Same-Sex Couples Who Became Fathers via Surrogacy
Cross-Sectional Analysis of Longitudinal Mediation Processes
Addressing Moderated Mediation Hypotheses
Dual trajectories of maternal parenting stress and marital intimacy during toddlerhood
Family process
A scoping review on couples’ stress and coping literature
Two Decades of Coparenting Research
Transgender and gender non-binary parents’ pathways to parenthood
Division of labor among gay fathers
Social and psychological heterogeneity among binary transgender, non-binary transgender and cisgender individuals
Transfeminine Spectrum Parenting
Measurement invariance of three gender ideology scales across cis, trans, and nonbinary gender identities
Predictive validity of the genderqueer identity scale (GQI)
Coparenting and parenting stress of middle-class mothers during the first year
Gender Conformity, Perceptions of Shared Power, and Marital Quality in Same- and Different-Sex Marriages
Reciprocal influences between marital quality, parenting stress, and parental depression in Chinese families of children with oppositional defiant disorder symptoms
Who Does What When Partners Become Parents
The Internal Structure and Ecological Context of Coparenting
Patterns of Marital Change across the Transition to Parenthood
Measuring Dyadic Adjustment
Is Anyone Doing the Housework? Trends in the Gender Division of Household Labor
Fairness Perceptions of the Division of Household Labor
Gender, Family Resources, and Success in Science
The Production of Inequality
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |