It is interesting to note that for mothers, improvement in the model fit was obtained when a direct path was included from warm/sensitive parenting at 12 months to warm/sensitive parenting at 36 months. A similar pattern was obtained for fathers, but for marital satisfaction instead of warm/sensitive parenting (inclusion of a direct path from marital satisfaction at 12 months to marital satisfaction at 36 months improved model fit). One reason for this could be because of developmental changes that tend to occur in parenting and child behavior during the second year of life (e.g., Demick, 2002; Kopp, 1992). The 2 year mark is seen as a time of intense parent–child conflict and negotiation; a period when there is a shift in parenting from caretaking and nurturing to handling of authority issues and limit-setting. In addition, during this time temper tantrums tend to peak and then decline between the ages 2 and 3 (Kopp, 1992). The changes that occur in the parent–child relationship likely affect the marital relationship as well. Such changes may explain why warm/sensitive parenting and marital satisfaction at
