Daily Distress and Support in Parenting: Impact on the Quality of the Parent-Child Relationship

• In Event: 3-078 - Parental Burnout and its Consequences Against Children

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Parenting is considered one of the most rewarding roles in adult life (Menaghan, 1989). But the experience of parenting can also be stressful and the demands associated with this role may involve distress (Salonen & al., 2011). Previous literature highlighted that parental distress has negative consequences on the quality of the parent-child relationship and on the child’s development (Eidelman, & Rotenberg, 2004). We already know that parental support is an important resource to restore the balance of parents with distress symptoms (Gillis & Roskam, under review). The current study aims to analyze the dynamic relationships between daily distress and daily support in parenting and to explore its impact on the quality of the parent-child relationship, using an intensive longitudinal method. Hypothesis: First, we expected to have a negative impact of parental distress symptoms on the quality of the parent-child relationship. Second, we hypothesized to have a dyadic adaptation between the two romantic partners during the week where higher parental support compensate for higher parental distress. Third, we expected to have a positive impact of the dyadic adaptation on the quality of the parent-child relationship. Method: The method was based on a five-wave data collection and on a multi-informant design. 130 mothers and 130 fathers completed parental distress and parental support questionnaires once a day during one week and the quality of the parent-child relationship has been evaluated by the parent himself and the child care worker. The sample consisted of 130 heterosexual couples from a community-sample and parents of a child aged between 10 and 36 months. Our statistical model was tested for mothers and fathers separately. Results: First, our statistical analyses revealed a significant negative impact of parental distress symptoms on the quality of the parent-child relationship, both for mothers and for fathers. Second, the results highlighted that there was a dyadic adaptation between the two parents during the week. In other words, the days when one parent was more distressed, the other parent gave him/her higher parental support. Finally, our results showed that the higher the dyadic adaptation within the romantic couple, the higher the quality of the parent-child relationship. The results has been discussed for their research and clinical implications.

Authors

• Aurélie Gillis, Université catholique de Louvain
  Presenting Author

• Isabelle Roskam, Université catholique de Louvain
  Non-Presenting Author