Behavioral and Contextual Manifestations of Parenting Stress in Mother-Child Dyads

Extensive data from mother-child interaction in the laboratory, teacher reports of child behavior problems in the preschool and maternal reports of child behavior problems, marital satisfaction, depression, social insularity, and other contextual risk factors were used to (1) describe the behavioral and contextual manifestations of parenting stress, (2) empirically investigate different cutoff points using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1990), and (3) validate a new French translation of the PSI Groups of mothers were formed on the basis of PSI percentile scores using cutoffs of 90% (Very High), 80-90% (High), 20-80% (Average) and 0-20% (Low) in order to determine the levels of parenting stress associated with the various risk factors assessed. Base rates and conditional probabilities were calculated to assess the extent to which mother and child responded contingently to each other's behaviors and affect during a problem-solving task . Results showed that (1) maternal behavior was more associated with total parenting stress than child behavior. (2) parenting stress was clearly associated with child's behavior problems in the home and classroom; (3) parenting stress was consistently associated with other risk factors; and (4) very highly stressed mothers appeared to be at significantly greater risk than high stressed mothers in terms of their social adaptation and emotional well being, as well as that of their preschool children.     

Home predictors of young adolescents' school behavior and academic performance

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation between home variables and young adolescents' school behavior/performance. 46 mother-father-adolescent triads (ages 11.5 years to 14.9 years) served as participants. Home factors included the adolescents' relation with each parent as well as a measure of each parent's personal adjustment and perception of conflict in the marriage. School measures consisted of grades and a teacher-completed assessment of internalizing and externalizing problems demonstrated by the adolescent. The results indicated that externalizing problems were related to the mother's depression level, the adolescent's relationship with the mother, and the adolescent's relationship with the father. The first 2 variables (maternal depression and mother-adolescent relation) entered into a multiple regression equation with sex of adolescent and accounted for 35% of the variance in externalizing problems. The relationship with the father was related to school grades and, in a multiple regression, combined with birth order of the adolescent to account for 15% of the variance. The results were discussed in terms of the importance of considering not only the mother-child relationship when examining cross-setting influences in the school but also the mother's personal adjustment and the father's relationship with the child.     

Behavioral and Contextual Manifestations of Parenting Stress in Mother–Child Dyads

Extensive data from mother-child interaction in the laboratory, teacher reports of child behavior problems in the preschool and maternal reports of child behavior problems, marital satisfaction, depression, social insularity, and other contextual risk factors were used to (1) describe the behavioral and contextual manifestations of parenting stress, (2) empirically investigate different cutoff points using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1990), and (3) validate a new French translation of the PSI Groups of mothers were formed on the basis of PSI percentile scores using cutoffs of 90% (Very High), 80–90% (High), 20–80% (Average) and 0–20% (Low) in order to determine the levels of parenting stress associated with the various risk factors assessed. Base rates and conditional probabilities were calculated to assess the extent to which mother and child responded contingently to each other's behaviors and affect during a problem-solving task . Results showed that (1) maternal behavior was more associated with total parenting stress than child behavior. (2) parenting stress was clearly associated with child's behavior problems in the home and classroom; (3) parenting stress was consistently associated with other risk factors; and (4) very highly stressed mothers appeared to be at significantly greater risk than high stressed mothers in terms of their social adaptation and emotional well being, as well as that of their preschool children.     

Maternal Working Models of Attachment, Marital Adjustment, and the Parent-Child Relationship

This study examined the connection between maternal working models, marital adjustment, and the parent-child relationship. Subjects were 45 mothers who were observed in problem-solving interactions with their 16–62-month-old children ( M = 33 months). Mothers also completed the Attachment Q-set, the Adult Attachment Interview, and a marital adjustment scale. As predicted, maternal working models were related to the quality of mother-child interactions and child security, and there was a significant relation between marital adjustment and child security. Maternal working models and marital adjustment were also associated interactively with child behavior and child security. Among children of insecure mothers, child security scores were higher when mothers reported high (vs. low) marital adjustment. No relation between child security scores and mothers' marital adjustment was found among children of secure mothers. These results suggest that maternal working models influence parenting and child adjustment well beyond infancy, to which period the few existing studies of adult attachment have been restricted. The results also suggest that interactions between maternal working models and the marital adjustment on child behavior and attachment security need to be more closely examined.     

Emotion regulation in context: the jealousy complex between young siblings and its relations with child and family characteristics

Jealousy is a social emotion that has received little attention by developmental researchers. The current study examined sibling jealousy and its relations to child and family characteristics in 60 families with a 16-month-old toddler and an older preschool-age sibling. Sibling jealousy was elicited in social triads consisting of a parent (mother or father) and the two siblings. Positive marital relationship quality (i.e., love and relationship maintenance) was a particularly strong predictor of the older siblings' abilities to regulate jealousy reactions in the mother sessions. Younger siblings' jealous affect with mothers was linked to the child's temperament, whereas older siblings' jealous affect with mothers was related to the child's emotional understanding. Younger siblings displayed more behavioral dysregulation in the mother-sibling triads if there was greater sibling rivalry reported by mothers. Session order (i.e., which sibling was challenged first in the jealousy paradigm) had a strong effect on both the affect and behavioral dysregulation displayed by the older and younger siblings. Results are discussed with respect to the need for future research to consider social relationships as developmental contexts for young children's emotion regulation.     

Risk of mother-reported child abuse in the first 3 years of life

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to investigate, within an at-risk population, parent and child characteristics associated with a mother's self-reports of severe physical assault and assault on the self-esteem of the child in the first 3 years of life. DESIGN: The study population consisted of a community-based sample of mothers of newborns identified as at-risk for child maltreatment (n=595). Families were assessed annually from the child's birth through age 3 using instruments with established psychometric properties. Independent variables investigated included: family socio-demographics, parity, mother's social support, maternal depression, maternal problem drug or alcohol use, partner violence, child's age, child's sex, low birth weight/small for gestational age (SGA), and mother's perception of child's demand level. Associations with maltreatment were examined using multivariable methods for longitudinal data. RESULTS: Child severe physical assault was significantly associated with parent characteristics (maternal depression and partner violence); and child characteristics (SGA). Assault to the child's self-esteem was significantly associated with maternal depression, maternal illicit drug use, partner violence and mother's perception of child's demand level. Controlling for family sociodemographic characteristics did not change the associations. Likewise, while mother's perception of child demand level had an independent association with self-esteem assault, the associations described above persisted while demand level was held constant. In this high-risk sample, abuse was not associated with mother's age, education, race, parity, or household income level. CONCLUSIONS: While characteristics such as SGA can serve as markers for increased abuse risk, they are not amenable to intervention after the child is born. However, certain other risk factors, such as maternal depression and domestic violence are malleable and should be targeted for intervention with the goal of preventing child maltreatment.     

Convergent validity of the preliminary Spanish version of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory: depression and marital adjustment]

This paper studies the "convergent validity" of the preliminary spanish version of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory. In relation to the ecological-systemic model of child maltreatment, this inventory evaluates individual, family, and social factors which facilitate the occurrence of physical child abuse. Depression and marital adjustment were measured in three groups of mothers: one group of mother-perpetrators of physical child abuse (n = 20), another group of mothers with a rate superior to cut-off (percentile = 95) in the CAP Inventory (n = 15), and a group of mothers with low punctuation (under percentile 25) in the CAP Inventory (n = 15). The two last groups (High CAP and Low CAP) come from a larger sample of 829 subjects which are a demographically representative sample of the population of País Vasco (in Spain). Because of variations in the detection of social services, the physically abused group is formed by the most extreme and severe cases. The three groups of mothers were matched as to socio-economic family status, education, civil status, age of the mother, sex of the child, number of children. It was expected that in these variables, depression and marital adjustment, the group with physical abuse would resemble the High CAP group and that both groups would be significantly different from the Low CAP group. Results partially confirm these hypothesis, supporting the possibilities of developing a Spanish version of the CAP Inventory for detection of physical child abuse.     

Psychometric Properties of the Parenting Stress Index in a Sample of Low-Income African-American Mothers of Infants and Toddlers

Examined the psychometric properties of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) in 191 low-income, urban African-American mothers of infants and toddlers recruited from a primary health care facility. The subscales of the PSI had acceptable levels of internal consistency and stability over six months. Concurrent validity, examined through self-report and observational measures, revealed high convergence with mothers reporting consistent levels of stress across measures. Factor analysis suggested a 3-factor solution including parent, child, and parent–child interaction factors. In comparison with the nonnative sample, mothers reported elevated levels of stress on three of the seven parent subscales and all of the child subscales. These findings support the consistency of the psychometric properties of the PSI across samples that vary in ethnicity and socioeconomic status.     

Stress and coping in hearing mothers of children with hearing loss: factors affecting mother and child adjustment

The present study examines maternal and child adjustment as a result of the application of a stress and coping model (Folkman, Schaefer, & Lazarus 1979) to factors associated with having a school-aged child with a hearing loss. Thirty-six hearing mothers of children with hearing loss participated in the study. Information was gathered through parent and teacher questionnaires and home interviews and observations. Results indicated that (a) social support emerged as an important predictor of maternal adjustment as well as a buffer between current life stress and maternal adjustment, and (b) maternal problem-solving skill emerged as a significant predictor of child adjustment and as a mediating factor between child's age and teacher rating of child adjustment. The discussion focuses on possible explanations for these findings, the utility of a competency-based rather than psychopathology-based perspective in understanding parent and child outcomes, and implications for intervention strategies.     

Comparing maltreating fathers and mothers in terms of personal distress, interpersonal functioning, and perceptions of family climate

OBJECTIVE: This study compared perceptions of personal distress, interpersonal and marital problems, and aspects of family climate of maltreating fathers and mothers. METHODS: Subjects were 2841 offenders (1918 of whom were fathers or father-figures) who were identified and treated by the USAF Family Advocacy Program between 1988 and 1996. Independent variables for the analysis were parent sex (mother vs. father) as well as type and severity of maltreatment, history of repeat offenses, and history of abuse in childhood. RESULTS: Maltreating mothers were more distressed and reported more problems from individuals outside the family than maltreating fathers; fathers reported more rigid expectations for children, less cohesive families, and less organized families than did maltreating mothers. Regardless of parental sex, victimization in the family of origin was related to distress and unhappiness. Similarly, both victimization in the family of origin and history of repeated offenses were powerful predictors of a more negative family climate regardless of the offending parent's sex. No significant statistical interactions between parental sex and other independent variables were found when predicting personal and interpersonal distress, marital problems, or family climate. CONCLUSIONS: Studies rarely examine maltreating fathers except in the context of sexual abuse. Fewer still compare maltreating mothers and fathers. This study identified meaningful, though generally small, differences between maltreating mothers and fathers. Patterns suggest that maltreating mothers may tend to cope more poorly with personal distress, whereas maltreating fathers tend to operate in a family climate that is both distant and rigid, while holding inappropriate expectations for children's behavior. The absence of interactions between parental sex and the other independent variables included in the analysis indicate that these patterns do not vary by the history of victimization in the family of origin, the type or severity of child maltreatment, or the history of prior maltreatment in the family.     

Social interactions and play patterns of parents and toddlers with feminine, masculine, and neutral toys

Children as young as 18 months display sex-stereotyped toy choices. The present study was designed to determine whether parents encourage involvement with sex-stereotyped toys or avoidance of cross-sex-stereotyped toys and to determine whether masculine and feminine toys lead to different patterns of parent-child interaction, regardless of gender. 40 parent-toddler dyads were videotaped while playing with 6 different sets of sex-stereotyped toys. Equal numbers of boys and girls were observed with mothers and fathers. The children showed greater involvement when playing with same-sex-typed toys than with cross-sex toys even when statistically controlling for parents' behaviors. Parents' verbal behaviors, involvement, and proximity to the child differed across toy groups, regardless of the parent's or child's gender. Parents' initial nonverbal responses to the toys, however, were more positive when the toys were stereotyped for the child's and parent's gender than when they were not.     

Mother-child discourse, attachment security, shared positive affect, and early conscience development

The separate literatures on parental discipline, maternal discourse about emotion, and autobiographical memory support the idea that parent-child discourse in the context of a supportive relationship plays a role in a child's early conscience development, and this study was designed to examine this issue. Forty-two preschool children and their mothers took part in a 45-min structured laboratory session, and at their homes, mothers completed the Attachment Q-Set. As part of the laboratory session, each mother was asked to discuss with her child one incident that occurred within the last week in which her child behaved well and one in which her child misbehaved. These conversations were transcribed verbatim and coded for maternal references to feelings, rules, consequences of the child's actions, and moral evaluatives. Each child also took part in a behavioral measure of internalization and several compliance tasks, and mothers completed a maternal report of the child's early conscience development. Consistent with attachment theory, attachment security predicted maternal and child references to feelings and moral evaluatives. Attachment security, shared positive affect between the mother and child, and maternal references to feelings and moral evaluatives also predicted specific aspects of early conscience development.     

Psychometric Properties of the Parenting Stress Index in a Sample of Low-Income African-American Mothers of Infants and Toddlers

Examined the psychometric properties of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) in 191 low-income, urban African-American mothers of infants and toddlers recruited from a primary health care facility. The subscales of the PSI had acceptable levels of internal consistency and stability over six months. Concurrent validity, examined through self-report and observational measures, revealed high convergence with mothers reporting consistent levels of stress across measures. Factor analysis suggested a 3-factor solution including parent, child, and parent-child interaction factors. In comparison with the nonnative sample, mothers reported elevated levels of stress on three of the seven parent subscales and all of the child subscales. These findings support the consistency of the psychometric properties of the PSI across samples that vary in ethnicity and socioeconomic status.     

Factors discriminating among profiles of resilience and psychopathology in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV)

ObjectiveTo evaluate the social and emotional adjustment of 219 children in families with varying levels of intimate partner violence (IPV) using a model of risk and protection. To explore factors that differentiate children with poor adjustment from those with resilience.MethodologyMothers who experienced IPV in the past year and their children ages 6–12 were interviewed. Standardized measures assessed family violence, parenting, family functioning, maternal mental health, and children's adjustment and beliefs.ResultsUsing cluster analysis, all cases with valid data on the Child Behavior Checklist, Child Depression Inventory, General Self-Worth and Social Self-Competence measures were described by four profiles of children's adjustment: Severe Adjustment Problems (24%); children who were Struggling (45%); those with Depression Only (11%); and Resilient (20%) with high competence and low adjustment problems. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed children in the Severe Problems cluster witnessed more family violence and had mothers higher in depression and trauma symptoms than other children. Resilient and Struggling children had mothers with better parenting, more family strengths and no past violent partner. Parents of children with Severe Problems were lacking these attributes. The Depressed profile children witnessed less violence but had greater fears and worries about mother's safety.ConclusionFactors related to the child, to the mother and to the family distinguish different profiles of adjustment for children exposed to IPV who are living in the community. Resilient children have less violence exposure, fewer fears and worries, and mothers with better mental health and parenting skills, suggesting avenues for intervention with this population.Practice implicationsFindings suggest that child adjustment is largely influenced by parent functioning. Thus, services should be targeted at both the child and the parent. Clinical interventions shaped to the unique needs of the child might also be tested with this population.     

Predictive indicators for adjustment in 4-year-old children whose mothers used amphetamine during pregnancy

Psychosocial factors that could be used as predictive indicators for adjustment of 4-year-old children whose mothers had used amphetamine during pregnancy were studied by means of simple and multivariate correlation analyses. The following statistically significant correlations were found: Length of maternal alcohol and drug abuse during pregnancy was correlated negatively with the child's adjustment as were numbers of paternal criminal convictions, number of stress factors of the mother, and number of earlier children born to the mother. Paternal criminality was associated with the outcome, regardless of amount of contact between father and child.     

Social and Emotional Competence in Children of Depressed Mothers

The relations between maternal unipolar major depression and children's self-concept, self-control, and peer relationships were studied in a middle-class, predominantly white sample of 96 families. Each family included a target child between the ages of 5 and 10. Depressed mothers varied on whether or not the child's father also had a psychiatric disorder. Well mothers all had spouses with no psychiatric disorders. Analyses controlled for marital status, age, and sex of child. Children completed measures of self-concept and peer relations skills; teachers completed measures of self-control and a rating of popularity with peers. Results supported the multiple risk factor model in that fathers' psychiatric status and parents' marital status explained much of the variability in children's social and emotional competence. Maternal depression alone, in the context of a well husband/father, was only related to children having been rated by their teachers as less popular. Results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms by which maternal depression may interact with paternal psychopathology and divorce in relation to children's social and emotional competence. The findings may further indicate that older children are more vulnerable to these multiple risk factors than younger children.     

Sibling Adjustment and Maternal Well-Being: An Examination of Families With and Without a Child With an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Differences in sibling social, behavioral, and academic adjustment and maternal well-being in families with (n = 20) and without (n = 23) a preschooler with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were explored. Results are interpreted to suggest that mothers of children with autism report more daily hassles, life stress, and depression than mothers without a child with ASD. There were no significant differences in parent and teacher reports of older siblings' social, behavioral, and academic adjustment in families with and without a child with ASD. Sibling behavioral adjustment was, however, significantly related to maternal well-being. Because families with children with ASD often experience more parenting stress and depression, siblings may be more vulnerable to the cumulative risks over time.     

Predictors of Behavior Problems in Preschool Children of Inner-City Afro-American and Puerto Rican Adolescent Mothers

Maternal reports on the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 (CBCL/2-3) were used to evaluate child, maternal, and environmental predictors of behavior problems in 83 preschool children of disadvantaged adolescent mothers. CBCL/2-3 scores correlated modestly with independent ratings of child difficult behaviors observed in videotaped mother-child play interactions. 13% of children had scores in the clinical range. Significant correlations were consistently found between CBCL/2-3 ratings and maternal depressive symptoms, social supports, and life stress—assessed 3 times during the first year postpartum. In hierarchical regression analyses, maternal depressive symptoms, residence with the adolescent's mother, and perceived emotional support from friends contributed most to the explained variance. A significant ethnicity and child gender interaction term also suggested that African American mothers of male children reported more behavioral problems. Findings evidence the heterogeneity of outcomes for children of disadvantaged adolescent mothers but also demonstrate how correlates of poverty negatively affect their socioemotional development.     

Family relationships during infancy and later mother and father vocabulary use with young children

Very little previous research has considered the contributions of family relationships and interactions on the language input of mothers and fathers to their young children. This study examined the contributions of marital love and conflict, and broader family-level conflict, cohesion, and expressiveness to mother and father vocabulary in triadic interactions with their young children in 70 dual-earner families. It was found that after controlling for parent sensitivity and parent directive behavior, marital love and family conflict when children were 12 months of age were significant predictors of both father vocabulary and mother vocabulary to children at 24 months of age. In families with higher levels of marital love when children were 12 months of age, mothers and fathers used a more diverse vocabulary with their 24-month-old children. In families with lower levels of family conflict when children were 12 months of age, mothers and fathers used a more diverse vocabulary with their 24-month-old children.