Family Stress Model Research Articles

‘It's the kids that suffer’: Exploring how the UK's benefit cap and two‐child limit harm children

AbstractThe benefit cap and the two‐child limit reduce entitlement for households claiming means‐tested benefits and disproportionately affect households with dependent children. This article explores the harms the policies are doing to children through drawing upon data collected from interviews with parents affected by the benefit cap and the two‐child limit. To investigate the impacts of these policies we draw on the Investment Model and the Family Stress Model, models principally developed by quantitative scholars seeking to understand how economic disadvantage adversely affects children over the longer‐term. While there has been frequent quantitative analysis of these models, there has been very little qualitative engagement with them: this article directly addresses this gap in the literature. We show that the benefit cap and the two‐child limit cause multiple and severe overlapping harms to children, principally by exacerbating and deepening financial economic disadvantage. Our research evidence illuminates causal processes underpinning both the Investment Model and the Family Stress Model, but also reveals additional harms that are not foregrounded by either model. We conclude by calling for the removal of both policies as a vital first step in reducing child poverty, and further reflect on the need for greater recognition of the harm child poverty does to experiences of childhood; as well as to their future selves.

Structural risks and family adjustment in midwestern Latine immigrant families: Extending the family stress model.

We tested an extended family stress model of economic hardship (FSM; Conger et al., 2010) incorporating structural risks (discrimination, immigration, and COVID-19 experiences) and qualitative data, to better understand the impact of culturally relevant experiences on family stress processes in rural, immigrant Latine families in the U.S. Midwest. Participants were Latine families (N = 307) with a child aged 10-15 (Mage = 12.21 years, 51.0% boys; 71.5% two parent; 93.1% of caregivers and 29% of youth born outside the United States) Mean household income was 25-30K and 65% of caregivers had less than a high school education. We tested a cross-sectional structural equation model in Mplus and analyzed qualitative interviews with a subsample of mother-youth dyads (n = 19). COVID-19 experiences predicted economic pressure, and both COVID-19 and discrimination experiences were linked to caregiver psychological distress. Consistent with the FSM, economic pressure predicted psychological distress, which was associated with interparental relationship problems and parenting. Parenting was associated with youth global health. Unexpectedly, interparental relationship problems to parenting were not significant. The indirect association linking COVID-19 experiences to youth global health via psychological distress and parenting was significant. Qualitative data revealed five themes demonstrating how structural and economic risks contributed to distress, conflict, and maladjustment within the family system. Culturally relevant structural risks exert a negative influence on family processes in rural Latine immigrant families through contributing to economic pressures and parental distress. The additional impact of these experiences should be considered when addressing the FSM in Latine populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring the experiences of parents and young children during the COVID-19 outbreak

ABSTRACT Young children and their parents faced difficulties in their daily functioning due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In this qualitative study, we explored the experiences and perceptions of parents and their young children regarding the pandemic process. A sample of 22 parents (mothers and fathers) and nine children aged between four and six years from the same families were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes. These themes reflected changes in the daily life of the parents and children, increased household chores and childcare, conflict reconciliation within the family, and coping strategies employed by parents and children. These themes are discussed within the frameworks of Family Systems Theory and the Family Stress Model. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of Family Systems Theory and the Family Stress Model, we critically examined these themes to illuminate the intricate dynamics at play within family units amidst the pandemic upheaval. Through this exploration, we aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the pandemic’s impact on the familial fabric and shed light on potential avenues for support.

Family economic stress and preschooler adjustment in the Chinese Context: The role of child routines

Guided by the family stress model, this study tested competing mediating vs moderating hypotheses regarding the role of consistent child routines in the relation between family economic stress and child adjustment (i.e., behavioral problems and social skills). A total of 508 parents of preschool-aged children from China completed measures of family economic stress, child routines, and child adjustment. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediating and moderating effects of consistency in child routines in separate models. Both models indicated good fit to the data. Specifically, consistency in child routines mediated the relation between economic stress and children’s behavioral outcomes. However, the competing model showed that consistency in child routines did not emerge as a moderator. The present study suggested that parents having a higher level of economic stress had more difficulties in maintaining consistent child routines in the family context, which, in turn, was associated with children’s higher levels of behavioral problems and poorer social skills. Nevertheless, consistent child routines did not buffer the negative effects of family economic stress on child adjustment.

Parental stress and working situation during the COVID-19 shutdown – Effects on children’s skill development

ObjectiveThis study examines whether parental emotional distress during the first pandemic-related school shutdown in 2020 in Germany affected the development of primary school students’ mathematical skills and investigates changes in parents’ working conditions as triggers of cascading stress processes. BackgroundThe Family Stress Model (FSM) explains the mechanisms that mediate between families’ structural conditions and children's developmental outcomes. Foundational works for this approach focus on historic events that instigate rapid structural changes which, in turn, undermine families' economic situation. The economic losses trigger stress processes. Research on the COVID-19 pandemic reports heightened levels of parental stress and negative impacts on children's cognitive and socioemotional development. This study examines the role of parental emotional distress during the COVID-19 shutdown on children's cognitive development. Expanding on the classical FSM, we hypothesize that changes in parents' working situation, rather than economic changes, may have triggered family stress processes during the shutdown, as federal support largely cushioned economic cutbacks in Germany. MethodFor the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), interviews were conducted with parents, and primary school students in Starting Cohort 1 were tested after the first shutdown in 2020. The database provides rich information from survey waves prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing a longitudinal analysis of a sample of 1512 primary school students with ordinary least squares regression. ResultsParents’ emotional distress during the pandemic had a robust negative effect on students’ mathematical skills, even when controlling for prior parenting stress. Changes in parents’ working conditions also had an effect on children’s test scores, and the negative effect of working from home on the test scores was mediated by parents’ emotional distress. ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic was a historic event which, at least in Germany, challenged the mental health of many parents and, in turn, impaired the skill development of primary school students. We introduce the role of changes in working conditions as triggers of such processes.

The influence of socio-economic status on child temperament and psychological symptom profiles.

The influence of socio-economic status (SES) on child temperament and psychological symptoms was examined using a nationally representative sample in Singapore. Data were available for 2169 children from 1987 families. Caregivers' reports were obtained on children aged 4-6. SES was operationalized as an aggregation of household income per capita, parental education level and housing type. Compared to their counterparts from higher SES families, children from low-SES families tended to exhibit (a) higher negative affectivity but lower effortful control, and (b) higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms. In addition, children with a 'resilient' temperamental profile (i.e. low negative affectivity and high effortful control) were more likely to come from families with much higher SES, relative to children with other profiles. Children with high internalizing symptoms tended to come from low-SES backgrounds, regardless of their externalizing symptoms. Among children with low internalizing symptoms, those with high externalizing symptoms came from lower SES backgrounds compared to those with low externalizing symptoms. Parental warmth and distress mediated the association between SES and child temperament and symptom profiles, with the exception of distress in the SES-temperament link. These findings supported the family stress model and highlighted the novel perspective of SES's influence on configurations of child temperament and symptom characteristics.

The double jeopardy of low family income and negative emotionality: The family stress model revisited.

The family stress model has, for decades, guided empirical work linking poverty with increased risk of child social-emotional dysfunction. The present study extends this line of work by examining whether child negative emotionality moderates associations between family income, family stress (maternal distress, parental locus of control, and relationship dissatisfaction), and later externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. In a longitudinal population-based sample (n ~ 80,000) of Norwegian children followed from birth through age five (The Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study; MoBa), we examined whether high (vs. moderate or low) negative emotionality families would display: (a) compounding stress (i.e., particularly strong associations between low family income and family stress), (b) diathesis-stress (i.e., particularly strong associations between family stress and behavior problems), or (c) double jeopardy (i.e., both compounding stress and diathesis-stress moderating effects). Negative emotionality significantly moderated the association between family income and behavior problems in a manner most consistent with double jeopardy. As a result, compared with children with moderate/low negative emotionality, the family income-behavior problems association was two to three times larger for those with higher negative emotionality. These findings underscore the active role children may play in family processes that link low family income with behavior problems.

Experiences With Deportation and Mexican-Origin Fathers’ Parenting Practices and Stress

For many Mexican-origin families in the U.S., a deportation can be a familiar sighting. Threats of deportation can infringe on parent-child bonds and the activities parents are able to participate in with their children. Using data from a community sample of 85 Mexican-origin fathers, this study utilized a culturally adapted family stress model to examine the role of fathers’ experiences with deportation in undermining positive parenting practices and heightening parenting stress, and then test whether fathers’ perceived access to informal social support moderates these associations. Multiple regression analyses showed the complexity of the role of social support in family stress processes. Findings suggest fewer positive parenting practices were reported by fathers with more deportation experiences, but only in conditions where fathers perceived lower-than-average social support. Also, fathers perceiving higher-than-average social support reported parenting stress if they were also experiencing greater depressive symptoms. Practical implications of state-sanctioned family separations are discussed.

Family Social Capital’s Impact on the Family Stress Model: A Cross-Sectional Spanish Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article has a dual purpose. First, it corroborates the empirical evidence of the Family Stress Model (FSM) to the Spanish population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, this article contributes to extending the FSM by investigating the impact of Family Social Capital (FSC) on the well-established FSM. In other words, it assesses if families with high FSC, when affected by economic hardship and distress, avoid the deterioration of their inner relationships. We conducted empirical analyses through data collected from N = 583 (mean age = 49.5 years) from Spanish families with diverse working situations using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique to test the theorized model. Our results suggest the validity of the FSM in the context of the economic crisis due to COVID-19 in Spain and then, by complementing the FSM with FSC, demonstrate that FSC can be considered as an accommodating protective factor for sustaining couple and children relationship quality for families facing economic difficulties. Also, in this article, the positive effects of FSC are studied within families in an original way, unlike past studies, which mainly used the FSC to relate civic social capital and showed its beneficial effects in extra-familial areas.

Mediating role of parental depression, parental bonding, and child self-esteem between family income and child depression: a longitudinal study

ABSTRACT The underlying mechanisms between family income and mental health of children merit further investigation. Based on the family stress model and the psychological factors model, we proposed that familial factors (parental depression and parenting) and the individual factor (child self-esteem) would mediate the relationship between family income and child depression concurrently. Data were obtained from a nationally representative longitudinal survey (i.e., the China Family Panel Studies), involving 1,283 families (2,732 parents and 1,384 children). The age of the children ranged from 4 to 15 years (M age  = 8.04, SD = 1.87) at baseline. Path analysis showed that the effect of family income (in 2010, T1) on child depression (in 2014, T3) was mediated by parental depression (in 2012, T2), parental bonding (in 2012 or 2014, T2 or T3), and child self-esteem (in 2012 or 2014, T2 or T3), in a parallel rather than sequential manner. The findings indicate that health policies and psychosocial interventions that simultaneously improve parental depression, parenting techniques, and child self-esteem would be an effective approach to alleviate the impact of family income on child depression.

Development of the racial and ethnic discrimination stress model

AbstractFamily stress models have been used extensively in family science for decades and have demonstrated utility in the examination of familial responses to stressors. Although these models have been applied to research on Black families and researchers have more recently considered the impact of integrated sociocultural context and reconceptualized models accordingly, current models do not fully explain outcomes associated with mundane extreme environmental stress (MEES) and the simultaneous influence of an iterative meaning‐making process. To address this gap, we extend the contextual model of family stress, by integrating the MEES concept and propositions from symbolic interactionism, family systems theory, and ecological theory. We introduce the racial and ethnic discrimination stress model (RED‐SM), a conceptual framework, to explain how the mundane extreme environment, resources, and socialization messages contribute to a meaning‐making process that influences adjustment outcomes for Black individuals. We conclude by offering suggestions for its usage in family science research.

EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, ECONOMIC PRESSURE, AND WELL-BEING DURING COVID-19: THE ROLE OF A WARM ROMANTIC PARTNER

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic caused health threats especially for rural older adults. We know less about how characteristics prior to the pandemic impact how older adults fare during the pandemic. Guided by the Family Stress Model, the current study examined midlife economic pressure (age 39) to emotional distress (ages 40-42) and older adult (age 70) COVID-19-related well-being (financial strain, anxiety, general health), and how these associations differ by a warm spouse. Data come from the Family Transitions Project (1989, 1990-1992, 2017, 2020) and included rural white older adults from enduring marriages (N = 265). Multiple group analysis (structural equation modeling, full information maximum likelihood) revealed significant differences between two groups divided by low and high warmth from a spouse in 2017 (low = 135, high = 130). Chi-square difference test between fixed and free model was significant (∆X2 = 9.48, ∆df = 2, p < .01), and free model had an acceptable fit to the data (X2 = 90.616, df = 56, p < .01, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .07). For low warmth group (but not high), emotional distress from economic pressure in midlife significantly predicted financial strain (b = 1.02, SE = .35, p < .01) and anxiety (b = 1.03, SE = .20, p < .001) during COVID-19. General health during COVID-19 was associated with emotional distress in midlife but did not differ by group. Our findings help understand the role of marital warmth on how earlier family stressors impact older adult well-being during historical events like COVID-19.

IDENTIFYING DYAD-LEVEL PARENTING PRACTICES AMONG US CUSTODIAL GRANDPARENTS: A LATENT PROFILE ANALYSIS

Abstract Although half of US custodial grand families contain married grandparents, little is known about the parenting practices of custodial grandfathers (CGF). Based on the Family Stress model and the latent profile analyses, we identified typologies of dyad-level parenting practices among 193 married custodial grandparents (CGP) couples recruited nationally through convenience-based and population-based strategies. Grandmothers (CGM) and CGF were interviewed separately, and four types of parenting practices profiles emerged: (1) Ideal CGM&CGF; (2) Inadequate CGM & Ideal CGF; (3) Ambivalent CGM & High-effective CGF; and (4) High-effective CGM & Inadequate CGF. After controlling for socio-demographics, these profiles related differentially to the psychological well-being of CGF and CGM, as well as to the behavioral and emotional outcomes of grandchildren (CGC). CGF in Profile four reported significantly lower positive affect than those in Profiles one and three, but there were no profile differences regarding CGF depressive symptoms. While CGM in Profile two reported fewer depressive symptoms than the other profiles, there were no differences regarding GM’s positive affect. A pattern also occurred whereby CGC from Profile one had significantly fewer externalizing and internalizing difficulties than other profiles. It is essential for future researchers and practitioners to recognize the contribution of CGF to the parenting dynamics in families with married CGP.

“EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED”: CUSTODIAL GRANDPARENTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON RAISING GRANDCHILDREN DURING COVID-19

Abstract Managing COVID-19 demands may exacerbate caregiving responsibilities of custodial grandparents raising grandchildren. This presentation aims to discuss qualitative data obtained from 14 custodial grandmothers who participated in virtual focus groups to understand their parenting experiences in conjunction with meeting COVID-19 demands. Participants were recruited from a larger sample (N=145, age range 30-79 years, Mage = 61.4 years, SD = 8.5) of custodial grandparents who completed a quantitative survey on COVID-19 stressors. Guided by McCubbins and Patterson’s Family Stress and Adaptation model, three researchers conducted open coding of the focus group data. The analysis revealed distinguishing patterns related to managing challenges of grandchild caregiving brought on by COVID-19. Some grandparents discussed the demands of COVID-19 as difficult, but not as challenging as the day-to-day experiences of raising grandchildren. This was reflected when grandparents discussed raising grandchildren with special needs in the pandemic environment, advocating with schools to adjust virtual learning expectations, managing custody cases and social service home visits while ‘protecting’ grandchildren and themselves from COVID-19 exposure. Grandparents stated they did not change their parenting style to manage COVID-19 demands, yet they discovered a stronger, internal commitment to raising grandchildren. Grandparents reflected when isolating they enjoyed engaging in different and new activities with their grandchildren while becoming closer to them as a result. Findings suggest that challenges of raising grandchildren were heightened in the context of COVID-19 demands. Although grandparents experienced losses during the pandemic, they also reflected on gains related to their resourcefulness and resiliency in managing stressors.

GRANDMOTHER CAREGIVERS’ RESILIENCE, MINDFULNESS, AND RESOURCEFULNESS AND MCCUBBIN’S MODEL OF FAMILY STRESS

Abstract Grandmothers raising grandchildren face numerous challenges that are reflected in their levels of depressive symptoms and perceived family functioning. Using McCubbin’s Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, we examine how demographics, family demands (intra-family strains), mediators of problem-solving/coping (resilience, mindfulness and resourcefulness), resources (support) and situational appraisals (stress and reward) affect a) depressive symptoms and b) family functioning. Our participants were a nationwide sample of 300 American grandmothers raising grandchildren who participated in an online research study. Our regression model for general family functioning had an adjusted R2 of .44. Better self-appraisal of family functioning was significantly associated with younger participant age, identifying as white, higher levels of resourcefulness, fewer reported intra-family strains, more subjective social support and instrumental support. Situational appraisals, the problem solving/coping factors of resilience and mindfulness, employment status, and marital status did not significantly predict family functioning. Depressive symptoms, as measured by the CES-D scale, had an adjusted R2 of .46. Participants who were married, had fewer intra-family strains, higher levels of mindfulness and resilience, higher subjective support, and who appraised greater reward from caregiving to grandchildren had lower levels of depressive symptoms. There was no effect from caregiving stress, resourcefulness, employment status, or race. These analyses show the continued utility of McCubbin’s model, despite different patterns of predictors of family functioning and depressive symptoms. This further develops our prior work showing that resilience, mindfulness, and resourcefulness are correlated but independent theoretical constructs as they interact very differently with our two outcomes.

FAMILY FUNCTIONING: BRIDGING THE RELATION BETWEEN GRANDFAMILY HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Abstract In research, it is important to utilize theories to ask and answer questions about a specific phenomenon. In grandfamily research, there is a need to utilize theory as a bridge to understanding the relationship between family functioning and grandfamily health and well-being. In this symposium, four presentations will discuss their work related to grandfamily well-being and how it was guided by theory. In Scott and Nadorff, Bowen’s Family Systems theory is used as a framework for examining the extent to which agreement on values and beliefs moderates the relation between intergenerational emotional closeness and well-being in the grandparent generation. Findings demonstrated that affectual solidarity rating and religious ideological differences between grandparents and grandchildren influenced grandparents’ well-being. Yancura & Barnett utilized the family life course framework in their study to examine how intergenerational conflict between the grandchildren’s parents and the caregiving grandparents predicted stress and depression in grandparent caregivers. Ye and Smith incorporated the family stress model that was developed by Conger and colleagues in their study. Findings suggested parenting practice profiles related differentially to the well-being of caregivers and the emotional and behavioral outcomes of the grandchildren. Musil, Jeanblanc, Zauszniewski, and Burant used McCubbin’s Resiliency Model of Family stress to examine how demographics, family demands, problem-solving/coping, resources, and situational appraisals affect depressive symptoms in grandmother caregivers. The inclusion of theory in these studies is significant. Without theory, study findings are nothing more than a pile of findings. Theory helps organize these findings in a meaningful way. This is a Grandparents as Caregivers Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

Studying the impact of COVID-19 mitigation policies on childhood obesity, health behaviors, and disparities in an observational cohort: Protocol for the COVID-19 Family Study

BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic control policies, including school closures, suspended extra-curricular activities, and social distancing, were introduced to prevent viral transmission, and disrupted children's daily routines, health behaviors, and wellness. This observational cohort study among 697 families with children or adolescents, based on the Family Stress Model, aims to: 1) evaluate pre- to during-pandemic changes in child health behaviors (diet, physical activity, sleep) and weight gain, 2) identify mechanisms explaining the changes, and 3) determine projected healthcare costs on weight gain and obesity. Each aim includes an examination by racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities. MethodsThe study employs a mixed methods design, recruiting children and their caregivers from two obesity prevention trials halted in 2020. Enrolled participants complete annual surveys to assess child health behaviors, family resources, routines, and demographics, and home environment in 2020–2022. Height and weight are measured annually in 2021–2022. Annual semi-structured interviews are conducted within a subsample to understand mechanisms of observed changes. Multilevel mixed models and mediation analyses are used to examine changes in child health behaviors and weight gain and mechanisms underlying the changes. Qualitative data are analyzed within and across time points and integrated with quantitative findings to further explain mechanisms. Markov models are used to determine healthcare costs for unhealthy child behaviors and weight gain. ConclusionFindings from this study will aid in understanding pandemic-related changes in child health behaviors and weight status and will provide insights for the implementation of future programs and policies to improve child and family wellness.

Resilience of family caregivers of PwD in Korea: A scoping review

AbstractBackgroundFamily caregivers play a important role in living the journey of life of person with dementia through their involvement in caregiving as in informal carers in South Korea. The aim of this scoping review was to examine research theory, measurement instruments, correlates, interventions, and outcomes of resilience for family caregivers of persons with people with dementia (PwD).MethodThis scoping review was conducted according to Arksey and O'Malley’s scoping review framework and Joanna Briggs Institute’s manual for scoping reviews. Multiple databases, including Ovid‐MEDLINE, Ovid‐EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Korean databases were searched using controlled vocabulary and text words. Two review authors independently screened and selected relevant studies.ResultMultiple database search identified 18 studies, published between January 2000 and February 2022. Most studies (72.2%) used theoretical framework, such as modified McCubbin and McCubbin’s Family stress, adjustment, and adaptation model and Walsh’s Family resilience model. Eight measurement instruments have been applied to measure the resilience for family caregivers of PwD. However, all the used instruments were not conducted the cross‐cultural adaptation and construct validation in Korean family caregivers of PwD. Moreover, some studies (4 of 18 studies) were used resilience tool focused the individual level rather than family and community levels.ConclusionThis review findings indicate that more rigorous research is needed to measure family resilience using cross‐cultural adapted and validated tools and to test the guided theory for family caregiver of PwD, considering Korean cultural and social context. Moreover, family resilience enhancement programs, considering identified correlates in this review are needed to develop and implement to help family caregiver achieve coping and adaptation with persistent distress in caregiving for their PwD.

Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions: Vonnie C. McLoyd.

The APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions honors psychologists who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology. "For advancing understanding of the family-level processes through which poverty harms children. Vonnie C. McLoyd extended a family stress model of how families cope with the shock of economic loss to investigate how families cope with poverty and low income as ongoing conditions. Her work demonstrates that poverty and low-income can adversely affect children's psychological functioning through its impact on mothers' mental health and parenting behaviors. It also provides evidence of the protective effects of social support on mothers and children experiencing poverty and neighborhood violence. Her scholarship interrogating and critiquing the deficit, race-comparative paradigm helped move the study of African American children toward one that gives more attention to normative development, contextual influences, and sources of within-group variation." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal pathways of maltreated young children: Family stress processes and adverse childhood experiences.

An important issue associated with at-risk families in the child welfare system is the impact of familial stress processes on child developmental outcomes. The present study used the family stress model (FSM) to examine the impact of economic hardship, economic pressure, caregiver emotional distress, caregiver/partner conflict, caregiver harsh parenting, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on child's cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes. Data from the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being II were utilized, and 1,363 children (709 male, 654 female) ages 2-18 months (at Wave 1) were included in the present study. Three waves of data were analyzed in the longitudinal structural equation model, with economic hardship and economic pressure at Wave 1, caregiver emotional distress, caregiver/partner conflict, and caregiver harsh parenting at Wave 2 predicting ACEs and child outcomes at Wave 3. Results were overall consistent with the FSM in that economic hardship led to economic pressure, and caregiver emotional distress and caregiver/partner conflict led to harsh parenting, which subsequently led to ACEs. ACEs led to negative child cognitive outcomes, and for female children only, ACEs led to internalizing/externalizing behaviors. The results demonstrate that over time, familial stress processes led to negative child developmental outcomes in this sample. Study results also highlight the inextricable connection between mild harsh parenting behaviors and more severe forms of maltreatment on child outcomes. The prevention of child maltreatment is emphasized, with a specific focus on increasing positive parenting behaviors and decreasing caregiver emotional distress and caregiver/partner conflict. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).