Parenting Stress as a Mediator of Exposure to Potentially Traumatic Events and Behavioral Health Outcomes in Children and Youth

Abstract

The environment in which children grow and develop is vital to the trajectory of their development [1]. Risk and protective factors increase or decrease the likelihood of developmental disruptions and the onset of psychopathology [1,2]. Risk factors such as poverty, maternal depression maternal substance use, parenting stress and exposure to potentially traumatic events such as family and community violence have been shown to impact on development and place children at risk for the onset of psychopathology [3-10].