(PS7-43) Maternal and Paternal Parenting Self-Efficacy Predict Response to Disruptive Child Behavior

Abstract Text: Parenting self-efficacy refers to a parents’ perceptions of their abilities to complete tasks related to their parenting role. These beliefs are critical in determining how parents respond to child-induced challenges. Interestingly, parenting self-efficacy has been found to strengthen links between disruptive child behaviors on negative parenting behavior and interparental communication, However, research has not examined the unique contribution of both partner’s parenting self-efficacy on these outcomes, notably whether they both strengthen links between disruptive child behaviors and negative parenting and interparental communication. Thus, the current study seeks to examine the interaction between maternal and paternal parenting self-efficacy and disruptive child behavior to predict quality of parenting and interparental communication.
Ninety parent couples were randomly assigned to interact with a 9- to 12-year-old confederate acting as either a “disruptive child” with ADHD and ODD or a “typical child” without disruptive behaviors. Observers coded maternal and paternal parenting and interparental communication behaviors. Mothers and fathers also completed ratings of parenting self-efficacy and their partner’s parenting and interparental communication during the interaction with the confederate.
We conducted Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling analyses to examine the synergistic effects of child confederate status, mothers’ and fathers’ parenting self-efficacy on parenting and communication behavior. Maternal and paternal self-efficacy interacted with confederate status to predict negative parenting such that couples including two partners reporting low parenting self-efficacy managed “disruptive” children more negatively according to partners and coders (β = -.28 and -.30) than couples including one or two partners who reported high parenting self-efficacy. Maternal and paternal self-efficacy also interacted with confederate status to predict negative communication such that couples including two partners reporting low parenting self-efficacy communicated more negatively with each other according to partner ratings than couples including one or two partners reporting high parenting self-efficacy (β = -.26).
Results highlight that low parenting self-efficacy reported by mothers and fathers strengthens causal links between disruptive child behaviors and negative parenting and interparental communication behaviors. Given that low parenting self-esteem is a risk factor for negative parenting and communication behavior when managing disruptive child behavior, there is value in screening for low parenting self-efficacy in both parents of children being assessed for ADHD or ODD. Doing so could identify parent couples especially at risk of responding poorly to managing recurrent disruptive child behavior. Future research should seek to identify effective ways to bolster parenting self-efficacy in the context of triadic interactions to decrease the number of negative interactions occurring between the dyads (i.e., parent-child and parent-parent) within the family systems of youth with recurrent disruptive behavior problems, like those with ADHD or ODD.