Abstract

This study was designed to examine whether parenting stress and child behavioral problems are significant predictors of parent–child conflict in the context of low-income families and how these relations are moderated by maternal nativity. The authors conducted multiple regression analyses to examine relations between teachers’ report of behavioral problems among preschoolers and self-report of parenting stress and parent–child conflict in a sample of 236 mothers. Findings showed that for both U.S.-born and foreign-born mothers, higher parenting stress is associated with greater parent–child conflict. Child behavioral problems are positively linked to parent–child conflict, but only for the U.S.-born mothers. The common experience of stress brought about by financial difficulties may account for the similar relation between stress and parent–child conflict among U.S.-born and foreign-born mothers. Different cultural backgrounds leading to different parenting beliefs and practices may explain the contrasting relation of parent–child conflict and child behavioral problems between the two groups.

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