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Biased Appraisals of Parenting Daily Hassles Among Mothers of Young Children: Predictors of Parenting Adjustment

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Abstract

This study examined whether mothers' endorsement of negative cognitive errors and positive illusions uniquely contribute to explaining the impact of parenting daily hassles on parenting adjustment in 72 mothers of children ages 2–5 years. Although scores on both scales of biased appraisals correlated significantly with reported frequency and intensity of parenting daily hassles, only mothers' endorsement of negative cognitive errors consistently and uniquely predicted higher levels of psychological distress and parenting stress and lower levels of parenting satisfaction and self-efficacy more than either frequency or intensity of parenting hassles alone. These results suggest both promises for parenting interventions and further integration of theories of stress, negatively biased appraisals, and psychological adjustment with the parenting literature.

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Notes

  1. For the Frequency scale total of the PDH, Crnic and Booth (1991) reported means and standard deviations of 38.6 (4.1), 40.4 (5.2), and 38.9 (5.3) for parents of children ages 9–12 months, 18–24 months, and 30–36 months, respectively. For the Intensity scale total, means and standard deviations were 38.8 (7.8), 42.4 (8.6), and 43.6 (9.7) for parents of children ages 9–12 months, 18–24 months, and 30–36 months, respectively. Crnic and Greenberg (1990) reported means and standard deviations of 37.3 (6.9) and 41.8 (12.2) for the Frequency and Intensity scale totals, respectively, for their sample of mothers of 5-year-old children.

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Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges Heather Taylor for her assistance with data collection and Jane Sheldon for her helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Penn State McKeesport, 4000 University Drive, McKeesport, PA, 15132, USA

    Elizabeth Mazur

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  1. Elizabeth Mazur
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Correspondence to Elizabeth Mazur.

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Mazur, E. Biased Appraisals of Parenting Daily Hassles Among Mothers of Young Children: Predictors of Parenting Adjustment. Cogn Ther Res 30, 161–175 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-006-9031-z

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