Parenting Stress, Parental Reactions, and Externalizing Behavior From Ages 4 to 10

Abstract

The association between parenting stress and child externalizing behavior, and the mediating role of parenting, has yielded inconsistent findings; however, the literature has typically been cross-sectional and unidirectional. In the current study the authors examined the longitudinal transactions among parenting stress, perceived negative parental reactions, and child externalizing at 4, 5, 7, and 10 years old. Models examining parent effects (parenting stress to child behavior), child effects (externalizing to parental reactions and stress), indirect effects of parental reactions, and the transactional associations among all variables, were compared. The transactional model best fit the data, and longitudinal reciprocal effects emerged between parenting stress and externalizing behavior. The mediating role of parental reactions was not supported; however, indirect effects suggest that parenting stress both is affected by and affects parent and child behavior. The complex associations among parent and child variables indicate the importance of interventions to improve the parent-child relationship and reducing parenting stress.

Keywords: children and child development; parenting; parent–child relationships; stress.

Figure 1

Nested Path Models Assessing Relations Among Child Externalizing Behaviors, Negative Parenting Responding, and Parenting Stress Over Time. Note. The top left model (a) assesses construct stability over time, the top right model (b) longitudinally tests the direct effect of parenting stress on child externalizing behaviors, the middle left model (c) longitudinally tests the direct effect of child externalizing behavior on both negative parental reactions and parenting stress, the middle right model (d) longitudinally tests the indirect effect of parenting stress on child externalizing behavior through negative parental reactions, and the bottom model (e) tests all pathways among the constructs over time. yr = years.

Figure 2

Cross-Lagged Panel Model Among Parent Report of Child Externalizing Behavior, Parenting Stress, and Negative Parental Reactions. Note. yr = year. †p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.