Maternal and paternal parenting stress and children’s aggression and anxiety/depression: Children’s self-regulation as a moderator

I examined whether maternal and/or paternal parenting stress predicted children’s aggression and anxiety/depression, and whether this parenting stress interacted with children’s self-regulation in the prediction of their aggression and anxiety/depression. Data were obtained from the 7th wave of longitudinal data of the Panel Study on Korean Children. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis demonstrate that both maternal and paternal parenting stress significantly and positively predicted children’s aggression and anxiety/depression. In addition, the effects of maternal parenting stress on children’s aggression and anxiety/depression were stronger for children with low (vs. high) self-regulation. My results show that the configuration of maternal parenting stress and children’s self-regulation should be considered in the design of teachers’ and parents’ early supportive interventions for effective prevention of children’s aggression and anxiety/depression.