Understanding parenting stress in adoptive parents: a longitudinal multilevel study of parents’ self-criticism, child negative emotionality, and child age at placement

Introduction: Research on parenting stress in adoptive parents during the early years post-placement reveals significant variability, yet few studies examine both parent- and child-related factors. This study investigates the role of the personality dimension of self-criticism and perceived negative child emotionality in relation to parenting stress during the first four years after transnational adoption. Additionally, it explores the moderating effect of child age at placement, a key factor associated with early adversity. Methods: Drawing upon a longitudinal five-wave dataset in the first 4 years after the child arrived in the adoptive family, this study used multi-informant data of 96 adoptive mothers and fathers of transnationally adopted children (mean child age at placement = 13.48 months). Data were analyzed using a multilevel structural equation modeling approach. Results: Parents’ self-criticism was positively associated with parenting stress at the between-parent level. At the within-parent level, year-to-year fluctuations in both parents’ self-criticism and perceived child negative emotionality were positively associated with corresponding fluctuations in parenting stress. Child age at placement did not moderate any of these associations. Conclusions: Overall, this study yielded convincing evidence for the dynamic nature of parenting stress in the first years after child placement, and the role of parental self-criticism and the child’s perceived negative emotionality herein.