Pathways to Parenting Stress and Challenging Behaviors for Preschoolers with Developmental Delays: The role of emotion regulation
Loading...
Date
2024-01-09
Authors
Glenn, Elizabeth
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Background: Parents play a significant role in shaping children’s behaviors and their responses to emotions. Research has established a strong, bi-directional effect between parenting stress and children’s challenging behaviors. Research also suggests the ways in which parents respond to their own emotions to accomplish goals, termed emotion regulation (ER), may affect the same process in their children. This role is especially pronounced during the preschool period, and among children identified with developmental delay (DD). However, research has yet to clarify how both parent and child ER shape the relationship between parenting stress and children’s challenging behavior. This study aimed to explore the extent to which parent and child ER explain the pathway between parenting stress and children’s challenging behavior, among culturally diverse families of children with DD.
Methods: Baseline data from 265 families enrolled in a larger intervention study were used for this project. Multi-modal measurement methods (parent-report and observation) were used to measure ER for parents and children. Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated distinct constructs for different measurement modalities of ER, and thus, were tested separately in models. Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to test parenting stress as a moderator of the relationship between parent and child ER, and child ER and parenting stress as mediators of the relationship between parent ER and child behaviors.
Results: Partial support was given to initial hypotheses, such that parenting stress moderated the relationship between parent and child ER only for observational data. The original mediation hypotheses were unsupported, however, exploratory models indicated child ER as a partial mediator to the relationship between parenting stress and children’s challenging behaviors. Confirmatory Factor Analyses supported a two-factor structure of parent emotion dysregulation for observational data.
Conclusions: The results of this study entail implications for both intervention and future research. Interventions which focus on either parenting stress or child ER may prevent the development of behavioral challenges in children with DD. Future research must work to clarify the interaction between parent ER and parenting stress, as well as from a developmental perspective, investigate how child ER mediates the relationship between parenting stress and children’s challenging behaviors.
Description
Keywords
challenging behavior, developmental disabilities, emotion regulation, parenting stress, preschoolers