PARENTAL STRESS, CHILD NEGATIVE AFFECT, AND A MEDIATING RELATIONSHIP WITH NEGATIVE TALK

This study aimed to establish if a relationship existed between parenting stress and their child’s depression, anxiety and somatization, referred to as negative affect. Alongside establishing this relationship, this study investigated if parent negative talk, as seen in Parent-Child Interactive Therapy (PCIT) sessions, affected that relationship. It was hypothesized that parenting stress would negatively impact their children’s negative affect, and that parenting stress would lead to increased negative talk towards their children, in turn negatively impacting their children’s negative affect. A total of 47 families from archival PCIT video sessions created the data set. Results found that there was no statistically significant relationship between parenting stress and child negative affect, although there appears to be a relationship present. There was also no statistically significant relationship found between parenting stress and child negative affect when accounting for negative talk as a potentially mediating factor.