An Exploratory Study of Fathers' Parenting Stress and Toddlers' Social Development in Low-Income African American Families.

Abstract

The present study tested Abidin's (1992) parenting stress model in a sample of low-income African American fathers and their toddlers, specifically examining the mediation effect of fathers' engagement (self-report and observed) on the association between parenting stress and children's social competence and problem behavior. We found that fathers reported moderate levels of parenting stress, but we found no evidence of a direct effect of stress on children's social development. However, parenting stress predicted more engagement in management, which predicted children's increased problem behaviour. These findings highlight the effect of fathering stress on specific forms of father engagement that affect toddlers' social development.