Higher Levels Of Parenting Stress Research Articles

Kids+ Parent Infant Program (PIP): a community model for supporting partnerships in early developmental follow-up and support.

High-risk infants are discharged home from hospital with increased care needs and the potential for the emergence of developmental disabilities, contributing to high levels of parental stress and anxiety. To enable optimal outcomes for high-risk infants and their families, developmental follow-up programs need to continue following hospital discharge. However, current follow-up care for high-risk infants is variable in terms of type, access and equity, and there seems to be a gap in existing services such as supporting the transition home, parental support, and inclusion of all at-risk infants regardless of causality. Routine follow-up that identifies developmental delays or neuromotor concerns can facilitate timely referral and access to targeted intervention during critical periods of development. The Kids+ Parent Infant Program (PIP) is a unique model of developmental follow-up that shares some characteristics with established programs, but also includes additional key elements for a seamless, wrap-around service for all high-risk infants and their families living in a regional area of Australia. This community-based program provides integrated assessment and intervention of infants, alongside parent support and education, embracing a holistic model that accounts for the complexity and interrelatedness of infant, parent, medical and developmental factors. By prioritising the well-being of high-risk infants and their families, the Kids+ PIP paves the way for improved developmental outcomes and provides an innovative model for developmental follow-up, with the potential for reproduction in other healthcare settings.

Exploring the Potential Impact of Training on Short-Term Quality of Life and Stress of Parents of Children with Autism: The Integrative Parents' Autism Training Module.

Parents of autistic children experience high levels of parental stress and low quality of life related to the demanding child caring burden they experience. Parent education and training programs are acknowledged to improve parental well-being and reduce parenting stress. In the framework of the Erasmus+ Integrative Autism Parents Training Project (IPAT), we developed the IPAT Training Module based on parents' expressed needs, in order to improve parental quality of life (QoL) and decrease their perceived stress. Sixty-two parents from four countries participated in the IPAT Module Training activity. We used WHOQOL-BREF and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10 version) for QoL and stress, respectively, before and after training and a study-specific questionnaire to assess participants' satisfaction. Parents' QoL improved significantly in the environment domain and specific items, while stress levels remained unmodified. Training appeared more advantageous for parents with lower initial QoL and those whose child had been enrolled in a special education program for an extended duration. Parents were quite satisfied, in particular those with lower initial social relationships QoL. Larger studies including a control group are necessary to support preliminary evidence provided by this study, identify additional effect moderators, and disentangle the contribution of different components of the training.

Особенности стресса и базисных убеждений родителей детей с нормативным развитием и с ограниченными возможностями здоровья

The article presents the results of the study of stress level of parents of children with typical development and with disabilities (mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, visual and hearing impairment). The specificity of the expression of attitudes towards intensive parenting, basic personal and parental beliefs is analyzed. The study involved 190 respondents: 125 parents of children with normal development and 65 parents of children with disabilities. A high level of parental stress was identified among parents of children with disabilities. The data obtained allow us to say that there are such features of parental stress as an in-creased experience of loss of control over one’s life as a result of the birth of a child with disabilities, increased demands for development and upbringing, lack of pleasure, a reduction in the positive emotions that the ful-fillment of the parental role brings, a decrease satisfaction with oneself as a parent. Specific personal attitudes toward the experience of traumatic parenting have also been identified. Adults raising children with disabilities are dissatisfied with themselves, do not approve of their actions, and tend to consider themselves less success-ful than parents of children with normal development.

Parenthood stressfulness and intensity in the students’ views

Introduction. There is an increase in young people’s reproductive decisions in the form of conscious childlessness, deferred parenthood, and small families. The role of reproductive decision-making in the non-optimistic demographic forecast of the state actualizes scientific research factors and conditions for the emergence of childbearing attitudes. Subjective factors, which determine fertile plans, are no less important than the objective ones (material, social). In the subjective picture of potential parenthood, the ideas about a stressful parenting role are of great importance. High demands are made to it and transmitted at the level of public expectations. This forms intensive education practice and a stable attitude towards the perception of fatherhood and motherhood long before the children’s birth.Aim. The present research aims to study the peculiarities of student ideas about the stressfulness and parental role intensity in the gender factor context and reproductive plans.Methodology and research methods. The sample consisted of 364 childless students (M = 19.43 years). To achieve a study goal, the sample was divided by gender (218 girls and 146 boys) and by orientation towards having children: childlessness (n = 32); large families (n = 75); having few children (n = 257). The following methods and techniques were used: authors’ questionnaire; methodology “Parental Stress Scale” by J. O. Berry & W. H. Jones (1995) in the adaptation of Yu. V. Misiyuk, I. V. Tikhonova (2022); “Intensive Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire” by M. Liss, H. H. Schiffrin, V. H. Mackintosh, H. Miles-McLean, M. J. Erchull (2013) in the adaptation of Yu. V. Misiyuk (2022); the authors’ version of a semi-structured interview, which studies the ideas of young people about the stressors of parental life in different periods of child development and stress intensity. The methods of statistical processing were employed.Results. The authors revealed stressfulness specificity and parental stress intensity, their content depending on the orientation towards childbearing and gender roles. Child-free students associate parenthood with a high level of parental stress. It is unsatisfying, lacks resources, threatens to lose control over one’s own life, and makes high demands on the necessity to stimulate children’s development. Students oriented on having many children demonstrate a balanced view on parenthood stressfulness in terms of resources and costs. Students, focused on having few children, have an idea of moderate parental stressfulness. They point to such possible signs of parental stress as “loss of control” and “parental stressors”.Girls assess a parental stressfulness role higher than boys; they expect a lower satisfaction level, a high stress level during the periods of early and preschool child development. Girls demonstrate the severity of attitudes towards essentialism, and young men towards child-centrism. The essentialisation of parenthood strengthens the ideas about parenthood stressfulness, whereas the attitude towards getting pleasure from parenthood can be a protection factor.Scientific novelty. For the first time, the characteristics of the stress of the parental role and attitudes towards intensive parenthood in the representations of students are studied. Their interrelation is investigated. The presented results reveal the peculiarities of the perception of the tension of the parental role, its saturation with stress factors, taking into account gender and orientation to childbearing.Practical significance. The research outcomes contribute to the understanding of the patterns and factors of the formation of ideas about the stress of parenthood, its role in the reproductive plans of students. Also, the research results can be used in educational organisations to justify education programmes on parenting and psychological support.

The Relationships between Family Resources, Parental Stress, and Child Well-Being in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease

Introduction: Parents and caregivers play an important role in the management of pediatric chronic illness. In sickle cell disease (SCD), families often manage multiple components simultaneously, such as attending clinic appointments, following a medication regimen, and treating pain symptoms. The availability of resources is known to affect disease management. However, it is unknown how children and parents view their resource availability, and how this can impact both parent stress and child quality of life (QoL). The current study examined the ways in which family resources, parental stress, and child well-being interact with and potentially influence each other. We hypothesize the following: 1) There is a relationship between family resources and child well-being such that more family resources leads to higher quality of life reporting; 2) There is a relationship between family resources and parental stress such that more family resources leads to lower parental stress; and 3) Parental stress moderates the relationship between family resources and child well-being. Methods : Parents of youth with SCD reported on the adequacy of their family's resources by completing the 30-item Family Resource Scale (FRS), rating items on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not adequate at all to 5 = almost always adequate). Parents also reported on their parental stress by completing the 42-item Pediatric Inventory for Parents (PIP), rating items on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = never/not at all to 5 = very often/extremely). Children and parents reported on the child's overall well-being by completing the 43-item PedsQL SCD Module self-report form and 43-item parent proxy-report, rating items on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = never to 5 = almost always). Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to measure relationships between family resources (FRS) and child well-being (PedsQL), family resources (FRS) and parental stress (PIP), and parental stress (PIP) and child well-being (PedsQL). Multiple regressions were used to determine if parental stress moderated, or changed the effect of, family resources on child well-being. Results: Seventy-eight primary caregivers of youth aged 7-16 with SCD (Mean age = 10.37, SD = 2.86; 58% female; 68% HbSS; 87% African American or Black; 90% Not Hispanic) completed measures on their family resources and parental stress. Preliminary correlation analyses show the relationship between family resources and child self-reports on QoL was weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.18, p = .167). The relationship between family resources and parent proxy-reports on QoL, however, was moderate, positive, and significant (r = .36, p = .001). The correlation between family resources and parental stress was moderate, negative, and significant (r = -.42, p < .001). The correlation between parental stress and child QoL self-reports was weak, negative, and significant (r = -.225, p = .05). The correlation between parental stress and parent proxy-reports on child QoL was moderate, negative, and significant (r= -.50, p = <.001). Multiple regression results for parent proxy-reports on child QoL show parental stress significantly and negatively impacts parent proxy-reports on child QoL (b = -5.52, p = .034). The relationship between family resources and parent proxy-reports on child QoL was not moderated by parental stress (b = 2.44, p = .207). Conclusion: There is a relationship between family resources and child well-being such that more resources reflect higher quality of life, but only when the parents are reporting on their child's well-being. Current results also show that as family resources decrease, parental stress moderately increases. Parental stress significantly impacted both self-reports and parent proxy-reports on child quality of life, though there was a weaker relationship shown in child self-reports. It's likely that parents who are more stressed view their child as being more stressed. Future interventions should consider including parent components to 1) further understand the role of parental stress as it relates to pediatric SCD management and 2) identify ways to best support families experiencing resource inadequacy or high levels of parental stress. Developing screeners to give to parents of youth with SCD during clinic appointments could offer a destigmatized way of connecting families to resources and providing tools for parental stress management.

Parenting a child with Down syndrome: A qualitative study on parents' experiences and behaviors from a self-determination theory perspective

PurposeRaising a child with Down syndrome (DS) brings unique challenges to parents' psychological functioning. Extensive quantitative research has shown that these parents tend to experience higher levels of parental stress and lower well-being. However, a more in-depth and balanced insight is essential to fully grasp the complexity of parenting a child with DS. To address this gap, this study uses a qualitative approach to explore the experiences and behaviors of parents raising a child with DS. Design and methodsBy adopting the Self-Determination Theory as a comprehensive theoretical framework, this study attends to both opportunities and challenges for parents' psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, and provides insights into how they support the psychological needs of their child with DS. Eleven in-depth interviews were conducted with parents of a child with DS (aged 4 to 23 years). ResultsThrough thematic analysis, six themes of parental experiences and three themes of parenting behaviors were distinguished. ConclusionsThe findings indicated that parents experience many opportunities for need satisfaction, predominantly in their need for relatedness. However, raising a child with DS also involves challenges for the parents' family relationships, personal freedom, professional ambitions, and feelings of competence. Regarding their parenting behaviors, parents considered stimulating independence, tuning into the child's mental world, and being patient as essential practices when raising a child with DS. Practical implicationsThis study provides important clues to promote parents' well-being as well as their engagement in need-supportive parenting practices towards their child with DS.

Perceived Stress, Mental Well-Being and Coping on Parents of Disabled Children from Mainstream and Special Schools

Raising children with special needs increases the level of family stress and undoubtedly affects the mental well-being of its members. Parents' ability to adapt to this challenge, which causes stress and various unpleasant emotions, will have an effect both on them and on the children. We hypothesized that perceived stress is a significant predictor for parents’ mental well-being and that this relationship is moderated by different copying strategies used by them. Moreover, we hypothesized that the type of school in which children are enrolled predicts the level of stress reported by the parents. 202 parents of children with disabilities in special schools and mainstream schools, aged between 21 and 66 years old, completed a questionnaire to measure stress levels, mental well-being and the coping strategies used by them. Regression and moderation analyses were conducted. Parental stress was a negative predictor of mental well-being, and problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping were moderators of the relationship between the two variables, with lower levels of stress and higher levels of mental well-being for the use of these strategies. Avoidant coping did not represent a moderator in this relationship, being correlated with higher levels of parental stress. Children’ parents in special education have experienced higher levels of stress than children’ parents in mainstream schools. Findings suggest that the way parents of disabled children manage to cope with the stressors influence their mental well-being, offering support in understanding this phenomenon and setting objectives of psycho-emotional intervention for parents.

Stress Level of Parents of Children Diagnosed with Attention-deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Background: Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that starts during childhood. It is commonly associated with elevated levels of parenting stress. This study aimed to examine parents’ stress levels, potential contributing factors, as well as changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study was based on a cross-sectional design. The target population was parents of children with ADHD aged 6-18 years who were evaluated in a tertiary care hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from January 2018 to August 2021. Participants completed a survey, which gathered information on the child’s personal characteristics and medical history as well as the parents’ and family characteristics. Additionally, the parents stress level was evaluated using the English and Arabic-translated versions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: Parents of 103 children diagnosed with ADHD participated in this study. Most children were males (74.8%), and their mean age was 10.0 ± 3.4 years. Most children had ADHD as a primary diagnosis (87.4%), with ADHD subtypes being mainly combined presentation (60.2%), followed by a predominately inattentive presentation (35.9%). Psychiatric morbidity was present in 87.4% of the children, mainly learning disorders (41.7%), conduct disorder (34%), or autism spectrum disorder (24.3%). On the other hand, physical disorders were present in 68.9% of the children. Parents’ perceived stress levels differed significantly according to their children’s ADHD subtypes (p=0.002), with the highest stress levels among parents of children with predominately hyperactive/impulsive ADHD. PSS scores were moderate in 62.1% of the sample and high in 32% of the sample. Significant associations with elevated PSS scores was found in the presence of comorbid tic disorders (p<0.001) as well as in comorbid autism spectrum disorder (p=0.029). The most frequently reported items on the PSS were: being upset because of something that happened unexpectedly; feeling nervous and stressed; being angered because of things that were outside of your control; feeling unable to control important things in life; and feeling that difficulties were piling up so high that could not be overcome. Various changes were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a significant decrease in social activities (31.1%), time spent with friends (26.2%), conflicts between the child and siblings (18.5%), and conflicts between parents (25.3%). Furthermore, a significant increase was reported in children’s average screen time (28.2%), the quality of the child’s relationship with parents (19.4%), and the overall stresses faced by the family (16.5%). Conclusion: ADHD is commonly associated with high levels of parental stress. Factors associated with an increased level of stress include ADHD predominantly hyperactive/ impulsive subtype as well as comorbidity with tic disorders or autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic had a marked impact on children with ADHD and their families’ social functioning.

Parental Mental Health and Challenges in Parenting of Pre-schoolers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: This study aimed to understand the parental stress, psychological distress, and parenting practices of parents of pre-schoolers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods and Materials: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with the parents of preschool children aged 3–6 years. Researchers used the Parental Stress Scale, Self-Reporting Questionnaire, and Parent Practice Interview to collect data from parents in the Southern Indian city of Bengaluru. Results: A total of 60 responses were obtained from the online survey. Moderate to a high level of parental stress and mild to moderate levels of psychological distress were found among the parents. Around 21 (35%) of parents were found in need of mental health consultation. The study found no group differences in parental stress and psychological distress among various socio-demographic variables. The study found a significant association between parental stress and the parenting practices of participants. Higher mean scores were observed on mothers in setting clear expectations of pre-schoolers. Conclusion: Parenting young pre-schoolers is a difficult task. COVID-19 pandemic has made the parenting process challenging for parents. Parents must engage the children at home, and helping them cope with the new environment is a tightrope walk. Such uncertainties are supposed cause distress and lead to poor parenting parents among the parents, especially with pre-schoolers who are more demanding. There is a need to address parents’ concerns and train them to deal with the situations effectively.

The relationship between parental stress and psychological adjustment of the children: The role of parental psychological flexibility as a mediator

There is growing interest in parental psychological flexibility, understood as parents' ability to enjoy an optimal relationship with their children by accepting their negative emotions and thoughts in the present moment, while remaining child-conscious, in value-based parenting. Parenting can sometimes be stressful, especially when faced with the varied and changing challenges of parenthood. Parental stress, in turn, has been related to high levels of psychological inflexibility. So, this study aimed to analyze the relationship of parental psychological flexibility with parental stress and its impact on children's psychological adjustment. The sample consisted of 909 families with children aged 3–18 years who answered the following questionnaires: The Parental Acceptance Questionnaire (6-PAQ), which measures psychological flexibility, the Parental Stress Scale (PSS), and the Strenght and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which studies the general psychological state of children and adolescents by screening for emotional and behavioral difficulties. These variables were analyzed by difference analysis according to the level of psychological flexibility, regression analysis, and mediation analysis. The group of parents who scored highest on psychological inflexibility scored high on parental stress and the child psychological adjustment scales, except for the prosocial behavior subscale. The results show that parental psychological inflexibility is related to higher levels of parental stress, and in turn, has an impact on greater psychological maladjustment in children. These relationships are analyzed from their clinical and educational implications as factors and objectives to be incorporated into family intervention.

Changes in Positive Childhood Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ObjectiveChanges in family life associated with COVID-19 precautions may have reduced children’s access to positive childhood experiences (PCEs). The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of PCEs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among school-age children. MethodsThis cross-sectional study used data from the 2018–19 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH, n = 42,464) and the 2020–21 NSCH (n = 54,256) to examine the pre-pandemic period (June 2018–January 2020) and compared results to information obtained during the early pandemic period (June 2020–January 2022) using bivariate analyses and Z-tests. ResultsPCEs declined in four of the seven PCEs measured, from 2018 to 2019–2020–2021: after-school activities, community volunteerism, guiding mentor, and resilient family, with all differences significant by P < .0001. After-school activities decreased from 79.8% to 72.2%, community volunteering decreased from 43.9% to 35.1%, guiding mentor decreased from 88.8% to 86.3%, and resilient family decreased from 92.7% to 84.6%. PCEs increased for safe neighborhood (64.7–67.2%), supportive neighborhood (55.8–57.5%), and connected caregiver (65.3–94.7%). ConclusionsAs children have experienced higher levels of parental stress and disruption during their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers and program makers must find ways to increase exposure to PCEs following the pandemic. The quantification of these PCEs is a great start, with further research needed to describe ways that schools and community organizations have found to expose children to PCEs in safe ways.

Emotion regulation, parental stress and family functioning: Families of children with disabilities vs normative families

Childhood disability is a major challenge for families. The aim of the present study was to explore differences between families of children with disabilities and normative families, analyzing the association of emotion dysregulation with relationship satisfaction, through parental stress and interparental conflict, using supportive dyadic coping by oneself (SDCO) as a moderator. For a sample of 445 Romanian parents, results showed higher levels of parental stress and interparental conflict and lower relationship satisfaction in families of children with disabilities compared to normative families, as well as a direct relationship between parental stress and relationship satisfaction and a stronger direct effect for SDCO with relationship satisfaction. For normative families, SDCO moderated the relationship between emotion dysregulation and parental stress, and for families of children with disabilities SDCO interacted on the link between emotion dysregulation and relationship satisfaction. Only families of children with disabilities presented indirect effects between emotion dysregulation and relationship satisfaction through parental stress, moderated by SDCO. These effects increased in impact as the use of SDCO was higher. Conditional indirect effects by SDCO were also found for the link between emotion dysregulation and relationship satisfaction through interparental conflict for both families, with this effect being higher in families of children with disabilities. These findings highlight the need to implement specific programs that can adjust to the needs of these families, strengthening parents' emotional competencies, as well as stress and conflict management abilities.

Navigating the healthcare system with my child with CHD: parental perspectives on developmental follow-up practices.

Parents of children with CHD face several barriers when trying to access the services needed to support their child's development. In fact, current developmental follow-up practices may not identify developmental challenges in a timely manner and important opportunities for interventions may be lost. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of parents of children and adolescents with CHD with respect to developmental follow-up in Canada. Interpretive description was used as a methodological approach for this qualitative study. Parents of children aged 5-15 years with complex CHD were eligible. Semi-structured interviews that aimed to explore their perspectives regarding their child's developmental follow-up were conducted. Fifteen parents of children with CHD were recruited for this study. They expressed that the lack of systematic and responsive developmental follow-up services and limited access to resources to support their child's development placed an undue burden on their families, and as a result, they needed to assume new roles as case managers or advocates to address these limitations. This additional burden resulted in a high level of parental stress, which, in turn, affected the parent-child relationship and siblings. The limitations of the current Canadian developmental follow-up practices put undue pressure on the parents of children with complex CHD. The parents stressed the importance of implementing a universal and systematic approach to developmental follow-up to allow for the timely identification of challenges, enabling the initiation of interventions and supports and promoting more positive parent-child relationships.

Parents of Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Quality of Life, Stress, and Perceived Social Support.

Objective This study aims to investigate the quality of life (QOL), parental stress, and perception of social support in parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) in Saudi Arabia. Background Studies have shown that parenting a child with NDD impacts the QOL, parental stress, and life satisfaction of parents. Those studies, however, assessed those factors separately as well as focusing on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study will use a mixed methods approach to gain a deeper understanding of those three factors as they related to parenting a child with NDD. Method Data about parental stress, QOL, and other related sociodemographic variables were collected from parents of children with NDD (N= 63). Next, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four of those parents to gain a deeper understanding of the parents' QOL, parental stress, and perception of social support. Results An analysis of variance (ANOVA) test demonstrated that parents who had children with severe symptoms had poorer QOL and higher levels of parental stress compared to parents who had children who had moderate and mild symptoms. In addition, parents who had children with ASD had poorer QOL compared to all of the other disorders. There was no statistically significant difference in QOL and parental stress between mothers and fathers. The thematic analysis highlighted that the most significant challenges they face are financial, familial, and well-being worries. Conclusion In conclusion, this study shows that parents of children with NDD exhibited higher levels of parental stress and lower levels of QOL depending on the diagnosis and intensity of the child's symptoms. In addition, the interviews highlighted some key challenges that the parents felt affected their QOL and stress levels, as well as their views on family, friends, and community social support. Implications This study can help in developing or improving supportive programs and interventions for parents with children with NDD to enhance their QOL, reduce parental stress, and create a better social support system.

Parental loneliness, parental stress and child mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Variations by cumulative socioeconomic risk.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about parent and child mental health, especially within disadvantaged families. However, little is known about how parental stress and loneliness during the pandemic influenced their children and no studies have investigated if these associations could vary by socioeconomic status. In July to September 2021, a large representative sample of parents (N=4,524) in Québec (Canada) reported on aspects of their own mental health and that of their 9-10 year old child. Outcome variables were child externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Exposure variables were changes in parental loneliness and parental stress since the onset of the pandemic. The moderator variable was cumulative socioeconomic risk. Multiple linear regression analyses were executed and adjusted for confounding factors. Child internalizing symptoms were associated with higher levels of parental stress (β=0.14, p<.001) and loneliness (β=0.23, p<.001). Child externalizing symptoms were also associated with parental stress (β=0.13, p<.001) and loneliness (β=0.18, p<.001). Most of these associations were stronger within the most disadvantaged households. The cross-sectional design does not allow interpretations about causality. Increases in parental stress and loneliness since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic would be detrimental to parent and child mental health. As these issues were amplified within families experiencing more socioeconomic adversities, our results can inform public policy to support families in times of crisis and direct resources to those most in need.

Parental stress and risk of child abuse: The role of socioeconomic status

Specialized literature points consistently to the relevance of parental stress in parenting practices and in the risk of child abuse. At the same time, it is known that socioeconomic status constitutes a risk factor to parental stress. This research aimed to compare differences in parental stress and risk of child abuse between different socioeconomic families, as well as determine whether parental stress constitutes a predictor of child abuse risk in both groups. The sample comprised 109 parents – 62 residents of low socioeconomic status in the Porto district and 47 residents of middle/high socioeconomic status in Funchal district – which completed the AAPI-2 and PSI. The results revealed that low-SES parents have higher levels of parental stress and are more likely to commit child abuse. It was also found that parental stress predicts the risk of child abuse both for low and middle/high SES parents, even if this relationship is stronger for low-income families. Thus, reducing parental stress may constitute an effective way to prevent child abuse by parents.

Social, Community, and Cultural Factors Associated with Parental Stress in Fathers and Mothers.

Parenting stress is a key factor in predicting the quality of parent-child relationships and child development outcomes. Previous research tends to focus on examining individual factors contributing to parental stress, with minimal attention to other important contextual factors that may affect parenting. This study examines the issue from a broader ecological perspective by investigating social, cultural, and community factors associated with parental stress in a community sample of economically active fathers and mothers in Hong Kong. A secondary analysis was conducted using the data from the 2017 Family Survey, a territory-wide household survey conducted in Hong Kong. The data of the current study included a sub-sample of 736 working-class parents (48.4% males and 51.6% females). The mean age of fathers and mothers was 50.99 (SD = 11.2) and 48.68 (SD = 10.34) years, respectively. Mothers reported significantly higher levels of parental stress than fathers, t = -4.241, p &lt; 0.001. Different social, cultural, and community factors were associated with parental stress for fathers and mothers. Strong endorsement of traditional family values (B = -0.23, p = 0.032) and frequent practice of filial piety (B = -0.005, p = 0.019) reduced parental stress in fathers. Additionally, fathers who perceived formal support as effective scored higher levels of parental stress, B = 0.20, p &lt; 0.001. For mothers, informal social support from family members was the only social predictor for reduced parental stress (B = -0.14, p &lt; 0.001) among all the other contextual variables. Community support to reduce parental stress in working parents should address the respective risk factors for fathers and mothers.

Insomnia in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study on Clinical Correlates and Parental Stress.

Insomnia is one of the most common co-occurring disorders in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this cross-sectional cohort study of 270 children with ASD was to assess the prevalence of insomnia using the Pediatric Sleep Clinical Global Impression Scale and to correlate sleep problems with cognitive level, adaptive behavior, parental stress, behavioral and emotional problems, and severity of core symptoms. Our findings revealed that one-third of children had insomnia and were related to reduced adaptive behaviors and higher levels of parental stress and behavioral and emotional problems. Insomnia must be evaluated in children with ASD to define an appropriate intervention to potentially alleviate the severity of clinical correlates and parental burden.

Associations between caregiver stress and child verbal abuse and corporal punishment in Thailand’s impoverished Deep South region during the COVID-19 pandemic

The objectives of this study are: (1) To describe the levels of parental stress, self-reported child verbal abuse and corporal punishment among caregivers, and; (2) To assess the extent that having moderate or higher levels of parental stress is associated with self-reported child verbal abuse and corporal punishment. We randomly sampled 12 villages and sampled 40 households per village in Thailand’s impoverished Deep South region in June 2020. Study participants included 466 caregivers residing in sampled households. Trained enumerators used the standard ST-5 questionnaire to measure stress level and asked the participants to self-report the study outcomes. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Approximately 19.1% of caregivers reported moderate, high, or severe level of stress. Caregivers with moderate and higher levels of stress were more likely than caregivers with low level of stress to report child verbal abuse (48% vs. 23%, respectively; Adj. OR = 3.11, 95% CI = 1.90, 5.11) and corporal punishment (28% vs. 8%, respectively; Adj. OR = 2.62, 95% CI = 1.36, 5.04). We found associations between caregiver’s stress level and self-reported verbal abuse and corporal punishment of children in the household. However, social desirability, lack of details in the answers, and potential confounding by mental illness co-morbidities were notable limitations of the study.

The impact of COVID-related economic shocks on household mental health in Pakistan.

We combine data collected just prior to the unfolding of COVID‐19 with follow‐up data from July 2020 to document the adverse economic effects of the pandemic and resulting impact on parental and child mental well‐being in peri‐urban Pakistan. 22% of the households in our sample are affected by job loss, with monthly income down 38% on average. Our difference‐in‐difference results show that job loss is associated with a 0.88 standard deviation (SD) increase in adult mental distress scores (K10), a 0.43 SD reduction in a Hope index of children's aspirations, agency and future pathways, and a 0.40 SD increase in children's depression symptoms. In addition, we observe higher levels of parental stress and anger reported by children, as well as an increase in reported prevalence of domestic violence. Overall, we document that the pandemic has disproportionately and negatively affected the economic and mental well‐being of the most vulnerable households in our sample.