Abstract
Objective: To examine the relationship between early parenting stress and later child behavior in a high-risk sample and measure the effect of drug exposure on the relationship between parenting stress and child behavior. Methods: A subset of child-caregiver dyads (n = 607) were selected from the Maternal Lifestyle Study (MLS), which is a large sample of children (n = 1,388) with prenatal cocaine exposure and a comparison sample unexposed to cocaine. Of the 607 dyads, 221 were prenatally exposed to cocaine and 386 were unexposed to cocaine. Selection was based on the presence of a stable caregiver at 4 and 36 months with no evidence of change in caregiver between those time points. Results: Parenting stress at 4 months significantly predicted child externalizing behavior at 36 months. These relations were unaffected by cocaine exposure suggesting the relationship between parenting stress and behavioral outcome exists for high-risk children regardless of drug exposure history. Conclusions: These results extend the findings of the relationship between parenting stress and child behavior to a sample of high-risk children with prenatal drug exposure. Implications for outcome and treatment are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 73-84 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Child Psychiatry and Human Development |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements This study was supported by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) through cooperative agreements (U10 HD 27904; U10 HD 21397; U10 HD 21385; U10 HD 27856; U10 HD 19897), NICHD contract HD 23159, Intra-agency agreements with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).
Funding
Acknowledgements This study was supported by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) through cooperative agreements (U10 HD 27904; U10 HD 21397; U10 HD 21385; U10 HD 27856; U10 HD 19897), NICHD contract HD 23159, Intra-agency agreements with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institute on Drug Abuse | |
| Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development | U10 HD 27904, U10 HD 27856, U10 HD 21385, U10 HD 21397, HD 23159, U10 HD 19897 |
| Administration for Children and Families | |
| Center for Substance Abuse Treatment |
Keywords
- Cocaine
- Disruptive behavior
- High-risk children
- Parenting stress
- Prenatal drug exposure
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health