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Abstract
The purposes of this study were to assess (a) the direct effects of parental stress and depression on parental warmth and sensitivity, support for autonomy, and support for learning and literacy; and (b) the mediational effect of parental self-efficacy between stress and depression and these behavioral constructs for parents of low-income with young children. Participants included 152 parent-child dyads taking part in the "Parent Engagement and Child Learning: Birth to Five" project; children were between 2 to 51 months of age. Measures included parent reports of stress, depression, and self-efficacy, and video-taped parent-child interactions. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to determine the factor structure of the Parent/Caregiver Involvement Scale (P/CIS) used to code parenting behavior. Results supported the proposed three factor model of warmth and sensitivity, support for autonomy, and support for learning and literacy. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the direct and mediational effects for a mediational model. Results indicated that parental stress had a direct effect on all parenting behavioral constructs and parental self-efficacy; however, depression was found to have no direct effect on parental self-efficacy or the parenting behavioral constructs. Additionally, no mediational relationship was found for parental self-efficacy.
