Despite increasing interest in the effects of parenting stress on children and families, many questions remain regarding the nature of parenting stress and the mechanism through which stress exerts its influence across time. In this study, cumulative parenting stress was assessed across the preschool period in a sample of 125 typically developing children and their mothers. Indices of parenting stress included both major life events stressassessed annually from age 3 to 5, and parenting daily hassles assessed every 6 months across the same period. Naturalistic home observations were conducted when children were age 5, during which measures of parent and child interactive behaviour as well as dyadic pleasure and dyadic conflict were obtained. Mothers also completed the CBCL to assess children's behaviour problems. Results indicated that parenting daily hassles and major life stress are relatively stable across the preschool period. Both cumulative stress indices also proved to be important predictors of parent and child behaviour and dyadic interaction, although the predictions were somewhat differential. Despite meaningful relations between the stress factors and child well being, no evidence was found to support the premise that parent behaviour mediates the association between parenting stress and child outcomes. Results are discussed within a developmental framework to understand the stability and complexity of cumulative stress associations to early parent-child relationships.

SYNOPSISObjective. We investigated the role of mothers' elevated depressive symptoms on scaffolding and availability to assist preschool children's regulatory development. Design. A sample of 208 3-year-olds and their mothers was drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study and followed to child age 4. Maternal scaffolding behaviors and children's emotion regulation competencies were assessed using behavioral coding schemes applied to observations of structured laboratory tasks, and maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems were based on parental reports. Results. Mothers who reported depressive symptoms above an established threshold at child age 3 had children who exhibited greater dysregulation and behavior problems at age 4. Depressed mothers were less effective at providing emotional, motivational, and technical scaffolding. Mothers who scaffolded less effectively, regardless of depression status, had children who were more emotionally dysregulated with more behavior problems by age 4. Scaffolding did not mediate maternal depression and child dysregulation. Conclusions. Maternal depression constitutes a risk factor for ineffective scaffolding, and scaffolding during the preschool period is related to children's emotional and behavioral competence.

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New research reveals that PMADs apply to not only mothers, but that fathers can also experience perinatal depression and anxiety. When untreated in a primary caregiver, PMADs adversely affect parental cognitions and beliefs, attachment to the infant, and the growing caregiver-infant relationship. PMADs affect early developmental outcomes of infants including neurosynaptic development, regulatory development, and developmental milestones. Early identification and treatment for PMADs are critical to ensure optimal infant development. Standardized and routine screening for PMADs, especially in the first 6 months postpartum, and cross-disciplinary communication among medical providers afford the best opportunity for early identification and treatment.