Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2014
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Personality and Individual Differences
Volume
68
Issue
October
First Page
93
Last Page
97
DOI of Original Publication
10.1016/j.paid.2014.04.014
Date of Submission
February 2015
Abstract
Although poor parenting practices place youth living in under resourced communities at heightened risk for adjustment difficulties, less is known about what influences parenting practices in those communities. The present study examines prospective linkages between three latent constructs: parental strain, mental health problems and parenting practices. Parental victimization by community violence and life stressors were indicative of parental strain; depressive, anxious, and hostile symptoms were indicators of parental mental health; and parental knowledge of their child’s activities and child disclosure were indicators of parenting practices. Interviews were conducted annually for 3 waves with 316 female caregivers (92% African American) parenting youth in low-income inner-city communities. Structural equation modeling revealed that parental strain, assessed at Wave 1, predicted changes in mental health problems one year later, which in turn predicted parenting practices at Wave 3. These results suggest that parental strain can compromise a caregiver’s ability to parent effectively by impacting their mental health. Opportunities for intervention include helping caregivers process trauma and mental health problems associated with parental strain.
Rights
Copyright © Elsevier Ltd. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Personality and Individual Differences. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 68, October 2014, Pages 93–97, doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.04.014.
Is Part Of
VCU Psychology Publications
Comments
Publisher version available at doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.04.014.