Longitudinal associations of family stressors, fathers' warmth, and Korean children's externalizing behaviors.

Abstract

This study examined the indirect mechanisms linking family stressors (i.e., negative family life events, paternal psychological distress, and couple conflict) to children's later externalizing behavior problems through fathers' warm parenting behaviors among Korean families. Three waves of longitudinal data were drawn from the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC) and included 1,784 families (fathers Mage = 36.27, mothers Mage = 33.79, and children Mage = 3.23). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and showed that negative family life events were associated with children's later externalizing problems via higher levels of couple conflict and lower levels of paternal warmth. In addition, family life events were related to children's subsequent externalizing problems via higher levels of fathers' psychological distress (i.e., depression and low self-efficacy) and lower levels of paternal warmth. Paternal psychological distress and couple conflict were indirectly linked to children's externalizing problems through fathers' warmth. Results show that fathers' characteristics and experiences are related to fathers' positive parenting, which in turn contribute to children's behavior problems. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual, relational, and contextual family stressors through which fathers' parenting contributes to children's later behavioral outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).