Premium
Maternal Parenting Stress, Child Exuberance, and Preschoolers’ Behavior Problems
Author(s) -
Tsotsi Stella,
Broekman Birit F.P.,
Shek Lynette P.,
Tan Kok Hian,
Chong Yap Seng,
Chen Helen,
Meaney Michael J.,
RifkinGraboi Anne E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13180
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , temperament , association (psychology) , child development , child rearing , clinical psychology , personality , social psychology , psychotherapist
This study investigated whether child exuberance, an aspect of temperament related to emotion regulation, moderates the well‐documented association between high parenting stress and increased risk for internalizing and externalizing problems during the preschool years. At 42 months of age child exuberance was observed in 256 children (47% girls) and maternal self‐reports on parenting stress were obtained. At 48 months internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed through reports from both parents. Indeed, higher maternal parenting stress increased the risk for internalizing problems, and this association was more pronounced among children with high levels of exuberance. Existent emotion regulation difficulties in highly exuberant children may further heighten the risk conveyed by an unfavorable caregiving environment for developing internalizing problems.