Date of Award

8-2024

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Paul Benson

Second Advisor

Jason Rodriquez

Third Advisor

Jeffrey Stokes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parental relationship instability (PRI) and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. This study focused on four different types of parental relationships, namely stably together, union dissolution without repartnering, repartnering, and relationship churning as prime predictor variables. A complex association between these four types of PRI and child behavior, mediated by parenting stress, was examined. Previous studies have repeatedly documented that raising children with disabilities is highly challenging for parents. The key aim of this study was to examine the potential mediating effect of parenting stress on the relationship between PRI and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior, as well as the potential moderating effect of child disability status on these mediating effects. Data from the first five waves of the Future of Families and Child-Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a rich, longitudinal dataset that followed a cohort of approximately 5,000 children born 1998 and 2000, was employed, with data being collected at baseline and when the focal child was, 3, 5, and 9 years old. The study employed conditional process analysis (Hayes & Rockwood, 2020) to investigate the potential mediating effect of parenting stress on the relationship between PRI and children’s problem behavior and the possibly that this mediating effect was moderated by child disability status. The results of this study noted a significant association between PRI and a child's internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Specifically, relationship churners were found to have the highest levels of internalizing and externalizing child behavior compared to the other groups. Results illustrated that parental relationship instability, parenting stress, and the child's disability status each have a significant direct impact on the child's internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Among all PRI types, relationship churners exhibited the highest level of child internalizing behavior compared to stably together, repartnered, and stably separated groups. The results indicate that the parental relationship instability has a significant effect on child’s behavior which is further mediated by parenting stress and moderated by child disability.

Comments

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