Positive Impacts of Children’s Self-Regulation Abilities
Akpolat, R., Palermo, F., & Killoren, S. E. (2025). Parenting stress, family conflict, and children’s behavior problems: The protective role of self-regulation. Developmental Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002088
Children with higher self-regulation abilities were found to be less impacted by parental stress that led to family conflict. As self-regulation abilities increased in children, their internalizing and externalizing behaviors subsequently decreased - to the point of being nonsignificant. Previous research had shown that maternal parenting stress is directly tied to children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
This study analyzed data from 2,977 mothers, ages 14 to 40, and their children. They were from 17 Early Head Start programs throughout the United States and most participants received public assistance or welfare support. Data were gathered at four time points: when children were 14 months, 36 months, before entering kindergarten, and during fifth grade. Data were gathered from maternal reports on parenting stress, family conflict, and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Home observations were also utilized to observe children’s self-regulation abilities.
In addition to the major finding, this research also revealed that higher maternal parenting stress was associated with an increase in children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors, with no variation in impact dependent upon self-regulation skills. It was also found that the pattern of association between parental stress, family conflict, and children’s behaviors did not alter in accordance with gender or ethnoracial group. These results offer substantial value to the field by demonstrating the influence of parental stress on family conflict. Additionally, this work develops an understanding of the factors that help to mitigate the negative impact of family conflict on children.
Children benefit greatly from self-regulation abilities. A lack of such skills can lead to more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. These behavior problems are associated with family conflict and parental stress. Childhood socioemotional challenges, including internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, are connected to negative outcomes in adolescence and adulthood, including mental health problems, low academic achievement, relationship challenges, criminal behavior, and substance use. Teaching self-regulation skills in early childhood allows children to mitigate the influence of parenting stress and family conflict, therefore decreasing the chance of facing negative outcomes in adolescence and adulthood.