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Father’s and Mother’s Perceptions of Parenting Styles as Mediators of the Effects of Parental Psychopathology on Antisocial Behavior in Outpatient Children and Adolescents

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Abstract

The aim was to examine the potential mediating role of father’s and mother’s parenting styles in the association between parental psychopathology and antisocial behavior in children, and whether this pathway was moderated by child’s sex. Participants included both parents and 338 Spanish outpatient children between 8 and 17 years (56.5% boys). Parenting style had a mediating effect on the studied relationships. Maternal psychopathology was positively associated with antisocial behavior in children, either directly or partially by parenting style, while paternal psychopathology was positively associated with offspring antisocial behavior only through the mediator role of parenting style. Child’s sex did not moderate these relationships. Parenting style could be a target for prevention and intervention of antisocial behavior in the offspring of parents with mental health problems.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain) [grant number PSI2009-07542].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Epidemiology and Diagnosis in Developmental Psychopathology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    Juan Vera, Roser Granero & Lourdes Ezpeleta

  2. Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Edifici B. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Juan Vera & Lourdes Ezpeleta

  3. Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    Roser Granero

  4. Department of Psychology, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Juan Vera

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  1. Juan Vera
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Correspondence to Juan Vera.

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Vera, J., Granero, R. & Ezpeleta, L. Father’s and Mother’s Perceptions of Parenting Styles as Mediators of the Effects of Parental Psychopathology on Antisocial Behavior in Outpatient Children and Adolescents. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 43, 376–392 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0272-z

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