The relationship between parental parenting stress and children 's anger-aggression and anxiety-withdrawal: the mediating effect of parenting efficacy

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the relationships between parenting stress and children 's anger-aggression and anxiety-withdrawal, and further investigate the underlying moderated mediation mechanism. Methods: Parenting Stress Scale, Parenting Efficacy Scale, and Children 's Social Ability and Behavior Rating Scale were used to conduct a questionnaire survey on 525 parents of 2-5-year-old children in five kindergartens in Hunan, Jiangxi and Hainan. Results: (1) Father / mother parenting stress positively related to children 's anger-aggression ( r_father = 0.27, P < 0.01 ) ; r_mother = 0.52, P < 0.01 ) and anxiety-withdrawal ( r_father = 0.31, P < 0.01 ) ; r_mother = 0.50, P < 0.01 ). (2) Parental parenting efficacy mediated the relationships between parenting stress and children 's anger-aggression ( β_father = 0.05, 95 % CI [ 0.023, 0.086 ] ; β_mother = 0.05, 95 % CI [ 0.032, 0.085 ] ) and anxiety-withdrawal ( β_father = 0.05, 95 % CI [ 0.025, 0.090 ] ) ; β_mother= 0.07, 95 % CI [ 0.046, 0.103 ] ). Conclusion: Parenting stress is related with increased children 's anger-aggression and anxiety-withdrawal through decreasing parenting efficacy, which provides a new insight to alleviate the negative outcome of parenting stress.