Garcia 2017

Influence of Child Behavioral Problems and Parenting Stress on Parent–Child Conflict
Among Low-Income Families: The Moderating Role of Maternal Nativity

Author(s): Aileen S. Garcia, Lixin Ren, Jan M. Esteraich and Helen H. Raikes
Source: Merrill-Palmer Quarterly , Vol. 63, No. 3 (July 2017), pp. 311-339
Published by: Wayne State University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13110/merrpalmquar1982.63.3.0311
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M E R R I L L - P A L M E R Q U A RT E R LY , V O L . 6 3 , N O . 3
Influence of Child Behavioral Problems and

Parenting Stress on Parent–Child Conflict Among
Low-Income Families: The Moderating Role of
Maternal Nativity
Aileen S. Garcia University of Nebraska—Lincoln
Lixin Ren East China Normal University
Jan M. Esteraich and Helen H. Raikes University of Nebraska—Lincoln
This study was designed to examine whether parenting stress and child behav-
ioral problems are significant predictors of parent–child conflict in the context of
low-income families and how these relations are moderated by maternal nativity.
The authors conducted multiple regression analyses to examine relations between
teachers’ report of behavioral problems among preschoolers and self-report of
parenting stress and parent–child conflict in a sample of 236 mothers. Findings
showed that for both U.S.-born and foreign-born mothers, higher parenting stress
is associated with greater parent–child conflict. Child behavioral problems are
positively linked to parent–child conflict, but only for the U.S.-born mothers. The
common experience of stress brought about by financial difficulties may account
for the similar relation between stress and parent–child conflict among U.S.-born
and foreign-born mothers. Different cultural backgrounds leading to different par-
enting beliefs and practices may explain the contrasting relation of parent–child
conflict and child behavioral problems between the two groups.
The parent–child (P-C) relationship, the earliest and certainly one of the
most important relationships that individuals develop, is considered to
be a major predictor of outcomes in many child developmental domains
(Driscoll & Pianta, 2011; Sengsavang & Krettenauer, 2015). Previous
Aileen Garcia, Jan Esteraich, and Helen Raikes, Department of Child, Youth and Family
Studies; and Lixin Ren, Department of Preschool Education.
Address correspondence to Aileen Garcia, Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies,
135 Mabel Lee Hall, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0236. Phone: (402)
472-2957. E-mail: agarcia13@unl.edu.
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, July 2017, Vol. 63, No. 3, pp. 311–339. doi: 10.13110/merrpalmquar
1982.63.3.0311 Copyright © 2017 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI 48201.
311

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312 Merrill-Palmer Quarterly
studies have purported that a nurturing, sensitive, and responsive P-C
relationship in early childhood positively influences the child’s emotional
well-being (Dawson & Ashman, 2000), moral development (Sengsavang
& Krettenauer, 2015), and later academic achievement (López Turley,
Desmond, & Bruch, 2010), and reduces the likelihood of problematic
behaviors (Fox, Dunlap, Hemmeter, Joseph, & Strain, 2003). Conversely, a
conflicted P-C relationship in early childhood is associated with aggression
and delinquency in early years (Ingoldsby et al., 2006) and later with poor
behavioral and academic outcomes (Knitzer, 2000).
Although it is known that a complex interaction of different factors
shapes the nature and quality of parenting (Frabutt, 1999), less evidence is
available regarding the specific factors and processes that relate to P-C con-
flict in early childhood. Additionally, the bulk of research about P-C
conflict does not capture the diversity of the population because it has pre-
dominantly focused on white, middle-class, parent–adolescent samples
(Weaver, Shaw, Crossan, Dishion, & Wilson, 2014). This is particularly
problematic given the continuing shifts in the U.S. demographics. The U.S.
Census Bureau currently estimates that there is one international migrant
coming to the United States every 32 seconds (http://www.census.gov/). To
address these gaps, the present study focused on P-C relationships during
early childhood, specifically the potential relating factors to P-C conflict,
and included mothers from low-income communities with different racial
backgrounds. This is particularly timely given the shifting racial demo-
graphic of the U.S. population.
In investigating the relating factors to P-C conflict, this research drew
on two general frameworks used in parenting studies: Belsky’s (1984)
determinants of parenting and Sameroff and Chandler’s (1975) trans-
actional model of development. Belsky’s ecological model of parenting
determinants emphasizes the importance of the parent’s own psychologi-
cal disposition, the child characteristics, and the contextual sources of
stress when examining what contributes to particular parenting behaviors.
Because Belsky’s framework is limited to how child characteristics predict
parenting, this study also draws upon the transactional model of develop-
ment to acknowledge the bidirectional influence between parent and child.
This model also emphasizes that both parent and child are embedded in
an active environment that also influences the dyad. Aside from these two
frameworks being widely used in studies on parenting and child develop-
ment, we chose these frameworks to guide our research because their ele-
ments correspond to the variables we are interested to examine. With this,
the current research simultaneously examined two potential contributing
factors to P-C conflict—parenting stress and child behavioral problems.

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Parenting Stress and Maternal Nativity 313
Parenting stress refers to a condition where the perceived parenting
demands exceed the actual resources necessary to parent effectively
(Deater-Deckard, Chen, & El Mallah, 2013). It constitutes the caregiver’s
personal characteristics that directly influence parenting. Examining child
behavioral problems as a contributing factor to P-C conflict, on the other
hand, highlights the children’s evocative role (Caspi, 2000; Scarr, 1992)
where their own characteristics elicit responses from their parents.
As described previously, this study included samples with differ-
ent racial backgrounds. Thus, we also referred to Super and Harkness’s
(1986) developmental niche framework, a widely used lens in examining
the role of culture in shaping a child’s development, working through three
interacting subsystems (i.e., customs and practices of childrearing, physi-
cal and social settings, and the psychology of the caregivers). Caregivers
from diverse cultures are expected to have different parental values, norms,
and expectations in terms of their children’s development (Njoroge, 2015),
which may in turn influence the nature and effects of P-C relationships.
Given that Super and Harkness suggested that the three subsystems inter-
act and operate together as a larger system, this study also examined how
maternal nativity interacts with parenting stress and child behavioral prob-
lems in relation to P-C conflict. For definition, parental nativity refers to
whether a child’s parent is a natural-born U.S. citizen (Weathers, Novak,
Sastry, & Norton, 2008).
Relations Among Parent–Child Conflict, Parenting Stress, and

Child Behavioral Problems
P-C conflict is characterized by disagreeable interactions where the par-
ent and the child display negative affect and behavior toward each other
(Weaver et al., 2014). More specifically, conflict arises when a parent and
a child demonstrate resistant and oppositional behaviors (Huang, Teti,
Caughy, Feldstein, & Genevro, 2007). This conflict often follows a coer-
cive pattern (Adams & Laursen, 2001) whereby the caregiver inadvertently
reinforces the child’s undesirable behaviors, which then evokes more nega-
tivity from the parent (Patterson, 1982).
Although the literature about P-C conflict in preschool-aged children
and their parents is limited, we did locate a few studies showing that high
P-C conflict has been associated with children’s relational aggression with
peers (Ostrov & Bishop, 2008) and with externalizing problems (Rubin,
Burgess, Dwyer, & Hastings, 2003). However, these studies were con-
ducted predominantly with middle-income Caucasian families. Needed are
studies that can extend the generalizability of the findings to the wider

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range of families raising children in the United States today, particularly
among the ethnically diverse and the economically disadvantaged fami-
lies (Weaver et al., 2014). Of further interest is whether relations found
between factors–such as parenting stress and child behavior problems–and
P-C conflict are generalizable to this wider range of families, as is being
investigated in the current study.
Parenting stress. This is considered as a normative part of the parent-
ing role (Crnic & Greenberg, 1990). However, heightened levels of par-
enting stress have negative repercussions on the family, particularly on
parenting behaviors. Parents experiencing psychological distress lack suf-
ficient emotional resources to maintain a positive relationship with their
child (Elder, Eccles, Ardelt, & Lord, 1995). In a study of parents with
preschool-aged children, Crnic and Greenberg (1990) found that higher
levels of parenting stress were significantly associated with less optimal
parenting and family functioning, less optimal P-C interactions, and lower
child developmental competence. Stressed parents may tend to take on a
more authoritarian parenting style, become significantly less responsive to
the child (Grolnick, 2003), and employ a more punitive discipline style
(Hill, 2006). The results of previous studies have associated parenting
stress with P-C conflict (Theule, 2010), which is attributed to emotional
spillover where the experienced family stress permeates the quality of fam-
ily relationships (Erel & Burman, 1995). Nelson Taylor (2011) found that
stress in the family context (stress originating from child, originating from
parent, and family stress) influences parents to have more conflicts with
their children.
This study focused on low-income families. Although high-income
parents are not resistant to general stress, low-income parents are espe-
cially susceptible to experiencing pressure caused by poor socioeconomic
and neighborhood conditions (Raikes & Thompson, 2005). They experi-
ence increased anxiety in worrying about finances, job security, and the
future (Ladwig, Marten-Mittag, Erazo, & Gündel, 2001). The Family
Stress Model (Conger et al., 2002) posits that economic hardship leads
to economic pressure such as difficulty paying for basic commodities.
This consequently induces parenting stress, which affects the parent’s
competencies in managing relationships with children, which may result
in increased P-C conflicts (Conger et al., 2002). The general psychologi-
cal distress experienced during economic deprivation has been found to
adversely affect parenting. For instance, in a study of low-wage earners, the
stressors they experienced impaired their ability to parent their children in
a positive manner (Martini, Root, & Jenkins, 2004).

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In the context of migration, foreign-born adults typically have higher
rates of poverty and material hardship and lower educational attainment,
income, and English language proficiency on average compared with their
U.S.-born counterparts (Gelatt, Peters, Koball, & Monson, 2015; Kandel,
2011). In addition, immigrants belonging to ethnic minority groups con-
sider the process of acculturation and racism as sources of stress. Although
research has indicated that immigrant parenting is also a complex, stressful
experience (Guo, 2013), not much is known about the specific pathways by
which the stressors experienced by immigrant parents influence how they
parent and their P-C interactions, and how these consequently impact child
development.
Child behavioral problems. Children with behavioral concerns manifest
problems relating to aggression, attention, emotional control, and withdrawal
(LeBuffe & Naglieri, 1999a). Behavior problems have been consistently
linked to maladjustment later in life (Guttmannova, Szanyi, & Cali, 2008),
such as underachievement, substance abuse, depression, and antisocial behav-
ior. Externalizing behaviors in childhood, particularly, have been associated
with the development of academic and conduct problems and can escalate to
criminality in adulthood (Deater-Deckard & Dodge, 1997).
The probability of children developing behavioral problems is ampli-
fied when the children are exposed to multiple risk factors (Brooks-Gunn,
Duncan, & Aber, 1997). Because poverty is often associated with numer-
ous sociodemographic risk factors such as low parental involvement,
minority status, marital instability, and community violence (Duncan,
Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1994), it has been consistently found to nega-
tively impact child development. Past studies have consistently shown
that children from low-income families are at heightened risk for behavior
problems (McLoyd, 1998). Qi and Kaiser’s (2004) comprehensive review
of literature revealed that 30% of children experiencing economic adversity
develop behavioral problems. This number is staggering given that only
3%–6% of the children population is expected to have behavior problems.
Children’s aggressive behaviors have been found to elicit parental
hostility and aggression (Carrasco, Holgado, Rodriguez, & Barrio, 2009).
With regard to P-C conflict, research among European American samples
showed that children with more behavioral problems tend to experience
more P-C conflict (Nelson Taylor, 2011). Additionally, although it has
been recently found that children of immigrants have higher propensities
to develop behavioral problems (Gelatt et al., 2015), how behavioral prob-
lems are specifically related to P-C interactions in the context of immigrant
families remains unclear.

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Migration and parental nativity. With higher migration rates into the
United States, interest in examining the foreign-born population is increas-
ing (Kandel, 2011). However, studies focusing on the contexts in which
immigrants’ lives are embedded remain sparse (Hsin-Chun Tsai, 2003). The
U.S. Census Bureau reported that foreign-born persons accounted for 13.1%
of the total population in 2010–14 (http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/
PST045215/00). It is projected that the U.S. population will continue to
grow more diverse, and by 2032 international migration will be the primary
driver of population growth in the country (Ortman, 2013).
Existing literature on U.S.-born and foreign-born parents reflects sig-
nificant differences between the two populations. For example, Dearing,
Sibley, and Nguyen (2015) reported that immigrant families possess
numerous cultural and social assets. For instance, it is well documented
that foreign-born individuals are at lower risk of mood and anxiety disor-
ders than U.S.-born individuals (Alegria et al., 2007; Grant et al., 2004;
Williams et al., 2007). They also have high regard for education and high
aspirations for their children and are more likely to take their children to
religious services regularly (Gelatt et al., 2015). In addition, children of
immigrants have the advantage of being more likely to live in two-parent
households.
On the other hand, migration also poses several challenges to the
family. Immigrant parents, on average, have lower educational attain-
ment (Hernandez, Takanishi, & Marotz, 2009) and English language
proficiency, occupational level and, as previously mentioned, are nearly
twice as likely to live in poverty as nonimmigrant families (Kandel, 2011).
Socioemotionally, immigrants feel isolated more often and live in poorer
housing and neighborhood conditions (Bronfman, Campos-Ortega, &
Medina, 1989, as cited in Castillo et al., 2012). In addition, foreign-born
mothers were found to demonstrate less emotional and cognitive support-
iveness and have lower rates of household routines compared with their
U.S.-born counterparts (Gelatt et al., 2015). As a result, children of immi-
grants may be at a greater risk to underachieve compared with their nonim-
migrant peers (Fry, 2007). With the varying social and cultural contexts
of families with foreign-born and U.S.-born parents, they are expected to
differ in several aspects of family dynamics and child outcomes.
The Present Study

Much of the research on P-C conflict has focused on samples consisting
mainly of middle-class European Americans, but it is not clear whether
these findings apply to members of ethnic minorities or the foreign-born

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families in the United States. The current study examined factors that
may relate to P-C conflict, particularly parenting stress, child behavioral
problems, and parental nativity. The present study addressed two primary
research questions: First, do parenting stress and child behavioral prob-
lems relate to P-C conflict? Second, does maternal nativity moderate the
effects of child behavioral problems and parenting stress on P-C conflict?
After controlling for demographic covariates, it was hypothesized that the
greater the reported parenting stress and child behavioral problems were,
the greater was the P-C conflict. Given the potential differences in social
contexts (Gelatt et al., 2015) and family dynamics between U.S.-born and
foreign-born parents (Kao, 2004), it was also hypothesized that the relation
between parenting stress and P-C conflict, as well as that between child
behavioral problems and P-C conflict, would differ across the U.S.-born
and foreign-born groups. However, given the limited literature on P-C con-
flict in the context of immigrants, specific predictions of the direction and
strength of the moderation effects were not generated.
Method
This study’s data were collected in fall 2014 as part of the 2014–15 Educare
Implementation Study. The Educare Learning Network is comprised of
21 early education centers throughout the United States that provide full-
day, full-year Early Head Start and Head Start services for children from
low-income households, at the age of 6 weeks through preschool. Educare
schools meet the Early Head Start and Head Start program performance
standards and also implement additional comprehensive, evidence-based
components intentionally designed to support high-quality teaching, family
engagement, and dual-generation learning. Teacher–child ratios are high:
8 children in the infant and toddler classrooms and 17 in the preschool
classrooms, all with three-teacher teams that include a lead teacher who
has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood, an assistant teacher who has at
least an associate degree in early childhood, and a teacher’s aide. In addi-
tion, family engagement specialists work with every child and family to
develop and enhance parents’ skills, focusing on the P-C relationship and
their child’s growth and development and encouraging parents’ involve-
ment in their child’s education and school through regularly scheduled
parent workshops and P-C activities. With small caseloads, family engage-
ment specialists make home visits at least twice a year and develop strong
relationships with community resources to facilitate referrals for services
unavailable on site. Often bilingual family engagement specialists assist
families whose primary language is not English.

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Annual classroom observations and child progress assessments are
conducted by trained and reliable local evaluators at every school. The data
show that children in poverty who participate in the program, beginning in
the infant–toddler years, including dual-language learners, enter kindergar-
ten ready for school and achieve near national norms on measures of school
readiness (Yazejian & Bryant, 2012).
Participants
The participants were recruited via both purposive and convenience sampling
methods. The sample included all parents with preschool children attend-
ing the three Midwest Educare schools participating in this study, with no
exclusion criteria (N = 236). At the time of data collection (October 2014),
children in this sample were on average 51 months old (SD = 6.9 months),
and the primary caregiver was predominantly the mother (90%). As such, the
caregiver participants for this study are referred to as mothers. Of the moth-
ers, 43% were born outside of the United States, and over half of the children
(53%) were in two-parent households. English was the primary language in
61% of the households, followed by Spanish (30.5%). At the time of data
collection, 77.4% of the mothers had earned at least a high school diploma
or GED (General Educational Development test). Of the families, 83% had
at least one parent who was employed part time or full time. Household
income for the participants was at, or below, the 2014 federal poverty thresh-
old (before-tax annual income of $23,850 for a family of four). Specific
income categories were unavailable. The participants in this study reported
higher levels of education and employment and slightly higher rates of two-
parent households when compared with average family demographics of the
national Head Start Program. In the Head Start Family and Child Experiences
Survey (FACES) 2009 cohort, 48% of the households included two parents,
63.6% of the mothers attained at least a high-school education, and 55.4% of
the households had at least one parent who was employed part time or full
time (Malone et al., 2015). Table 1 lists additional participant demographic
information, including the U.S.-born and foreign-born subgroup information.
Measures
Parent survey and evaluation plan. Educare’s evaluation plan requires
parents to complete an annual survey if they have a child attending the Educare
preschool program. Data for this study were obtained from the parent survey.
The survey is collected at the beginning of the school year, or is obtained when
a parent enrolls a child during the year. Also, the evaluation plan requires

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Table 1. Child and parent demographic information (N = 236)
Demographic U.S. born Foreign born Whole sample

variable (n = 134) M (SD) (n = 102) M (SD) (N = 236) M (SD)
Child age (months) 51.1 (6.8) 51.2 (7.0) 51.2 (6.9)
Child’s gender 58% 53.5% 56%
(male)
Child’s race/
ethnicity
African American 36% 17% 27%
Hispanic 31% 67% 47%
White 13% 11% 12%
Biracial 17% 3% 11%
Other 3% 2% 3%
Maternal age* 24.3 (5.3) 28.4 (6.2) 26.1 (6.0)
(years)
Maternal education*
Grade 8 or less 1.5% 13.7% 6.8%
Some high school 8.2% 25.5% 15.7%
High school/GED 15.7% 21.6% 18.2%
Tech training/ 7.5% 9.8% 8.5%
certification
Some college 35.8% 11.8% 25.4%
Two-year degree 17.2% 3.9% 11.4%
Bachelor’s degree 14.2% 13.8% 13.9%
or higher
Mother’s
employment
Full time 61.2% 46.1% 54.0%
Part time 24.8% 32.6% 28.7%
Family structure
Two parents 44.4% 65.3% 53.0%
Single parent 54.1% 30.7% 44.0%
Other 1.5% 4.0% 3.0%
Mother’s birth
country
U.S. 100% 0% 57%
Outside of U.S. 0% 100% 43%
Continued

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Table 1. Child and parent demographic information (N = 236) (Continued )
Demographic U.S. born Foreign born Whole sample

variable (n = 134) M (SD) (n = 102) M (SD) (N = 236) M (SD)
Child’s birth country
U.S. 98.5% 94.0% 96.6%
Outside of U.S. 1.5% 6.0% 3.4%
Language child
hears at home
English 90.3% 21.8% 61.0%
Spanish 8.2% 60.4% 30.5%
Other 1.5% 17.8% 8.5%
Note. * A significant difference between the U.S.-born group and the foreign-born group.
GED = General Educational Development test.
parents to sign an informed consent to participate in the ongoing evaluation

and child assessments upon enrollment of their child. Demographic variables:
demographic data were obtained through the annual parent survey, specifically
the Fall 2014 Parent Survey. Maternal nativity: mothers answered whether
they were born in the U.S. or outside of the U.S. in the annual parent survey.
Conflict within the parent–child relationship. The mothers were asked
in the annual parent survey to complete the Child–Parent Relationship Scale–
Short Form (CPRS-SF) (Pianta, 1992), a 15-item self-report rating scale mea-
suring the parent’s feelings and beliefs about her relationship with her child,
and about the child’s behavior toward the parent. Items were derived from
attachment theory and the Attachment Q-set (Waters & Deane, 1985), as well
as a review of the literature on mother–child interactions. Items on subscales
corresponding to the parent’s conflict and closeness with the child are rated
on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (definitely does not apply) to 5 (defi-
nitely applies). In this study, the 8-item conflict subscale was used, which
measures the parent’s perception of negativity and conflict with the child (e.g.,
“My child and I always seem to be struggling with each other.” “Dealing with
my child drains my energy.”). Higher scores on the conflict scale indicate a
more conflictual relationship. The Cronbach’s alpha for this study was .81.
Child behavioral concerns. Teachers completed the Devereux Early
Childhood Assessment Rating–Preschoolers, Second Edition (DECA-P2)
(LeBuffe & Naglieri, 1999a, 1999b) to assess their perceived child behav-
ioral problems in the classroom. The DECA-P2 is a strength-based assess-
ment that measures protective and risk factors in preschool children and is
nationally norm-referenced. The 10-item Behavioral Concerns subscale,

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which was used in this study, measures emotional or behavioral problems
young children might exhibit, including withdrawal, aggression, and/
or extreme emotions. Teachers considered children’s behavior from the
previous 4 weeks (e.g., “How often did the child fight with other chil-
dren?” “How often did the child become upset or cry easily?”). Items were
rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 (never) (0) to 4 (very fre-
quently). In the standardization sample, the DECA was reported to have a
Cronbach’s alpha of .80 for teacher-reported behavioral concerns, and a
1- to 3-day test–retest reliability of .68 (LeBuffe & Naglieri, 1999b). The
DECA appears to be a reliable and valid measure of identifying risk and
protective factors within an at-risk population (e.g., Lien & Carlson, 2009;
Ogg, Brinkman, Dedrick, & Carlson, 2010).
Parenting stress. The Parenting Stress Index (PSI)–Short Form (Abidin,
1995) measures distress a parent experiences as a function of factors directly
related to parenting. Parents were asked in the annual parent survey to com-
plete the 11-item Parent Distress subscale measure (adapted from the 12-item
Parent Distress subscale with special permission from the publisher), which
broadly measures the distress experienced within the parenting role. The
items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly agree and 5 = strongly
disagree), with higher scores reflecting higher levels of parenting distress.
Example items include “I feel trapped by my responsibilities as a parent”
and “Since having this child, I have been unable to do new and different
things.” The PSI has well-established reliability and validity (Abidin, 1995).
The Cronbach’s alpha for the PSI in the current sample was .88.
Data Analyses
The first step in the analysis was to perform one-way multivariate analyses
of variance (MANOVAs) to compare the U.S.-born group and the foreign-
born group on several variables of interest. Next, we ran a series of basic
correlations among the variables for the whole sample, as well as for the
two groups separately. Finally, multiple regression analyses were con-
ducted to detect possible interactions between maternal nativity and child
behavioral problems and between maternal nativity and parenting stress.
Results
Tables 1 and 2 present the descriptive statistics of the variables in the study.
To better see the differences between mothers born in the United States and
mothers born outside the United States, Table 2 presents the statistics of the
U.S.-born group, the foreign-born group, and the whole sample. MANOVAs

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Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the variables in the study
U.S. born Foreign born Whole sample

(n = 134) (n = 102) (N = 236) Scale
Variable M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) Min. Max. range
Child age 51.125 51.244 51.178
38 64 NA
(6.794) (7.011) (6.875)
Maternal 4.478 3.451 4.034
education* 1 7 1–8
(1.564) (1.922) (1.798)
Maternal 24.331 28.355 26.070
age* 14.190 51.090 NA
(5.286) (6.186) (6.021)
Parenting 1.805 1.547 1.693
stress* 1 4.182 1–5
(.722) (.591) (.679)
Parent–child 2.032 2.028 2.030
conflict 1 4.375 1–5
(.826) (.824) (.823)
Behavioral 50.672 45.824 48.576
problems* 29 72 28–72
(10.521) (9.665) (10.420)
Note. * A significant difference between the U.S.-born mothers and the foreign-born group.
NA = not applicable.
were conducted to compare the U.S.-born group and the foreign-born group
on several variables. Post hoc analyses were conducted to examine the spe-
cific differences between the two groups, and Cohen’s d was used as a mea-
sure of effect size (small = .2, medium = .5, and large = .8). First, U.S.-born
mothers had higher education than foreign-born mothers, F(1, 199) = 19.17,
p < .001, Cohen’s d = .597, and they were also younger when giving birth to
the target child in the study, F(1, 199) = 26.61, p < .001, Cohen’s d = .710.
U.S.-born mothers reported more parenting stress than did their foreign-born
counterparts, F(1, 199) = 80.19, p = .005, Cohen’s d = .388. Additionally,
teachers reported children with U.S.-born mothers as having more behav-
ioral problems than did children of foreign-born mothers, F(1, 199) = 10.30,
p = .002, Cohen’s d = .479. Thus, the effect sizes of the differences between
these two groups fell within the medium to large range. The two groups did
not differ in terms of child age and level of P-C conflict.
Table 3 shows the correlations among the variables for the whole sam-
ple. Mothers with higher education reported less conflict with their child.
Parenting stress was positively correlated with P-C conflict, suggesting that
there was more conflict between mothers and children when mothers felt
more stress regarding parenting. P-C conflict did not significantly correlate
with child behavioral problems. In addition, child age, child sex, maternal

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Table 3. Correlations among study variables
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. Maternal —
nativity
2. Child sex .043 —
3. Child age .009 .039 —
4. Maternal –.283*** .078 –.033 —
education
5. Maternal .332*** –.067 –.029 –.002 —
age
6. Parenting –.189** .001 –.054 .086 –.127 —
stress
7. Parent– –.002 –.054 .006 –.153* –.127 .501*** —
child conflict
8. Behavioral –.231*** –.214** .021 .0003 .042 .048 .119 —
problems
Note. Dummy-coded variables include maternal nativity (0 = U.S. born; 1 = foreign born)
and child sex (0 = boy; 1 = girl).
*p < .05.
**p < .01.
***p < .001.
nativity, and maternal age did not relate to P-C conflict. To better exam-
ine the relations among the variables, correlation analyses were conducted
separately for the U.S.-born group and the foreign-born group (see Table 4).
The patterns of correlations differed for the two groups on several variables.
First, child sex was related to P-C conflict and child behavioral problems for
the U.S.-born group. but not for the foreign-born group. Specifically, boys
were reported having more behavioral problems and more conflict with their
mothers than did girls among children with U.S.-born mothers. Second,
maternal age was positively correlated with child behavioral problems for
the foreign-born group but not for the U.S.-born group. The most interesting
difference was that P-C conflict was positively associated with child behav-
ioral problems for the U.S.-born group, but such relation was absent for the
foreign-born group. Next, multiple regression analyses were conducted to
examine the hypothesis that maternal nativity would moderate the effects
of parenting stress and child behavioral problems on P-C conflict. In the
regression model, P-C conflict was entered as the outcome/dependent vari-
able. We used the PROC GLM (general linear models procedure) procedure
in SAS (Statistical Analysis Software) to conduct the analysis. The model

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Table 4. Correlations among study variables for the U.S.-born group and the
foreign-born group
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Child sex — .104 .117 –.129 .057 .124 –.169
2. Child age –.016 — .008 –.078 –.068 –.073 –.014
3. Maternal .076 –.072 — –.017 .098 –.168 –.133
education
4. Maternal –.050 .008 .232** — –.110 –.127 .229*
age
5. Parenting –.019 –.044 –.013 –.042 — .529*** –.032
stress
6. Parent– –.189* .069 –.155 –.141 .502*** — –.151
child conflict
7. Behavioral –.241** .050 –.017 .050 .026 .309*** —
problems
Note. Child sex was dummy coded (0 = boy; 1 = girl). Below the diagonal are correlations for
the U.S.-born group; above the diagonal are correlations for the foreign-born group.
*p < .05.
**p < .01.
***p < .001.
specification should be based primarily on theoretical considerations. We

used a top–down approach in which we included all the main effects of the
predictors and possible interaction effects among maternal nativity, parent-
ing stress, and child behavioral problems. Next, nonsignificant interaction
effects were removed. However, all main effects were retained regardless of
whether they were statistically significant or not, because we were interested
in examining the main effects of each predictor to test against our original
hypotheses so as to compare with existing findings from the literature.
Main predictors in the model included maternal nativity, parenting
stress, child behavioral problems, and four possible interactions among
the predictors: Maternal Nativity × Parenting Stress, Maternal Nativity
× Behavioral Problems, Parenting Stress × Behavioral Problems, and
Maternal Nativity × Parenting Stress × Behavioral Problems. In addi-
tion, maternal education was included in the model to control for its effect
on P-C conflict as it was significantly correlated with P-C conflict (see
Table 3). Maternal age at the birth of the target child was also included as a
controlling variable because the correlation between maternal age and P-C
conflict approached significance (r = –.127, p = .051).

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The model showed that the three-way interaction among maternal
nativity, parenting stress, and child behavioral problems was not significant
(B = .006, β = .025, p = .718). Thus, the three-way interaction was removed
in the next model, while all two-way interactions were retained. However,
only the two-way interaction between maternal nativity and child behav-
ioral problems was significant in the second model (B = –.032, β = –.254,
p < .001). The two-way interaction of Maternal Nativity × Parenting Stress
(B = .225, β = .108, p = .120) and that of Parenting Stress × Behavioral
Problems (B = .008, β = .062, p = .287) were both nonsignificant. Therefore,
in the final model, the two nonsignificant two-way interactions were
removed and only Maternal Nativity × Behavioral Problems was retained.
Table 5 presents the unstandardized and standardized regression coef-
ficients, standard-error estimates, and p values of the estimates in the final
model. The standardized regression coefficients speak to the effect size,
which measures the magnitude of the effect and can be interpreted simi-
larly as correlation coefficients (small = .1 or smaller, medium = .1–.3,
and large = .5 or greater). The six predictors accounted for 35.66% of the
variance in P-C conflict. As shown in the model, maternal education was
negatively related to P-C conflict, and thus mothers with higher educa-
tion reported less conflict with their child. Parenting stress was positively
associated with P-C conflict but did not interact with maternal nativity in
predicating P-C conflict, suggesting that more parenting stress was related
to more P-C conflict regardless of whether the mothers were born within or
outside of the United States.
Table 5. Regression coefficients, standard error estimates, and probability (p)

values for the regression coefficients in the final regression model
Predictor B β SE p
(Constant) 1.934 0 .062 <.001
Maternal education –.084 –.183 .026 .001
Maternal age –.011 –.077 .008 .184
Maternal nativity .127 .077 .103 .219
Parenting stress .621 .514 .066 <.001
Behavioral problems .023 .294 .006 <.001
Maternal Nativity × –.035 –.277 .009 <.001
Behavioral Problems
Note. Maternal nativity was dummy coded (0 = U.S. born; 1 = foreign born). Maternal educa-
tion was centered at 4 (high school or GED diploma, with some college but no degree). All
other variables were centered at its mean. GED = General Educational Development test.

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As shown in Table 5, maternal nativity interacted with teacher-reported
child behavioral problems in predicting P-C conflict (B = –.035, β = –.277,
p < .001). The effect size of the interaction effect was medium. Due to
the significant interaction effect, the effect of maternal nativity as shown
in Table 5 now represented the effect of maternal nativity on P-C conflict
when the child had a mean level of behavioral problems (as a value of 0
represented the mean). The U.S.-born group and the foreign-born group
did not differ in terms of P-C conflict when children had a mean level of
behavioral problems, controlling for all other variables in the model, as
indicated by the nonsignificant estimates (B = .127, β = .077, p = .219).
Simple slope analyses were conducted to better understand the interaction,
and the interaction effect was plotted in Figure 1. For children with U.S.-
born mothers (solid line in Figure 1), the more behavioral problems the
children had according to their teachers, the children’s mothers reported
having more conflict with them (B = .023, β = .294, p < .001). The effect
size was medium. However, for children with foreign-born parents were
(dashed line in Figure 1), behavioral problems were not significantly
associated with the amount of conflict that these children had with par-
ents (B = –.012, β = –.154, p = .087). Interestingly, the regression line
(dashed line) approached significance, but the direction of the regression
was opposite to the regression line of the U.S.-born group (solid line). This
suggested that, for the foreign-born group, when teachers reported a child
having more behavioral problems, the mother tended to report having less
conflict with the child.
Discussion
The present study examined the effects of parenting stress, child behav-
ioral problems, and maternal nativity on P-C conflict. Additionally, we
examined how the effects of child behavioral problems on P-C conflict
might vary as a function of maternal nativity. Parenting stress was signifi-
cantly associated with P-C conflict for both the U.S.-born group and the
foreign-born group. However, child behavioral problems, as reported by
the classroom teacher, were significantly correlated with P-C conflict for
the U.S.-born group, but not the foreign-born group. Regression analyses
showed that the interaction effect between child behavioral problems and
maternal nativity on P-C conflict was significant. Different patterns of rela-
tionships between child behavioral problems and P-C conflict were found
for the U.S.-born group and foreign-born group, taking into account some
covariates, suggesting potential variations on the nature of P-C interactions
between the two groups.

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Figure 1. The interaction effect between maternal nativity and child behav-
ioral problems on parent–child conflict. Low behavioral problems: 1 SD below
the mean. High behavioral problems: 1 SD above the mean.
Parenting Stress
For both groups, results showed that the higher the mother-reported lev-
els of parenting stress were, the more conflicts mothers had with their
children. This is consistent with existing literature purporting that stress
is commonly experienced in parenting and that it has negative effects on
parenting, family functioning, and P-C interactions (Crnic & Greenberg,
1990; Nelson Taylor, 2011).
Parents who experience parenting stress may not have the neces-
sary resources and skills at their immediate disposal (e.g., time, patience,
inductive parenting) (Baker et al., 2003). Consistent with the transactional
model of development, this could trigger a negative reaction from the child,
which could then lead to a more conflicted P-C relationship (Sameroff &
Chandler, 1975). This relationship may be especially pronounced dur-
ing the early childhood stage. At this time, parents may experience more
parenting stress as they attempt to teach important life skills to children

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who may be less cooperative as they develop oppositional and aggressive
behaviors (Keenan & Shaw, 1994).
Interestingly, although previous studies asserted that, in general, immi-
grants have more potential sources of stress that put them at a disadvan-
tage (Gelatt et al., 2015; Kandel, 2011), univariate analysis revealed that
U.S.-born mothers experience more parenting stress compared to foreign-
born mothers. We offer two possible explanations for this finding. First,
the U.S.-born mothers in this study are significantly younger than the
foreign-born mothers. According to past research, younger mothers have
a tendency to experience higher levels of stress, with age being positively
associated with income, occupation, and residential stability (McAdoo,
1995). It is plausible that these sociodemographic stressors also contribute
to parenting stress of younger mothers.
A second explanation has to do with the measure used in this study. The
parenting stress experienced by mothers from both groups notwithstand-
ing, the low parenting stress scores of foreign-born mothers may be attrib-
uted to the scope and nature of the PSI. Looking closely at this instrument,
the items seem to be oriented toward an individualistic culture where self-
interest, autonomy, and self-reliance are highly valued (Yaman, Mesman,
IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Linting, 2010). As majority of the
foreign-born mothers in this study came from Mexico, a country with a col-
lectivistic orientation, the PSI items such as “I often have the feeling that
I cannot handle things very well,” “I feel trapped by my responsibilities as
a parent,” and “I feel alone and without friends,” may not be applicable in
their context. Parents in collectivistic societies tolerate and promote inter-
dependence among members of the group (Greenfield & Suzuki, 1998)
Thus, although foreign-born mothers may have scored low in these items,
this should not be taken to mean that foreign-born mothers do not get as
stressed as their U.S.-born counterparts. It is plausible that the two groups
experience different stressors, and the source of their parenting stress (e.g.,
acculturative stress) may not have been captured by the measure.
The results also showed that parenting stress did not interact with
maternal nativity in predicting P-C conflict. This finding implies that par-
enting stress may be a universal experience (Crnic & Low, 2002) regard-
less of nativity or other sociodemographic categorization. Parenting stress
arises from the constant need to balance parenting demands (e.g., provid-
ing children’s basic needs and monitoring and disciplining children) and
the resources to meet these demands (e.g. social support, socioeconomic
status, or neighborhood conditions) (Deater-Deckard, 2004). As all the
mothers in the current study were from the low socioeconomic stratum,
it is also plausible that, as a group, the stress brought about by financial

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difficulties was more pronounced, overshadowing the probable challenges
caused by migration or other potential sources of stress associated with
immigration. Our findings also highlight previous work showing how eco-
nomic disadvantage and financial strain pose risks to child development via
parental stress (McLoyd, 1998).
Child Behavioral Problems

The findings evinced different patterns of relationship between child behav-
ioral problems and P-C conflict for the U.S.-born and the foreign-born
mothers. Results showed that, for the U.S.-born group, the more behav-
ioral problems children had, the higher was P-C conflict. In contrast, child
behavioral problems were not related to P-C conflict for the foreign-born
group. This supports previous assertions that differences exist in parenting
practices and family dynamics between different cultural groups (Gelatt
et al., 2015). Cultural differences in parenting cognition and practices may
help explain this finding.
Among many ethnic minority groups in the United States, parental
authority is emphasized such that demonstration of disrespect and trou-
blesome behaviors is not tolerated (García, Meyer, & Brillon, 1995). For
example, a deeply rooted value for Latino populations, which consisted of
the majority of the foreign-born group in our sample, is respeto, which is
the maintenance of harmonious relationship through respect for self and
others. This value permeates Latino parenting practices in that early on
children are taught verbal and nonverbal rules of respect (e.g., politely
greeting elders, not interrupting adult conversations, and not challenging
an elder’s viewpoint) (Cardona, Nicholson, & Fox, 2000; Halgunseth,
Ispa, & Rudy, 2006). In Latino cultures, this idea of respect also extends to
authority figures within and outside of the family (Halgunseth et al., 2006).
Children displaying behavioral issues may sometimes imply disrespect
for authority, and ethnic minority parents may employ strategies to deal
with children’s misbehaviors, or even proactively prevent the emergence of
some of the behavioral problems, adhering to their high regard for respeto.
In the current study, teachers actually reported fewer behavioral problems
for children with foreign-born mothers than those with U.S.-born mothers.
Teachers are often considered as authority figures that need to be respected
in many collectivistic cultures, and the lower scores among children of
foreign-born mothers may reflect parents’ efforts to socialize children to
respect the teachers and not misbehave in front of the teachers.
In terms of parenting cognition, parents’ expectation and percep-
tion of desirable and undesirable behaviors may vary across cultures

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because parental beliefs regarding children’s development are situated in
cultural contexts (Harkness & Super, 1996). Such parental beliefs further
shape the choices that parents make in response to children’s behaviors
(Harkness et al., 2010). Immigrant parents may perceive some behaviors
as acceptable or even desirable, whereas they are not acceptable or even
discouraged in the United States, and vice versa. Preschool teachers’
evaluations of children’s behaviors are often based on their own cultural
experiences and their experiences in teacher preparation programs that
are also rooted in the dominant culture. In this study, most of the teach-
ers were born in the United States, and their perceptions of children’s
misbehaviors might align with the perceptions of U.S.-born parents as
they share similar cultural experiences. However, preschool teachers’
evaluations of children’s behavioral problems might be inconsistent with
immigrant parents’ evaluations because they might have different cul-
tural beliefs regarding what behaviors should have been considered as
problematic.
As indicated by the transaction model of development (Sameroff &
Chandler, 1975), children’s characteristics and behaviors can evoke par-
ents’ certain responses and practices. For instance, if parents perceive cer-
tain behaviors as problematic, they may act upon those behaviors, and their
action may provoke unpleasant interactions with their children, which will
in turn lead to more P-C conflict. We suspect that U.S.-born parents’ per-
ceptions of behavioral problems might be more consistent with teachers’
evaluations than are the perceptions of foreign-born parents. Thus, foreign-
born parents might not respond to the kind of behaviors that are seen as
problematic in the dominant culture as often as U.S.-born parents, and, as a
result, the conflict that foreign-born parents experience with their children
may be evoked by different kinds of problematic behaviors that were not
captured by the measure.
Conclusions and Implications

The results of this study underscore both the differences and the similari-
ties in P-C conflict among U.S.-born mothers and foreign-born mothers.
The similarity in the effect of parenting stress on P-C conflict between the
two groups can be explained by the potentially common stressful experi-
ences caused by adverse economic conditions that place a family at risk.
The developmental niche framework elucidates the difference in the nature
of the relation of child behavioral problems and P-C conflict between U.S.-
born mothers and foreign-born mothers (Super & Harness, 1986). This
draws attention to how the mothers’ respective cultures permeate their

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parenting beliefs, practices, and the ways they interact with their children.
The outcome of this study reveals another aspect of parenting that further
illustrates the distinct experiences of immigrant and nonimmigrant moth-
ers in the United States. Because parenting is embedded in socioecologi-
cal contexts, different configurations of P-C interaction may be expected.
Given the foregoing, it is essential for educators, policy makers, and child-
care providers to address these differences appropriately and to consider
the role of culture or place of origin in examining parental behaviors and
child outcomes.
An increasing number of people are migrating to the United States
today, and these immigrant families often face many challenges in life
(e.g., financial disadvantage and racial discrimination), which may
undermine parents’ capacities to parent and eventually put children’s
development at risk. Accumulated knowledge of parenting, and child
development based on research on European–American families, may
not be applicable to immigrant families because parenting is a cultural
practice (Super & Harkness, 1986). Thus, it is important to examine how
family functioning may be different or similar between newly immigrated
families and nonimmigrant families. The current study showed that the
relations between parenting stress and P-C conflict were similar between
U.S.-born and foreign-born families, which suggests that existing interven-
tion programs designed to advance child outcomes via alleviating stress
that parents experience regarding parenting may also be applied to parents
from a different cultural background. Some existing intervention programs
have produced positive changes in parenting and child outcomes eventu-
ally (e.g., the Getting Ready Intervention [Sheridan, Knoche, Edwards,
Bovaird, & Kupzyk, 2010] and the Triple P–Positive Parenting Program
[Sanders, 2012]). Such programs provide guidance and support for par-
ents, which may help reduce parenting stress and, in turn, result in lower
levels of P-C conflicts.
Interestingly, the relations between children’s behavioral problems
and P-C conflict were found to differ between the U.S.-born group and
the foreign-born group. This finding suggested that foreign-born mothers
might have different perceptions of, beliefs about, and responses to their
children’s behaviors compared to U.S.-born parents and preschool teachers.
Thus, teachers and practitioners (e.g., school psychologists and interven-
tion developers) need to communicate with immigrant parents regarding
their definition of behavior problems and the ways they cope with them.
Interventions targeted at children’s behavioral problems also need to con-
sider the families’ cultural background, as well as parents’ beliefs and prac-
tices regarding children’s behavioral problems.

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Strengths, Limitations, and Directions for Future Research
This study contributes to the literature on P-C conflict in important ways.
First, several predictors were analyzed simultaneously to determine how
they might collectively influence P-C conflict in early childhood. The
current findings also extended conclusions of past research on parenting
stress to parents from ethnic minority groups and low-income populations.
The inclusion of foreign-born mothers in the sample addressed the lack of
empirical information on the increasing immigrant and foreign-born popu-
lation in the United States. More specifically, as the bulk of the existing lit-
erature has focused on parenting behaviors and child outcomes, this study
adds to the lesser-studied concept of parenting as an outcome (Gelatt et al.,
2015). Another strength of this study was the reporting of child behavioral
problems from teachers who used objective evaluation tools. Having an
additional informant, aside from the mothers, helped reduce biases had all
the data come from a single source (Lansford et al., 2012).
Also, several limitations should be noted in this study. First, the level
of P-C conflict was measured with only parents’ self-reports and could
be susceptible to social desirability and other biases. Parents might have
underreported the level of P-C conflict, given that conflictual relationships
are undesirable and could invite negative judgment of the mother’s ability
to parent the child properly. Another caveat of this study was the consider-
ation of parental nativity in the study, not taking into account the foreign-
born mothers’ length of stay in the United States. The length of stay may
be related to parents’ levels of acculturation, which may further affect their
parenting beliefs and practices (Gelatt et al., 2015), such as their percep-
tions of child behaviors and the way they respond to children’s behavioral
issues. Thus, future research is needed to examine how parents’ length of
stay in the United States may affect the function of child behavioral prob-
lems on P-C conflict among immigrant families. In addition, we examined
only the role of mothers’ birthplace in the study and did not collect data on
children and other family members’ birthplaces. In addition to the mothers,
other family members might have also served as important caregivers to
the children. Thus, considering the child’s other caregivers’ demographic
information may offer a more complete picture of the cultural context at
home in which the child lives.
Additionally, the results spoke only to correlation rather than causality
because the data were cross-sectional. Given that all the measures were
completed within a similar time frame, the direction of the relations among
the variables could be interpreted differently in that P-C conflict predicts
parenting stress and child behavioral problems. Lastly, other parenting

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and sociocultural factors, such as marital satisfaction or access to social
support, might have influenced the variables under study. Overall, it must
be noted that the results of this study may not be applicable to all low-
income families. As mentioned, the sample was recruited as participants of
Educare. As such, participants of Educare are provided with high-quality
teaching and child care and better parent–school partnership. This kind of
specialized assistance is not commonly received by low-income families
in general.
Given that P-C interaction evolves over time, future research with a
longitudinal design will help provide a more comprehensive understanding
of the nature of P-C conflict and how it is affected by the changing lev-
els of stress and child behavioral problems within a family. A longitudinal
design will also entail temporal precedence that can help establish causal-
ity in the relations among the variables. In addition, with fathers increas-
ingly becoming involved in childrearing, future research should include
fathers as another source of information. It is also plausible that fathers will
have distinct experiences from the mothers with regard to parenting stress
and P-C conflict. As the current study examined aggregate child behavior
problems, future studies should test the potentially unique effects of inter-
nalizing and externalizing behaviors as predictors of P-C conflict. Lastly,
although this study included foreign-born mothers belonging to ethnic
minority groups, the majority of them were from Latin America, particu-
larly Mexico. As U.S. racial diversity in the continues to grow, it is impor-
tant that research investigations reflect this population in their sample. As
the socioeconomic status of families significantly varies by place of birth
(Gelatt et al., 2015), it is also important to consider the country of origin as
a predictor of P-C conflict.
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Influence of Child Behavioral Problems and Parenting Stress on Parent–Child Conflict

Among Low-Income Families: The Moderating Role of Maternal Nativity

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Influence of Child Behavioral Problems and

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Relations Among Parent–Child Conflict, Parenting Stress, and

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The Present Study

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Demographic U.S. born Foreign born Whole sample

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Demographic U.S. born Foreign born Whole sample

parents to sign an informed consent to participate in the ongoing evaluation

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U.S. born Foreign born Whole sample

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specification should be based primarily on theoretical considerations. We

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Table 5. Regression coefficients, standard error estimates, and probability (p)

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Child Behavioral Problems

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Conclusions and Implications

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