High parenting stress has been connected with negative consequences for both parent and child. The aim of our work has been to identify factors contributing to high stress levels. A first step was to develop a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring parenting stress. Using data from a nation-wide representative sample, the Swedish Parenthood Stress Questionnaire, based on parts of Abidin's Parenting Stress Index, was constructed. Subareas of parenting stress as well as the total experience of such stress are measured in the questionnaire. High internal consistencies as well as significant individual stability over time intervals, spanning from 30 days to 7 years, have been established. Different aspects of construct validity have been examined. Mothers in a clinical sample indicated higher levels of stress compared to fathers, and to mothers in a normal sample. A multidimensional model of determinants of parenting stress has been developed using a structural equation modeling procedure. High workload, low social support, more caretaking hassles, negative life events were related to higher stress. Mothers with high stress reported more depressive mood and were judged to be more unresponsive to their children; they also regarded their children as more temperamentally difficult. We have also shown that early clinical assessments of child and family problems predicted stress levels 7 years later, and that mothers in a child problem focused interaction study reduced their stress levels compared to those of mothers in a control group. The instrument and the results have been successfully applied in clinical settings.
| Associated Researchers Berit Hagekull |
