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Parenting Stress, Parental Reactions, and Externalizing Behavior From Ages 4 to 10
Author(s) -
Mackler Jennifer S.,
Kelleher Rachael T.,
Shanahan Lilly,
Calkins Susan D.,
Keane Susan P.,
O'Brien Marion
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12163
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , transactional leadership , association (psychology) , transactional analysis , psychological intervention , externalization , structural equation modeling , parenting styles , stress (linguistics) , longitudinal study , clinical psychology , social psychology , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , pathology , psychiatry , psychotherapist
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 or 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.