A closer look at parenting stress: Parent, child, and contextual characteristics

Abstract Objective The present study examined parenting stress based on Abidin's (1992) model, including parental characteristics known in contemporary literature to have an impact on parental stress. A holistic perspective that includes all three factors of the model—parental, child, and contextual characteristics—has not been extensively studied and may enhance our understanding of the factors contributing to parenting stress by identifying the relationships between them. Background Parenting plays a crucial role in shaping children's well‐being. It is a lifelong role that requires constant and intensive use of psychological resources and thus involves constant coping with stress. Method The present sample consisted of 502 Israeli parents over the age of 18 who were married or in a committed relationship and had at least one child aged 3 to 5 years. Participants were recruited through a web‐based survey company and completed self‐report questionnaires dealing with parenting stress, parental child‐centrism, parental self‐efficacy, personality traits, mentalizing ability, child temperament, and marital satisfaction. A series of structural equation models was performed to identify the associations between the factors of the model. Results The results of the present study support Abidin's conceptualization of the factors contributing to parenting stress and indicate a central role for parental characteristics, especially parental self‐efficacy and mentalizing ability. Conclusion The results highlight the importance of two cognitive mechanisms reflecting parents' perceptions of their ability to fulfill the parenting role while coping with parenting stress. The findings are discussed in view of the conservation of resources theory.