Parenting stress and children’s behavior problems have frequently been linked, with bidirectional relations spanning from early childhood through adolescence. However, this association has not been well studied in infancy or toddlerhood, and prospective mediators have not been thoroughly explored. This prospective, longitudinal study utilized two transactional models to examine bidirectional relations between parenting stress and children’s behavior problems and explore perceived family conflict and parental supportiveness as potential mediators. Data were taken from the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Study, where 835 parent–child dyads were assessed at 1, 2, and 3 years. Parenting stress and behavior problems were measured at all 3 time points, while family conflict and observed parental supportiveness were measured at ages 2 and 3. Results indicated that parenting stress and children’s behavior problems were relatively stable over time and had bidirectional or cross-lagged associations. Family conflict mediated the relation between children’s behavior problems at age 1 and parenting stress at age 3, while parental supportiveness mediated the relation between parenting stress at age 1 and behavior problems at age 3, suggesting both “child” and “parent” effects that function through two different mechanisms. These findings suggest that early prevention programs should focus on both children’s behavior and parenting stress in the first year and work to reduce family conflict and increase parental supportiveness in order to disrupt this negative cycle.

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Emotion regulation skills are important across the lifespan for psychological and interpersonal functioning. Research on children's emotion regulation skill development often examines parent socialization of emotion. However, this research has focused on mothers, neglecting fathers' roles in emotionally socializing children. This is concerning because traditional Western masculine norms include restricted emotionality, and conformity to these norms relates to emotion dysregulation. Fathers' views on masculinity are likely to impact their parenting attitudes and behavior and therefore relate to their socialization of children's emotion regulation. Research and theory need to include fathers from a variety of cultural backgrounds and family constellations in order to better understand the relation between masculinity and fathering behavior, particularly fathers' beliefs and behaviors toward socializing their children's emotion regulation. This review also discusses implications for prevention and intervention work with fathers and children, as well as key methodological issues and future directions for research and policy.

Complex trauma exposure has been defined as multiple or chronic interpersonal trauma that begins early in life, which leads to widespread dysregulation. Previous studies have reported that minorities may be at greater risk for trauma exposure and symptoms; yet, racial differences have not been investigated in the context of complex trauma. The aim of the present study was to determine if there are racial disparities in children's trauma exposure and outcomes among 167 child survivors of complex trauma (3-18 years, M = 9.90, SD = 3.92; 61.67% female; 62.2% Black). Black children endorsed a greater number of trauma types and were more likely to have experienced community violence and have been placed in child protective custody than White children. Caregivers of White children endorsed higher levels of select internalizing symptoms and social concerns whereas Black children reported higher levels of sexual concerns than White children. White children who experience complex trauma may be at higher risk for some trauma-related difficulties. Alternatively, caregivers of White children may perceive them to have, or be more willing to acknowledge, higher levels of symptoms than Black children. Future work is needed to further investigate the role of race in disclosure of trauma exposure and related symptoms.

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