How do parental characteristics predict children’s emotional and behavioral development?

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that parental schemas and behavioral patterns can act as risk factors for the development of several psychological disorders in children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships between child sociodemographic variables, parental self-efficacy and perceived distress, parental early maladaptive schemas, parenting style and children’s emotional and behavioral disorders. The current study included 100 mothers and 13 fathers (M = 40.96, SD = 0.58) of children whose mean age was 10.91 years (SD ± 0.34). Data were collected online through self-report measures, including a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Parenting Style and Dimension Questionnaire – Short Version (PSDQ), the Brief Parental Self-Efficacy Scale – Short Version (BPSES), the Young Schema Questionnaire – Short Form, Version 3, the Parental Perceived Stress Scale – Stressor subscale (PSS), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The results indicate a robust association between parental self-efficacy, perceived stress, punitive schema, authoritarian parenting style, and emotional and behavioral disorders in children. Notably, higher parental self-efficacy significantly predicted lower levels of internalizing symptoms. For externalizing symptoms, chronic illness, parental divorce, and perceived parental stress were significant predictors. For internalizing symptoms, chronic illness, parental divorce, perceived parental stress, lower parental self-efficacy, and authoritarian parenting style were significant predictors. Parental early maladaptive schemas did not predict either externalizing or internalizing child symptomatology. The findings of this study can contribute to the general conceptualization of children’s emotional and behavioral disorders in relation to the perpetuating, predisposing and precipitating factors present in the home environment. The results can be useful in clinical practice in psychiatry and clinical psychology.