Mothers' and Fathers' Perceptions of Daily Hassles of Parenting across Early Childhood

Abstract

This article reports on a beginning study of minor daily stresses associated with parenting, and how the perception of minor stresses may be mediated by parental social support networks and social cognitive level. Daily hassles of parenting were assessed in three groups of mothers and fathers with children 9-12, 18-24, and 30-36 months old, along with measures of social support, social cognitive level, and parental satisfaction. Results indicated that reported hassles were significantly greater with increasing child age, although fathers and mothers did not differ in the overall amount of hassle they perceived. Both mothers' and fathers'perception of parenting hassles were related to indices of support and social cognition, although differential patterns of relations were found across ages and between mothers and fathers. Parental social support moderated the effect of minor stresses for some outcomes. The results are discussed in relation to their implications for determinants of parenting and family processes influencing children's relationships with their parents. Parenting is a challenging process made complicated by the interaction of individual characteristics and perceptions of parents with the behavior and development of the child. Most studies of parenting have focused on the effects of various parenting styles on children, and only recently have there been attempts to address the possible determinants of parenting behaviors (Belsky, 1984; Sigel, 1985). Recently, Belsky (1984) has proposed that parent personality, child characteristics, and contextual sources of stress and social support are among the basic determinants of parenting behavior. Evidence exists to support the notion that stress is an important determinant of parenting. There are clear indications that major life stresses have an adverse effect on family functioning, parenting attitudes and behavior, and numerous aspects of children's functioning (Crnic, Greenberg, Ragozin, Robinson, and Basham, 1983; Garmezy, Masten, and Tellegen, 1984; Turner and Avison, 1985; Weinraub and Wolf, 1983). In nearly all this research, stress has been conceptualized within a context of major life events. Significant life changes, especially those with negative connotations, have been shown to have an adverse impact on individual psychological well-being (Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend, 1981; Sarason, Johnson, Department of Psychology, 612 Moore, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.