Type A behavior and parenting stress in mothers with young children

Bidirectional Relationships Between Parenting Stress and Child Coping Competence: Findings From the Pace Study

The present study was designed to evaluate the bidirectional relationships between parenting stress and child coping competence. Data from a diverse sample of 610 parents enrolled in the parenting our children to excellence program was used to evaluate whether parenting stress negatively contributes to affective, achievement, and social coping competence in preschoolers, as well as whether child coping competence predicts parenting stress; after accounting for child disruptive behavior. Results from cross-lagged panel analyses demonstrated a bidirectional relationship, such that parenting stress predicted later child coping competence and child coping competence predicted later parenting stress. Assessment of ethnicity differences indicated that child coping continues to have a long-term impact on parenting stress, regardless of parent ethnicity. The same relationship did not hold for earlier parenting stress on later child coping competence, however, indicating a bidirectional relationship for African American families, but not for their European American counterparts. The relationship between parenting stress and child coping competence is discussed with respect to their conceptual and clinical implications. Suggestions for parent training intervention and prevention programs are given.

Differential Correlates of Components of Type a Behaviour

Although early research linked Type A behaviour to coronary disease, recent findings have been equivocal. The inconsistencies may be attributable, to the traditional conceptualization of Type A as a unidimensional construct. Spence, Helmreich and Pred (1987) identified two Type A components, Achievement Strivings (AS) and Impatience-Irritability (II), and differentially related these to academic results and health problems, respectively. The present study extends the AS/II dichotomy to encompass a more comprehensive model of Type A components, including AS, II, anger, hostility and competitiveness. These components were differentially related to health problems, depression and academic results in a sample of 236 South African first-year psychology students. Specifically, AS was positively related to performance, negatively related to depression, and not related to ill health. II and anger predicted ill health, while anger was related to depression. The multivariate model of Type A components was thus partially supported. Results are discussed in terms of the literature.