The growing base of research on parenting stress and its relation to child behavior problems has largely paralleled the emergence of developmental psychopathology as a field of inquiry. Specifically, the focus on mechanism rather than main effects has begun to elevate explanatory models in the connection between parenting stress and a variety of adverse child and parent conditions. Still, work on parenting stress is limited by conceptual confusion, the absence of attention to developmental differentiation, a focus on child-specific rather than system influences. Recent research on these parenting stress issues is briefly reviewed, highlighting studies that have illustrated developmental psychopathology perspectives. A conceptual model is offered to illustrate the complex recursive nature of connections between parenting stress, parenting behavior, parent well-being, and children’s adjustment, and I make a case for the adoption of a more systemic perspective to influence the next generation of developmental psychopathology research on parenting stress.

Black and Latinx caregivers face high risk for parenting stress and racism-related stress due to experiences of racial discrimination (RD). This study aimed to explore the associations between RD, parenting stress, and psychological distress in caregiver-child dyads, as well as the impact of a mentalizing-focused group intervention on caregivers’ experiences of RD distress. Ethnoracially minoritized caregivers of children aged 5–17 years old participated in a non-randomized clinical trial (N = 70). They received either a 12-session mentalizing-focused group parenting intervention or treatment-as-usual in outpatient psychiatry. We assessed self-reported frequency and distress related to RD, parenting stress, and psychological distress at baseline (T1) and post-intervention (T2). Caregiver- and self-reported child psychological distress were also measured. The results showed that greater RD frequency and greater RD distress separately predicted higher overall parenting stress and parental role-related distress. Greater RD distress was linked to increased psychological distress in caregivers. Similarly, greater RD frequency and distress among caregivers were associated with higher caregiver-reported, but not self-reported, child psychological distress. No significant changes in RD distress were observed between T1 and T2 for either of the treatment groups. These findings highlight the exacerbating role of RD on parenting stress and psychological distress among ethnoracially minoritized caregivers and their children.

Parenting stress and child psychopathology are closely linked in parent-child dyads, but how the bidirectional association varies across childhood and adolescence, and shifts depending on maternal affection are not well understood. Guided by the transactional model of development, this longitudinal, prospective study examined the bidirectional relations between parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing problems and investigated the moderating role of maternal affection from childhood to adolescence. Participants were from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a diverse, nationally representative sample of 2,143 caregiving mothers who completed assessments at children ages 5, 9, and 15. Using cross-lagged panel modeling, we found bidirectional effects between parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing problems. However, additional multigroup analyses showed that bidirectional associations depend on the levels of maternal affection. In the high maternal affection group, parenting stress at age 5 predicted higher internalizing and externalizing problems at age 9, and reverse child-to-parent paths were found from age 9 to age 15. In contrast, only one cross-lagged path was found in the low maternal affection group. Findings suggest that maternal affection can heighten the transactional associations between parenting stress and child psychopathology.

Family Minds is a brief group psychoeducational parenting intervention designed to increase the reflective functioning (RF) and mentalization skills of foster parents. RF is important for foster parents who have to build relationships with children whose adverse experiences increase their risk for psychosocial challenges. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) for Family Minds was conducted in Texas with 89 foster parents. The main aims of this study were to examine whether the intervention could significantly increase the RF/mentalization skills of the foster parents and decrease their parenting stress. After 6 weeks, compared with the control group, intervention foster parents improved their RF via a lowering of pre-mentalizing and also significantly decreased parenting stress related to parent–child dysfunctional interactions. Other measures of RF and parenting stress showed no significant differences between groups. Foster child behavior was not significantly different between groups, although data at 6 months showed a possible lowering of internalizing symptoms for children of intervention parents. This RCT provides some encouraging evidence that Family Minds may increase RF in foster parents, improve parental sensitivity and their ability to emotionally regulate, decrease parenting stress related to challenging interactions with their foster children, and possibly decrease children's internalizing behavior.

Longitudinal maternal mental health data are needed from high HIV prevalence settings. The Siyakhula Cohort (SC) is a population-based cohort of HIV-positive and negative mothers (n=1506) with HIV-negative children (n=1536) from rural South Africa. SC includes 767 HIV-negative mothers; 465 HIV-positive in pregnancy; 272 HIV-positive since pregnancy (n=2 missing HIV status). A subgroup (n=890) participated in a non-randomized breastfeeding intervention [Vertical Transmission Study (VTS)]; the remaining (n=616) were resident in the same area and received antenatal care at the time of the VTS, but were not part of the VTS, instead receiving the standard of care Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) Programme. In secondary analysis we investigated the prevalence of, and factors associated with, psychological morbidity amongst mothers who were still the primary caregiver of the child (1265 out of 1506) at follow-up (7–11 years post-birth). We measured maternal depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder Scale-7) and parenting stress (Parenting Stress Index-36), using standardized cut-offs and algorithms. In total, 75 (5.9%) mothers met criteria for depression, 37 (2.9%) anxiety and 134 (10.6%) parenting stress. Using complete case logistic regression (n=1206 out of 1265 mothers) as compared to being HIV-negative, testing HIV-positive in pregnancy doubled odds of depression [adjusted odd ratios (aOR)=1.96 [1.0–3.7] P=0.039]. Parenting stress was positively associated with acquisition of HIV after pregnancy (aOR=3.11 [1.9–5.2] P<0.001) and exposure to household crime (aOR=2.02 [1.3–3.2] P=0.003); negatively associated with higher maternal education (aOR=0.29 [0.1–0.8] P=0.014), maternal employment (aOR=0.55 [0.3–0.9] P=0.024). Compared with the standard of care PMTCT, VTS mothers had reduced odds of parenting stress (aOR=0.61 [0.4–0.9] P=0.016). Integrating parental support into mostly bio-medical treatment programmes, during and beyond pregnancy, is important.

One hundred and fifty-five mothers of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) completed a semi-structured interview, the Parenting Stress Index Questionnaire (Abidin, 1990), to evaluate parenting stress. The Parenting Scale (Arnold, O'Leary, Wolff & Acker, 1993) was also administered to measure dysfunctional discipline strategies. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model in which the independent variables were the Child's Characteristics and the Socio-Educational Status of his or her family; intermediate variables were Parenting Stress concerning the Child Domain and concerning the Parent Domain; and the dependent variable was Parental Discipline. The results confirm our hypotheses. Interventions in these families should therefore incorporate a component focused on Parenting Stress (in both the Child Domain and the Parent Domain), as a determinant of Parental Discipline.

The manner in which parents adapt to the experience of caring for a child with an intellectual disability is generally thought to depend upon a range of variables typically conceptualized within multi-dimensional models. This review briefly describes three such models that share significant common features, incorporating child variables, environmental characteristics, and parental cognitive processes as contributors to parental coping styles or parenting stress. The effects of child and environmental characteristics on parenting stress and coping in parents of children with disabilities have been well documented. It is argued, however, that some aspects of cognitive processes in parents of these children have received less attention from researchers. In particular, there has been a large amount of research into parenting self-esteem, parental attributions, and parental locus of control with parents of other groups of children. This research is reviewed, and it is argued that further research into similar cognitions in parents of children with intellectual disabilities is warranted. Finally, the potential clinical implications of such research are examined in relation to behavioural interventions for children's behavioural difficulties. It is suggested that parental cognitions may influence the acceptability of such interventions and also be associated with their effectiveness.