Poster #40 - Parent-Child Conflict and Parental Stress: A Diary Study Examining the Role of Mindful Parenting

• In Event: Poster Session 11

Abstract

Parent-child conflict is one of the factors that causes parental stress. Although extant research demonstrates the negative impact of parent-child conflict on parental stress, little is known about the day-to-day associations between parent–child conflict and parental stress at both between-person and within-person levels. The underlying moderation has not been validated, either. The purpose of this study was to advance the current understanding of the day-to-day variation in parent-child conflict and parental stress and specifically examined the role of mindful parenting in the relationship. Parents (N = 73) of children aged 5 to 6 were recruited in the current study. At baseline, they reported demographic information and their level of mindful parenting. They then participated in a 14-day diary study and reported their daily parent-child conflict as well as their daily parental stress. Multilevel structural equation models (MSEMs) revealed that after controlling the days of the study and the prior-day’s parental stress, daily parent-child conflict was significantly and positively associated with same-day parental stress in both within-person and between-person levels. Regarding the moderations, we found that at the within-person level, mindful parenting moderated the effect of the daily parent-child conflict on daily parental stress. Simple slope tests results indicated that parents who showed a higher level of mindful parenting may experience a lower level of daily parental stress when they have daily conflict with children. Further, at the between-person level, mindful parenting also significantly moderated the relationship between average parent-child conflict and average parental stress. Simple slope tests revealed that the relationship was only significant when mindful parenting was high. These findings highlight the distinguished between-and within-person effects on daily dyadic processes in parent-child relationships. We also found that mindful parenting may be a protective factor in the relationship between parent-child conflict and parental stress, which may help to implicate the target interventions in reducing the impact of parent-child conflict and improving family functioning through mindful parenting training.

Keywords: parent-child conflict, parental stress, mindful parenting, diary study, multilevel structural equation models

Authors

• Huiting Fang, Beijing Normal University
  Presenting Author

• Nigela Ahemaitijiang, Beijing Normal University

• Jianjie Xu, Beijing Normal University

• Zhuo Rachel Han, Beijing Normal University