ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the multidimensional and complex connections between stress and parenting. Across decades of parenting research, much of it captured in this very Handbook, one enduring message that can be derived is that parenting is a complex and challenging experience. Stress research has a long and prolific history in psychological and developmental science and has been instrumental in addressing issues of human adaptation and maladaptation for decades ranging back to the mid-20th century. Stress is one of the most studied aspects of human experience, yet there has long been controversy about how best to define and conceptualize it. Multiple theoretical perspectives have been brought to bear, attempting to define the construct as well as conceptualize how and why stress operates to influence human experience and behavior. The differentiation between what might be termed stressed parenting where the source of the stress is extrafamilial, and parenting stress, where the source reflects parenting-specific processes, is potentially critical.
