Maternal and paternal parenting stress: Direct and interactive associations with child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems

• Paternal and maternal parenting stress uniquely predict child externalizing behaviors. • Maternal parenting stress predicts child internalizing behaviors. • Paternal parenting stress predicts more child externalizing behaviors at low and average levels of maternal stress, but this association is no longer significant when maternal stress is high. This study examined the direct and interactive effects of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress in the prediction of child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Mothers and fathers (predominantly White and generally college-educated) of 157 children reported on their respective parenting stress when children were 18 months old. Both parents also reported on child behavior problems when children were 4 years old. Parent-reported infant temperamental difficultness at 15 months of age as well as child sex and family socioeconomic status were controlled for in the models. Path analyses suggested that both paternal and maternal parenting stress uniquely predicted child externalizing behaviors. A significant interaction between both parents’ parenting stress was also found, such that higher paternal parenting stress predicted more child externalizing behaviors at low and average levels of maternal stress, but not at high levels. Only maternal stress predicted higher levels of internalizing problems. The results of this longitudinal study suggest that paternal parenting stress may be of salient importance in the development of child externalizing behavior problems.