Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting hassles: Associations with psychological symptoms, nonparenting hassles, and child behavior problems

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to specify the relation between parenting hassles, nonparenting hassles, and child behavior problems in 60 nonreferred families and to determine if parenting hassles predict adult psychological symptoms beyond that explained by nonparenting hassles. Sixty families (56 mothers, 40 fathers) completed measures assessing parenting hassles, nonparenting hassles, and symptoms of psychological distress. Mothers and teachers also provided data on frequency of children's behavior problems. Results indicated that child behavior problems and nonparenting stress were both correlated with parenting stress, yet in a majority of multivariate analyses, child behavior problems played a much stronger, predictive role. In addition, teacher reports of child behavior problems were positively associated with both maternal and paternal parenting hassles, indicating that within this sample, parenting stress was associated with hassles pertaining to realistic, as opposed to distorted, perceptions of child behavior problems. Supporting current models of the stress process, nonparenting hassles were significantly associated with symptoms of psychological distress in both mothers and fathers; however, parenting hassles also predicted distress in an additive manner. Implications for future research and application are discussed.