Relationships Between Maternal Parenting Stress and Child Disruptive Behavior

This study examined statistically the differential relationships among child domain and parent domain scores of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and child disruptive behaviors as measured by the problem and intensity scales of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI). As were 165 children ages 2-10 referred for psychological evaluation. The PSI child domain and parent domain scores were significantly correlated with the ECBI intensity and problem scores and, as hypothesized, child domain scores were significantly more highly correlated with ECBI scores than were parent domain scores. Correlations of the ECBI problem and intensity scores with the PSI were not significantly different. In contrast to a previous study, no differences were found between singleand two-parent families in the number of disruptive child behaviors reported as problems. Analyses of sample differences suggested that, as the frequency of children's disruptive behaviors increases, spouse support may be less effective in buffering maternal parenting stress. Article: Child disruptive behaviors have been consistently associated with maternal stressors such as marital distress (Johnson & Lobitz, 1974), depression (Griest, Wells, & Forehand, 1979), anxiety (Patterson, 1980), and isolation (Wahler, 1980). The Parenting Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1990) is a widely used instrument designed to measure significant sources of maternal stress in the parent-child system arising from both child characteristics (Child Domain) and from parent characteristics (Parent Domain). Although the previously identified maternal stressors associated with child behavior problems are included within the Parent Domain, and child disruptive behaviors are included within the Child Domain, factor analyses of the PSI suggest that the Child and Parent Domains measure discrete sources of parenting stress. Few studies have examined relationships between sources of stress on the PSI and disruptive child behavior on independent measures. Mash and Johnston (1983) found significant correlations between both of the PSI Domain scores and the Externalizing Scale score of the Child Behavior Checklist. Bendell and colleagues (Bendell, Stone, Field, & Goldstein, 1989) found significant correlations between the PSI Domain scores and scores on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI). In both studies, mothers' ratings of the frequency of disruptive child behaviors appeared to be more highly related to sources of parenting stress arising from child characteristics than from parent characteristics, although the differences in correlation magnitude were not tested. Thus, the first purpose of this study was to examine the differential relationship between sources of parenting stress as rated on the PSI and disruptive child behaviors as rated on the ECBI. The second purpose was to examine the differential relationship between the PSI total stress score and the ECM Intensity and Problem Scales. The Problem Scale measures the number of individual disruptive behaviors reported as problems for the parent, and has been found to correlate more highly with maternal marital distress than does the Intensity Scale, which measures the frequency of occurrence of all disruptive behaviors (WebsterStratton, 1988). Consistent with this, we found that single-parent mothers reported higher scores on the Problem Scale than did mothers in intact families, despite similar ratings on the Intensity Scale (Boggs, Eyberg, & Reynolds, 1990). Single-parent mothers of handicapped infants have previously been found to experience more stress than mothers in two-parent families (Beckman, 1983). These findings led us to speculate that the ECBI Problem Scale may be more sensitive to maternal distress (Boggs et al., 1990). Thus we hypothesized that the Problem Scale would correlate more highly than the Intensity Scale with the PSI.