The Impact of Maternal Self-Efficacy on External Problem Behaviors in Young Children: Focusing on the Mediated Moderation and Moderated Mediation Effects of Maternal Parenting Stress and Employment Status

Objectives In this study, we aimed to examine the moderated mediation and mediated moderation effects of maternal parenting stress and employment status on the relationship between maternal self-efficacy in raising young children and the children's external problem behaviors. Methods For this purpose, we analyzed the moderated mediation and mediated moderation effects using the Process Macro on a sample of 932 pairs of five-year-old children and their mothers, drawn from the fifth wave of the Korean Child Panel data collected in 2012. Results First, the moderated mediation effect of the mother's employment status was not observed. Second, the conditional indirect effects related to the mother's employment status were significant for both employed and unemployed mothers. Third, the mediated moderation effect related to the mother's employment status was not found. Conclusions The mother's employment status indirectly affected the maternal parenting stress mediating the relationship between the mother's self-esteem and the child's externalizing problem behaviors. This suggests that providing appropriate parenting support based on the mother's employment status could be valuable as foundational data.