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Parenting Stress and Externalizing Behavior Symptoms in Children: The Impact of Emotional Reactivity

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Abstract

This study investigated whether the parenting stress-child externalizing behavior link is moderated by children’s emotional reactivity, as indexed by skin conductance responses (SCRs). Participants were 61 children aged 9–12 years and their mothers. Mothers completed measures of parenting stress and their children’s externalizing symptoms; children also reported on their externalizing behavior. Children’s SCRs were assessed during the viewing of standardized pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures. Cluster analysis on SCRs identified two groups, labeled Lower SCRs and Higher SCRs. Regression analyses indicated that among children with lower SCRs, those exposed to increased parenting stress reported more externalizing symptoms, whereas those who experienced low parenting stress reported similar rates of externalizing problems as children with higher SCRs. No effect of parenting stress emerged for children with higher SCRs. Findings suggest that higher parenting stress renders children with lower, as opposed to higher, SCRs to emotional stimuli more vulnerable to externalizing problems.

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Notes

  1. International Affective Picture System picture numbers were as follows: Pleasant: 8510, 7430, 7400, 7330, 8490, 5910, 5480, 5450, 2650, 1920, 1750, 1710; Neutral :7170, 7150, 7130, 7100, 7090, 7040, 7010, 7000, 7080, 7030, 2190, 2280; Unpleasant: 9421, 9050, 6370, 6300, 6230, 2810, 2130, 2120, 1040, 1120, 1930, 1300.

  2. The analysis was conducted on the log-transformed YSR scores.

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Acknowledgments

The Authors wish to thank children and mothers who participated in the study. We also thank Elisa Fait and Chiara Ostini for their help during data collection and reduction, and Lucia Ronconi for statistical advice. This work was supported by Grant CPDA085757 from the University of Padova. The funding source had no involvement in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padua, Italy

    Giulia Buodo & Daniela Palomba

  2. Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy

    Ughetta Moscardino & Sara Scrimin

  3. Department of Pedagogy, Psychology and Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Gianmarco Altoè

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  1. Giulia Buodo
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Correspondence to Giulia Buodo.

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Buodo, G., Moscardino, U., Scrimin, S. et al. Parenting Stress and Externalizing Behavior Symptoms in Children: The Impact of Emotional Reactivity. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 44, 786–797 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-013-0371-0

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