Poster #200 - College Student-Parents' Stress and Children's Problem Behaviors: An Exploratory Study

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Low parental educational attainment is associated with problem behaviors in children and parental stress (McCue Horwitz, Briggs-Gowan, & Carter, 2007; Puff & Renk, 2014). Postsecondary education also has long-term benefits including children’s academic success and positive parenting practices (Magnuson, 2007; Oreopoulos & Petronijevic, 2013), however being a student and a parent causes additional stressors. The current study uses an exploratory, mixed methodological approach to answer two research questions; How do college student parents perceive their own stress? Is college student parents’ perceived parenting stress associated with child internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors?
Quantitative (N = 46) data were collected from participants in the Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) grant. Parent’s average age was 28.85 years (SD = 4.87), and children ranged from 12 to 35 months (M = 22.69 months; SD = 7.38 months). Parents completed the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA; Carter & Briggs-Gowan, 2006) to measure children’s problem behaviors, and The Stress Overload Scale: A measure of Day-to-Day Feelings (SOS; Amirkhan, 2012). Parents fell into one of four categories, from low to high stress. A subsample of participants (N = 8) were selected, based on length of time in the CCAMPIS program, to participate in semi-structured interviews focusing on their experience being a college student and parent.
Parents in the low stress category spent a significantly greater proportion of their interview discussing coping mechanisms then they did discussing stressors (4038 words vs. 2927 words, respectively). Parents in the high stress category also spent more time discussing coping mechanisms than stressors (2410 words vs. 861 words). This was the largest difference between stressors and coping strategies in any category. Parents’ stress category was a significant predictor of children’s internalizing (β = .409, p < .05) but not externalizing problem behaviors. Higher stressed parents were associated with more internalizing and accounted for 30% of the variance in such behaviors.
College student parents who were in the highest stress category discussed the fewest amount of stressors during their interview. This may be a coping mechanism itself, where parents who are under increased levels of stress would rather discuss how they cope with their stress instead of what specific stressors they are experiencing. Proportionally these parents also spoke about their coping strategies more than any other group. Discussing coping mechanisms may help alleviate stress by recognizing and discussing the methods and resources these parents have to help them get through this period of increased stress. Children’s externalizing behavior problems may cause parents added day-to-day stress more than children’s internalizing problems, so children may learn to internalize their behavior to avoid getting in trouble or making their parents upset. Future interventions and resources for college student parents should include giving parents an outlet to talk about their stressors. They should also focus on helping children to buffer the negative effects on children’s internalizing problem behaviors. The presentation of these findings will include quantitative and qualitative data that is currently being collected from an additional 15 respondents.

Authors

• Kristin Nicole Hall, Utah State University
  Presenting Author

• Lisa Boyce, Utah State University
  Non-Presenting Author