Longitudinal study examines parental distress, child behaviors, and their complex interactions, highlighting implications.
Key Points
To explore the relationship between parental psychological distress and perceived child externalizing behaviors while considering mediators and bidirectional effects.
Longitudinal study design involving primiparous mothers and fathers.
Assessment of parental psychological distress, social support, and coping skills at multiple time points.
Measurement of perceived child externalizing behaviors reported by parents at child ages 18 months and 4 years.
Mothers’ psychological distress predicted perceived child externalizing behaviors at both ages.
Fathers' perception of child externalizing behaviors predicted their later psychological distress but not vice versa.
No mediation effects by social support or coping skills were found for either parent.