Examining Longitudinal Relations Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Stress, Parenting Behaviors, and Adolescents’ Behavior Problems

Abstract

Parenting stress of mothers has frequently been linked to negative child outcomes. According to Abidin’s stress model, this relationship may be explained by dysfunctional parenting behaviors. In this study, we scrutinized the effects of both mothers and fathers in the pathway from parenting stress through parenting behaviors to subsequent adolescent behavior problems. We expected the association between parenting stress and adolescent behavior problems to be partially mediated by maternal and paternal parenting behaviors. Further, we expected crossover effects, i.e., that parenting stress of one parent was related to the parenting behavior of the other parent. We applied a 3-wave longitudinal design using data from 441 adolescents (52% girls) and their parents (419 fathers; 436 mothers). Parents reported on parenting stress (adolescent age range = 10.9–16.3 years). Adolescents reported on perceived parental overreactivity and warmth (age range = 12.9–18.3) and their own internalizing and externalizing problems (age range = 15.9–21.3). Despite cross-sectional significant associations between parenting stress, parenting behavior, and adolescent behavior problems, we found no evidence of longitudinal linkages. One exception was maternal parenting stress, which positively predicted later adolescent externalizing problems. Consequently, the mediating role of parenting behaviors was not supported. We found no crossover effects in the pathway from parenting stress to parenting behaviors. The discrepancies between our longitudinal and cross-sectional findings raise questions about the actual impact that parents have on their children’s outcome. Though, targeting mothers’ parenting stress may help to reduce adolescent externalizing problems and its ramifications at least to some extent.

The influence of children’s effortful control on parent–child behavioral synchrony.

“…A strength of the present study is that we oversampled for families with lower income, higher stress, and higher child maltreatment risk, factors that can pose challenges for parenting behavior (de Maat et al, 2021; Keim et al, 2011) and child self-regulation (Lunkenheimer, Ram, et al, 2017) and have been shown to alter parent–child coregulation patterns (Diercks et al, 2020). Thus, findings suggest EC is promotive of parent–child behavioral concordance in at-risk community populations, adding to a body of literature on the importance of child self-regulation as a key mechanism of adaptation in the face of risk (Tiberio et al, 2016), as well as specific studies on its role in relation to harsh parenting (Dumas et al, 2001; Lunkenheimer, Ram, et al, 2017; Patterson, 2002).…”

Stres Pengasuhan, Penilaian Ibu Terhadap Covid-19, Dan Pengasuhan Suportif

“…Stres pengasuhan menurut Berry dan Jones (1995) merupakan pengalaman negatif orang tua dalam memenuhi tuntutan pengasuhan. Konsep yang serupa diajukan oleh de Maat et al (2021), stres pengasuhan didefinisikan sebagai perasaan negatif terhadap diri sendiri dan anak akibat tanggung jawab pengasuhan yang dirasa membebani. Bentuk pengalaman negatif yang dialami dapat berupa kehilangan sumber daya seperti waktu, energi, selfesteem, kendali, kebahagiaan, ataupun kasih sayang saat mengasuh anak (Zelman & Ferro, 2018).…”

Factorial Structure and Cross-Cultural Invariance of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form in Hong Kong and Thailand

“…Parenting stress, typically defined as individuals' perception of the difficulties and feelings in not being able to meet the demands of being a parent (Abidin, 1992;Crnic and Low, 2002;Deater-Deckard, 2008), has received much attention during the past decades. The available evidence suggests that excessive parenting stress reduces the use of positive parenting behaviors, such as warmth and responsiveness (Fonseca et al, 2020;Ward and Lee, 2020;de Maat et al, 2021), and is associated with higher levels of negative parenting behaviors, for instance, over-reactivity, and permissiveness (Fonseca et al, 2020;Mak et al, 2020;de Maat et al, 2021), regardless of whether children have developmental disabilities (Ueda et al, 2020). There is also evidence to suggest that such stress-related effects are enduring in nature and affect children's social-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development (Bosquet Enlow et al, 2019;Cherry et al, 2019;Mak et al, 2020;Ward and Lee, 2020;Kochanova et al, 2021).…”

“…There is also evidence to suggest that such stress-related effects are enduring in nature and affect children's social-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development (Bosquet Enlow et al, 2019;Cherry et al, 2019;Mak et al, 2020;Ward and Lee, 2020;Kochanova et al, 2021). Although the majority of studies about parenting stress were conducted in western and Anglo-European countries (Touchèque et al, 2016;Rivas et al, 2020;de Maat et al, 2021), an increasing number of studies are conducted in Asia (Ilias et al, 2018;Lau and Power, 2020;Mak et al, 2020).…”