Dysfunctional Parenting Behaviors and Parenting Stress Among Mothers of Aggressive Boys

ABSTRACT

The present investigation examined the relationship between dysfunctional parenting and parenting stress in a sample of 54 mothers of aggressive boys in Singapore. Overall dysfunctional parenting at Time 1 significantly predicted Time 2 maternal parenting stress in two subdomains of unrewarding mother-child interactions and poor attachment, over and above the variance accounted for by initial Time 1 maternal parenting stress in these respective subdomains. Additionally, maternal laxness at Time 1 predicted Time 2 maternal stress arising from unrewarding mother-child interactions, while maternal overreactivity at Time 1 predicted Time 2 maternal stress arising from poor attachment. Maternal verbosity at Time 1 did not add unique variance to the prediction of Time 2 maternal stress from both subdomains. These findings have implications for prevention and intervention efforts that attempt to improve parent-child interaction quality and modify coercive operant contingencies within families.     

Predictors of Parenting Stress for Abusive and Nonabusive Mothers

We examined a model of parenting stress for abusive mothers (n = 80) and nonabusive mothers (n = 86) using linear regression analyses. Predictors in the model included (a) the degree to which mothers were bothered by child misbehavior, (b) mothers’ general psychological functioning, and (c) observed child behavior during parent–child interactions. Whether abuse status moderated the relations between each predictor and parenting stress was also explored. Results indicated that mothers’ psychological functioning significantly predicted parenting stress; however, neither mothers’ intolerance for their children’s misbehavior nor observed child behavior were significant predictors of parenting stress in the regression model. A test of moderation revealed a significant interaction between parental intolerance and abuse status such that intolerance predicted parenting stress level only for abusive mothers. A comparison of correlations indicated that abusive mothers’ level of parenting stress was more closely related to their intolerance for child conduct problems than to the child’s behavior during play with their mothers. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for interventions to reduce parenting stress experienced by nonabusive and abusive mothers.     

Impact of Depression and Childhood Trauma in Mothers Receiving Home Visitation

Research has documented the deleterious effects of maternal depression and childhood trauma on parenting and child development. There are high rates of both depression and childhood trauma in new mothers participating in home visitation programs, a prevention approach designed to optimize mother and child outcomes. Little is known about the impacts of maternal depression and childhood trauma on parenting in the context of home visitation. This study contrasted depressed and non-depressed mothers enrolled in the first year of a home visitation program on parenting stress, quality of home environment, social network, and psychiatric symptoms. Mothers were young, low income, and predominantly unmarried. Results indicated that depressed mothers displayed impairments in parenting, smaller and less robust social networks, and increased psychiatric symptoms relative to their non-depressed counterparts. Path analyses for the full sample revealed a path linking childhood trauma, depression, and parenting stress. Path analyses by group revealed several differential relationships between dimensions of social network and parenting. Number of embedded networks, namely the number of different domains in which the mother is actively interacting with others, was associated with lowered parenting stress among non-depressed mothers and increased parenting stress in their depressed counterparts with childhood trauma histories. In depressed mothers, social network size was associated with lower levels of parenting stress but decreased quality of the home environment, whereas number of embedded networks was positively related to quality of the home environment. Implications of findings for home visitation programs are discussed.     

父母养育压力对儿童问题行为的影响:养育方式的中介作用

本追踪研究旨在考察父母养育压力对儿童问题行为的影响方式是否存在差异。被试为364名。6个月时, 父母报告各自的养育压力;24个月时, 父母报告各自的养育方式;48个月时, 父母分别报告儿童的问题行为。结果发现, 母亲养育压力可直接显著正向预测学前期儿童的外显问题行为;父亲的养育方式在其养育压力与学前期儿童的内隐和外显问题行为之间起到了完全中介作用。这表明, 母亲早期养育压力可直接影响学前期儿童的外显问题行为;而父亲养育压力完全通过其养育方式影响学前期儿童的内隐和外显问题行为, 且严厉起主要作用。     

Time out from Stress: Camp Program and Parenting Groups for Homeless Mothers

This paper describes a camp program for homeless families and parenting groups aimed at discussing issues related to parenting while homeless. In groups and individual interviews, the women shared stories about multiple problems that negatively impacted parent/child relationships and their ability to maintain employment and residential stability. These problems included domestic violence, sexual abuse, and substance abuse. Evaluation of the camp program indicated that services available in the community and those provided by shelters were limited and mothers often had difficulties utilizing services.     

Trauma and Parenting in Battered Women

Summary

While research has documented the harmful effects of domestic violence on women and children, little attention has been paid to the effects on women's ability to parent in this dangerous environment. This paper examines theoretical perspectives on the effects of domestic violence on parenting and proposes an ecologically-based model which can be used to inform research on parenting and treatment of battered mothers. Trauma theory and traumatic bonding are integrated into the ecological model of parenting in battered women.     

残疾儿童心理健康对家长亲职压力的影响:有调节的中介效应

为探讨残疾儿童心理健康与家长亲职压力的关系,揭示亲社会行为在残疾儿童情绪行为问题与家长亲职压力之间的中介作用,以及问题影响程度的调节效应,本研究采用短式亲职压力量表、长处和困难问卷分别对199名残疾儿童及其家长进行问卷调查,结果发现：（1）残疾儿童情绪行为问题对家长的亲职压力有显著的正向预测作用;（2）亲社会行为在残疾儿童情绪行为问题与亲职压力之间起着部分中介的作用;（3）问题影响程度能够调节该中介效应,当问题影响程度越小时,中介效应越显著。可见,亲社会行为能够缓冲残疾儿童情绪行为问题对家长亲职压力的负向影响,并且问题影响程度越小,这种缓冲作用越明显。     

Examining the Relationship between Social Support,Parenting Stress,and Depression in South Korean Single Mothers

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among social support, parenting stress, and depression in single mothers with young children in South...     

Parenting Disruptive Preschoolers: Experiences of Mothers and Fathers

This study examined parental functioning and interactions with young children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), with emphasis on differences between mothers and fathers in their responses to their child and in their unique contributions to the prediction of child disruptive behavior. Participants were 53 3- to 6-year olds with ODD who presented for treatment with two parents. Mothers reported more severe disruptive behavior and higher parenting stress than fathers. During parent-child interactions, mothers showed more responsiveness than fathers, even though children were more compliant during interactions with fathers. Regression analyses showed that fathers' parent-related stress was predictive of both mothers' and father's reports of disruptive child behavior; mothers' marital satisfaction was predictive of behavioral observations of child compliance with both mothers and fathers. This study revealed several important differences in the experiences of mothers versus fathers of disruptive children and indicates the importance of including the father in the child's assessment and treatment.     

Parenting Among Hispanic and Anglo-American Mothers With Young Children

Abstract

The authors examined parenting practices and developmental expectations among 38 Hispanic and 38 Anglo-American mothers living in the United States. Mothers of children 3 to 5 years of age completed the Parent Behavior Checklist (R. A. Fox, 1994), a 100-item measure of parents' developmental expectations, discipline, and nurturing practices. In addition, the authors appraised the Hispanic mothers' acculturation and selected them for participation if their scores on an acculturation scale indicated (a) that their lifestyle was predominantly Hispanic and (b) that they had not been assimilated into the dominant culture. The 2 ethnic groups were also divided by socioeconomic status (SES). There were significant main effects for ethnicity and SES on the discipline and nurturing scores but not on the expectations scores. The Hispanic and higher SES mothers reported higher discipline and lower nurturing scores than did the Anglo-American and lower SES mothers. An unexpected finding was the tendency for higher SES Hispanic mothers to report more frequent use of discipline than the other 3 groups.     

Parenting Stress,Parenting, and Adolescent Externalizing Problems

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Although the association between parenting stress and child behavioral outcomes is well established, there is limited research with families of adolescents....     

Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development

Rates of teenage pregnancies are higher for African American and Latina adolescents compared to their White peers. African American and Latina adolescent mothers also experience more adversities than their White peers, such as higher rates of depression, school dropout, and economic disadvantage. Furthermore, children of adolescent mothers are at higher risk for adverse development. Parenting stress and social support can impact outcomes experienced by adolescent parents and their children. The present study examined the influence of adolescent mothers’ parenting stress and perceived social support on maternal depression at baseline (6 months after birth), and its impact on infant development 1 year later (18 months after birth). Participants were 180 adolescent mothers of African American or Latino/Hispanic descent. Results suggest that higher levels of parenting stress and less perceived social support were associated with higher levels of depression in the adolescent mothers at baseline. Higher levels of maternal depression were also associated with more developmental delays in infants 1 year post-baseline. Additionally, depression mediated the relationship between parenting stress and later child outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of examining parenting factors such as parenting stress, social support, and maternal depression in ethnic minority adolescent parents, and provide valuable information regarding unique risk and protective factors associated with positive maternal outcomes for ethnic minority adolescent parents and healthy development for their children.     

父母教养方式与拖延:完美主义的中介作用

采用父母教养方式问卷、佛洛斯特多维完美主义量表和一般拖延量表对315位大学生进行调查,建立父母教养方式、完美主义和拖延的结构方程模型,考察完美主义在父母教养方式与拖延之间的中介作用。结果发现:(1)消极的父母教养方式负向预测适应性完美主义,正向预测非适应性完美主义;(2)适应性完美主义负向预测拖延,非适应性完美主义正向预测拖延;(3)父母教养方式通过完美主义的中介作用影响拖延行为,非适应性完美主义者易拖延,适应性完美主义者则不易拖延。     

Potential Mediators in Parenting and Family Intervention: Quality of Mediation Analyses

Parenting and family interventions have repeatedly shown effectiveness in preventing and treating a range of youth outcomes. Accordingly, investigators in this area have conducted a number of studies using statistical mediation to examine some of the potential mechanisms of action by which these interventions work. This review examined from a methodological perspective in what ways and how well the family-based intervention studies tested statistical mediation. A systematic search identified 73 published outcome studies that tested mediation for family-based interventions across a wide range of child and adolescent outcomes (i.e., externalizing, internalizing, and substance-abuse problems; high-risk sexual activity; and academic achievement), for putative mediators pertaining to positive and negative parenting, family functioning, youth beliefs and coping skills, and peer relationships. Taken as a whole, the studies used designs that adequately addressed temporal precedence. The majority of studies used the product of coefficients approach to mediation, which is preferred, and less limiting than the causal steps approach. Statistical significance testing did not always make use of the most recently developed approaches, which would better accommodate small sample sizes and more complex functions. Specific recommendations are offered for future mediation studies in this area with respect to full longitudinal design, mediation approach, significance testing method, documentation and reporting of statistics, testing of multiple mediators, and control for Type I error.     

坚毅力的代际传递:父母教养方式的中介作用

从代际传递的角度,考察父母坚毅力和子女坚毅力的关系,同时检验教养方式在二者之间的中介作用。方法：采用问卷法对北京市三所中学初一、初二年级共302名青少年及其父母的数据进行调查,研究工具采用坚毅力问卷（Grit-Scales）、父母教养方式问卷（PBI）。结果：（1）父亲和母亲的坚毅力总分及两个维度兴趣一致性、坚持努力均可正向预测青少年坚毅力总分及各维度;（2）父亲教养方式的关爱维度在父亲坚毅力与孩子坚毅力之间起中介作用,母亲教养方式的关爱维度在母亲坚毅力与孩子坚毅力之间起中介作用。结论：坚毅力存在代际之间的传递,并且教养方式的关爱维度在代际传递过程中起部分中介作用。     

多重中介模型及其应用

多重中介模型研究的是自变量与因变量之间存在多个中介变量的情形.通过对多重中介模型的解析发现,链式多重中介模型与并行多重中介模型是多重中介效应的基本构成单元.多重中介效应分析应包括总体中介效应与个别中介效应的估计与检验、个别中介效应之间的比较与检验以及个别中介效应组合间的比较与检验等内容.作为示例,运用多重中介模型分析了管理者执行力对其绩效的影响.     

Stress in Mothers with Intellectual Disabilities

Both low parental IQ and stress have been shown to be associated with parenting difficulties and adverse child outcomes. We examined stress in parents with low IQ as a potential contributor to their documented parenting problems. Eighty-two mothers with intellectual disabilities (IQ < 80; labelled as having mental retardation) were given the Parenting Stress Index and they were found to be enduring very high levels of overall stress (95th percentile), stress related to child characteristics (95th percentile), and stress related to other life experiences (90th percentile) as compared to the normative test group. We divided the 82 mothers with intellectual disabilities into three groups depending on the age of their children. The mothers with school-age children reported significantly higher stress than parents of infant/toddler and preschool children. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that child age and living in a crowded environment were significant predictors of parenting stress. The results confirm that mothers with intellectual disabilities experience extreme stress that, together with other factors, may hinder adequate parenting.