Family configuration of father–child and mother–child activation relationships: Links to pre-schoolers’ behavioural outcomes and parental alliance

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Reference

Boucheneb H, Paquette D, Couture S. (2026). Family configuration of father–child and mother–child activation relationships: Links to pre-schoolers’ behavioural outcomes and parental alliance. Early Child Development and Care. 196 : 1-20.

Abstract

Given their promising role in fostering children’s autonomy and emotional regulation, activation relationships hold significant potential for understanding children’s behavioural problems. Through an integrated framework, this study sought to investigate how different activation relationship configurations are linked to children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviours, as well as the quality of the parental alliance. Activation relationships were evaluated using the Risky Situation procedure with a sample of preschool children and their parents (N = 131). The children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviours were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist, while parental alliance was measured using the Parental Alliance Inventory. Findings show that father–child overactivation is significantly associated with children’s externalizing behaviours, while mother–child underactivation is linked to children’s internalizing behaviours. Children with an activated-overactivated configuration displayed significantly more externalizing behaviours, indicating that an activated bond in their network cannot serve as a buffer for an overactivated bond.

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