The Effect Of Maternal And Paternal Parenting Stress On Problem Behaviors Of Children And Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

Early childhood development is a significant predictor of adult and later development.According to the ecosystem theory,the family is the proximal system that influences the development of children and adolescents.In the family microsystem,the parenting stress has an important influence on the development of individual mind.Parenting stress is defined as the psychological reaction to the demands of parenthood when there is a mismatch between the perceptions of these demands and of the resources available to the parent to meet them.Previous studies have mostly explored the influence of maternal parenting stress on individual development,ignoring the role of fathers.This study mainly focused on the father and mother in the family as different individuals.Based on questionnaire method,adopt parenting stress questionnaire,parent-child relationship questionnaire,strengths and difficulties questionnaire and the questionnaire of grandparents to support,the present study was conducted among 709 primary and junior school students and their mother and father in Shanxi province to explore the mechanism of the relationship between parenting stress and problem behaviors.The results showed that:(1)Mothers scored significantly higher than fathers on parental distress,while fathers reported a higher level of parent-child dysfunctional interaction.Compared with high education,high income,one-child parents,parents with low education,low income,many children have higher parenting pressure.(2)Maternal and paternal parenting stress was positively predicted problem behaviors,parent-child relationship played a mediating role between parenting stress and problem behaviors.(3)parent-child relationship played a mediating role between maternal parenting stress on problem behaviors in early and middle adolescence.(4)The relationship between maternal parenting stress and parent-child relationship(during the first half of the mediation effect)was moderated by grandparent support.The moderating effect of grandparent support was also found in different family types(three-generation families and half-generation families).(5)In three-generation families,the relationship between paternal parenting stress and parent-child relationship wasn’t moderated by grandparent support,but the moderating effect was found in half-generation families.