Title

Alcohol, Child Maltreatment, and Parenting Stress in the Lives of Birth Mothers

Publication Date

9-22-2008

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the potential relationship between parenting stress, child maltreatment, and alcoholism in a pilot data set. Twenty-four participants (six African-American, six European-American, six Mexican-American, and six Native-American) completed four questionnaires (Parenting Stress Index, Conflict Tactics Scale Parent-Child, Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, Chemical Dependency Assessment Profile [PSI, CTSPC, MAST, and CDAP]). Through principle component analyses and multiple regression analyses, it was suggested that self-perceived parenting strength or competence directly affect a parent's tactics to deal with parent-child conflicts. Results indicated that self-confidence as a competent parent was related to the frequency of using verbal degrading and physical punishment. Parents who reported that the child's temperament bothers them a lot were more likely to physically abuse the child. Though all the participants could be categorized as alcoholic by the MAST, parents' alcoholic abuse did not appear to elevate the severity of child maltreatment, as measured by the CTSPC.

Publication Title

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Volume

18

Issue

2

First Page

129

Last Page

150

DOI

10.1080/10911350802285862

Publisher Policy

pre-print, post-print

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