Raising Children in Risk Neighborhoods from Chile: Examining the Relationship between Parenting Stress and Parental Adjustment

Abstract

Introduction: Parenting stress and parental adjustment could implicate key differences in the relational dynamics that parents establish with their children, particularly when families come from vulnerable social contexts. Method: Participants were 142 fathers and mothers from a risk neighborhood of Chile. The variables examined were parenting stress (parental distress, parent–child dysfunctional interaction and difficult child) and parental adjustment (depression, anxiety, and stress). Parents also completed a sociodemographic characterization survey. The statistical analyses were a correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analyses. Results: Overall, not all components of parenting stress were related to parental adjustment. Only parental distress was found as a significant predictor of poor parental adjustment (greater depression, anxiety, and stress), but not parent–child dysfunctional interaction and having a difficult child. Conclusions: The present study findings highlight the influence of stress on parenting as a relevant dimension of research for the improvement of the intervention deployed by the state regarding the protection of vulnerable Chilean children, providing multiple clinical and psychosocial applications for research and intervention purposes.

Is the Predisposition to Have More Children Beneficial among Parents with Only One Child? Evidence from Spanish Parents

“…Parental adjustment is crucial to explain success or failure in parental socialisation [18]. Parents with greater adjustment have lower levels of parental stress [19], which is also beneficial for child adjustment [20]. Similarly, the greater adjustment of parents can be represented by satisfaction with life [21], optimal coping and adaptative cognitive style [22] or beneficial personality traits [23].…”

Digitalisation, Parenting, and Children’s Mental Health: What Are the Challenges and Policy Implications?

“…Some problems may be the consumption of alcohol [ 13 ] and other drugs [ 16 ], lower performance in school [ 17 ], challenges to self-concept [ 18 ] and self-esteem [ 19 ], or difficulties forming healthy attachmentments to equals and parents [ 20 ]. However, there are important differences among children in the levels of competence and adjustment, differences that are partly explained by the main contexts in which children develop, such as family [ 21 ], school [ 22 ], or peers [ 23 ].…”

The Link between Parenting Behaviors and Emerging Adults’ Relationship Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Relational Entitlement

“…Parents, whose one important responsibility is raising children, use different parental practices [ 1 ]. Although parental socialization is over when the adolescent child reaches the adult age, the impact of these previous family experiences could be crucial in adult life [ 2 , 3 ].…”