Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Developmental Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1387944
This article is part of the Research Topic The Psychology of Parenting in Unique Life Experiences: Understanding the Challenges of Continuous Stressful Circumstances and Marginalized Populations View all articles

Exploring the link between parents’ differentiation of self and children’s externalizing behavior problems: The mediating role of need-supportive vs. need-frustrating parenting practices

Provisionally accepted
Michal Klein Michal Klein 1,2,3*Tomer Levy Tomer Levy 2,4Cory Shulman Cory Shulman 1Etan Lwow Etan Lwow 5Tamar Silberg Tamar Silberg 6,7*
  • 1 Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
  • 2 Geha Mental Health Center, Petah Tikva, Israel
  • 3 Department of Social Work, Tel-Hai College, Tel-Hai, Israel
  • 4 Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • 5 Other, Kfar Saba, Israel
  • 6 Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Tel Aviv District, Israel
  • 7 Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation, Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Ramat Gan, Jerusalem, Israel

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Externalizing behavior problems (EBPs) are common in children, with significant long-term impact on the child and family members. Parents, particularly mothers, of children with EBPs often experience heightened emotional distress. One crucial factor affecting parents' ability to manage this distress is their level of differentiation-of-self (DOS). Differentiated parents are more likely to engage in practices that meet their child’s psychological needs, thus supporting the self-determination theory principles vital for a child’s well-being. This study examined the impact of parental DOS on parenting practices and subsequently on the child's EBPs, exploring possible differences between mothers and fathers. Methods: Thirty-two mother-father dyads with children aged 6-14, diagnosed with EBPs participated. Parents completed the Differentiation of Self Inventory–Short Form, the Revised Parents as a Social Context Questionnaire, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to assess parental DOS, practices, and child’s EBPs, respectively. Adjusted parallel mediation models examined the mediating role of parental practices in the relationship between parental DOS and a child’s EBPs. Results: While no direct link between parental DOS and child’s symptoms was found, a complete mediation model indicated need-frustrating practices mediating between parental DOS and a child’s EBPs, for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, fathers' need-supportive practices, but not mothers', were negatively associated with the child’s symptoms. Discussion: These findings highlight the interaction between parental traits, need-frustrating practices, and a child’s psychopathology. Notably, fathers' supportive behaviors emerged as potential protective factors against child’s EBPs, suggesting promising directions for future research and interventions targeting fathers.

    Keywords: parental stress1, Emotional regulation2, Self-Determination Theory (SDT)3, Child Development4, gender differences5, Family Systems Theory6

    Received: 19 Feb 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Klein, Levy, Shulman, Lwow and Silberg. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Michal Klein, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
    Tamar Silberg, Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Tel Aviv District, Israel

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.