Parenting Stress and Behavior Problems in Young Children: The Mediational Role of Parental Experiential Avoidance.

Anastasiou, A. (Andri)¹, Loutsiou, A. (Anthi)^1
1University of Cyprus

 

Submission type

Poster only

Scheduled

Hallway, 22-07-2016, 16:00 - 17:00

Keywords

behavior problems, well-being, experiential avoidance, parenting stress

Summary

Research studies suggest that factors related to the family may contribute to the development and maintenance of externalizing difficulties in children. Parent behavior can be significantly affected by personal or contextual factors experienced by the parent, that may function as risk variables. One of the risk factors most commonly associated with parent behavior is parenting stress. The direct effect of behavior problems on parenting stress can be easily assumed, but the opposite has been studied following the assumption of mediated relationships. The mechanisms by which parenting stress impacts child outcome are still unclear and despite the support of associations between the three variables (i.e. parenting stress, parent behavior and behavior problems), they have not been adequately studied in full mediational models. The aim of the present study was to examine whether parental experiential avoidance can function as a mediator in the relationship between parenting stress and behavior problems. The study was conducted with 211 participants (176 mothers and 35 fathers). The results of this model indicated a significant effect of parenting stress on behavior problems but no significant effects between parental experiential avoidance and either of the other two variables. Implications and theoretical explanations are discussed.

Auteurs