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Marital stress and children's externalizing behavior as predictors of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2017

Kit K. Elam ,
Laurie Chassin ,
Nancy Eisenberg  and
Tracy L. Spinrad
Kit K. Elam*
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Laurie Chassin
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Nancy Eisenberg
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Tracy L. Spinrad
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Kit Elam, T. Denny Sanford School for Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, PO Box 873701, Tempe, AZ 85287-3701; E-mail: kit.elam@asu.edu.
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Abstract

Previous research suggests that mothers’ and fathers’ parenting may be differentially influenced by marital and child factors within the family. Some research indicates that marital stress is more influential in fathers’ than mothers’ parenting, whereas other research shows that children's difficult behavior preferentially affects mothers’ parenting. The present study examined marital stress and children's externalizing behavior in middle childhood as predictors of mothers’ versus fathers’ consistency, monitoring, and support and care in early adolescence, and the subsequent associations of these parenting behaviors with externalizing behavior 1.5 years later. Pathways were examined within a longitudinal mediation model testing for moderation by parent gender (N = 276 mothers, N = 229 fathers). Children's externalizing behavior in middle childhood was found to more strongly inversely predict mothers’ versus fathers’ monitoring in early adolescence. In contrast, marital stress more strongly predicted low monitoring for fathers than for mothers. Regardless of parent gender, marital stress predicted lower levels of parental consistency, and children's externalizing behavior predicted lower levels of parental support. Mothers’ monitoring and fathers’ support in early adolescence predicted lower levels of externalizing behavior 1.5 years later. The results are discussed with respect to family transactions relative to parent gender and implications for intervention.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 2017 , pp. 1305 - 1318
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Footnotes

This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA016213 and AA022097) and the National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH018387). We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of our research team and the families who gave their time to this project.

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