2-080 - Trajectories of Parenting Stress and Self-Efficacy Across Early Childhood: Links to Parent and Child Behavior

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Parents often feel stressed, and lack self-efficacy in their parenting roles, thus affecting the quality of parent-child interactions, parents’ perceptions of their children, and children’s developmental adaptation (Deater-Deckard, 2008). Various theories (e.g., Family Stress, Masarik & Conger, 2015; Relational Developmental Systems, Overton, 2015) note the inter-related and dynamic nature of parent-child relationships. The papers in this symposium address the trajectories of parenting stress and parenting self-efficacy, and their influences on parent-child interaction and children’s socioemotional and behavioral functioning. Three of the four papers describe longitudinal studies focusing on the period from infancy to early school age, developmental epochs when parenting stress may peak. Study data were drawn from diverse samples of U.S. families varying in race/ethnicity, income, maternal age, and family risk. Investigations included multiple waves of data collection assessing parenting stress and parenting self-efficacy in order to understand the developmental course of parenting stress and its predictors, outcomes, mediators and moderators. Papers reflect the use of robust analytic strategies (e.g., Growth Mixture Modeling, Bayesian statistics) and study methods (e.g., considerable longitudinal sample sizes; observation and analysis of dyadic parent-child interaction). Taken together, these papers highlight the multiple trajectories of parenting stress and self-efficacy across the early years of parenting, and differential links to parental behavior (e.g., harsh punishment) and children’s behavioral functioning (e.g., internalizing and externalizing behavior problems). Implications for interventions to foster parental confidence and self-efficacy, and to reduce parenting stress and its impact throughout the family system, will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Ann Easterbrooks, Tufts University

Individual Presentations

• A Risk and Resilience Model of Parenting Stress, Family Resources, Neighborhood Support, and Harsh Punishment - Presenting Author: Sarah Prendergast, Colorado State University; Non-Presenting Author: David MacPhee, Colorado State University

• Patterns of Adolescent Mothers' Parenting Stress Across Early Childhood: Relations With Children's Behavioral Functioning - Presenting Author: Meera Menon, Tufts University; Non-Presenting Author: Ann Easterbrooks, Tufts University

• Parenting Stress, Parent Self-efficacy, and Maternal and Child Well-being: Reciprocity and transaction Across the Toddler Period - Presenting Author: Keith Crnic, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Laura Winstone, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Lauren van Huisstede, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Emily Ross, Arizona State University

• The Role of Parenting Stress and Parental Self-Regulation in Parent-Child Interactions: A Time-Series Study - Presenting Author: Sanne Geeraerts, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Emmeke Aarts, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Carlijn van den Boomen, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Kirby Deater-Deckard, University Massachusetts; Non-Presenting Author: Maja Dekovic, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Marike Deutz, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Joyce Endendijk, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Jorg Huijding, Utrecht University