Child-Driven Effects of Externalizing Problems on Parenting Stress and Self-Efficacy: Emotion Regulation as a Moderator

Previous studies have established significant associations between parental self-efficacy, parenting stress, and child externalizing problems. However, the child-driven effects of externalizing problems on parental outcomes have been less explored, particularly in non-Western contexts. This study investigated how child externalizing problems influence parenting stress and parental self-efficacy among Hong Kong Chinese mothers, with parental emotion regulation as a moderator. Participants in this cross-sectional study included 176 mothers of preschoolers ( M = 50.61 months; SD = 11.22). Findings indicated that child externalizing problems were associated with heightened parenting stress and reduced parental self-efficacy. Notably, maternal emotion regulation significantly moderated the relationship between externalizing problems and parental self-efficacy but not parenting stress. Mothers with better emotion regulation experienced a more pronounced decline in self-efficacy when faced with greater child externalizing problems, suggesting that emotionally regulated mothers may hold higher parenting expectations. This study highlights the effects of externalizing problems on parenting outcomes in a Chinese context, highlighting the need for culturally adapted parenting interventions that not only address child behavior management but also help parents, especially those with strong emotion regulation, reconcile self-efficacy beliefs with the challenges of raising children with behavioral difficulties. Implications and future directions are discussed.