Parenting Stress, Family Processes, and Children’s Behavior: Exploring Transactional Relations Across the First Three Years

• In Event: 2-121 - Parenting Stress in At-Risk Families: Mechanisms for Family Functioning

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Behavior problems in children have long been linked to parenting stress (Deater-Deckard, 1998), and both theory and research suggest that these two factors are bidirectional and evolve over time. Previous studies have found bidirectional relations between parenting stress and behavior problems, spanning from childhood through adolescence (Combs-Ronto et al., 2009; Neece at al., 2012; Woodman et al., 2015), so that increased behavior problems are connected to increased parenting stress, and vice versa. However, these associations have not been well studied in infancy or toddlerhood, and prospective mediators have not been closely examined in diverse samples (Crnic et al., 2005; Neece et al., 2012). Two potential mediators warrant exploration: family conflict may serve to escalate the cycle between stress and behavior problems (Spencer et al., 2002), while parental supportiveness in parent-child interactions may serve a protective role (Campbell et al., 2010).

Methods: This longitudinal study examined two transactional models for families with children ages 1, 2, and 3 years. We hypothesized bidirectional influences between parenting stress and children’s behavior problems over time, and explored potential mediation by family conflict and parental supportiveness. Data was taken from the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Study (Baby FACES; Vogel & Boller, 2015), which includes a diverse sample of 331 children and their families. Participants were 38.6% Hispanic/Latino, 32% White, and 20.6% African American, and approximately 75% of the mothers were on welfare. Longitudinal weighting was used for a more accurate representation of the overall population. Parenting stress was measured at all time points using the PSI (PCDI subscale; Abidin, 1995), behavior problems were measured at all time points using the BITSEA (Briggs-Carter et al., 2004). Family conflict (family conflict subscale of FES; Moos & Moos, 2002) and parental supportiveness were measured at ages 2 and 3 only. Parental supportiveness was measured using the Parent-Child Interaction Rating Scales for the Two-Bag assessment (Mathematica Policy Research, 2010).

Results: Analyses were conducted using path model analysis in structural equation modeling with 95% confidence intervals constructed with bootstrapping. Parenting stress and children’s behavior problems demonstrated bidirectional influences over time. Both mediation models were significant and demonstrated good model fit. The family conflict model supports for a “child effects” hypothesis, as conflict mediated the relation between child behavior problems at age 1 and parenting stress at age 3(Figure 1; 95%CI[.002, .058). The parental supportiveness model supports a “parent effect” hypothesis, as supportiveness mediated the relation between parenting stress at age 1 and behavior problems at age 3 (Figure 2; 95%CI[.001, .103).

Discussion: This study demonstrated bidirectional influences between parents and children in the first three years of life in a diverse sample. Not only did family conflict and parental supportiveness operate as mediators, they also lend support for distinct “child effect” and “parent effect” models. This demonstrates that early prevention and intervention programs should focus on both children’s behavior and parenting stress in the first year, and work to reduce family conflict and increase parental supportiveness in order to improve this negative cycle.

Authors

• Kathryn E Cherry, University of Missouri-St. Louis
  Presenting Author

• Emily D Gerstein, University of Missouri-St. Louis
  Non-Presenting Author