Relationship between parenting stress and behavioral and emotional problems in preschool children: A mediation effect analysis

Table 1 General information of preschool children, n (%)

General Information	Classification	Number and composition ratio
Gender	Male	133 (51.55)
	Female	125 (48.45)
Age (years)	5	132 (51.16)
	6	126 (48.84)
Only child	Is	65 (25.19)
	No	193 (74.81)
Premature birth	Is	37 (14.34)
	No	221 (85.66)
Birth weight (g)	≥ 2500	218 (84.50)
	< 2500	40 (15.50)
Primary caregiver	Parents	139 (53.88)
	Grandparents	74 (28.68)
	Other	45 (17.44)
Father age (years old)	≤ 30	167 (64.73)
	30-40	69 (26.74)
	> 40	22 (8.53)
Father's level of education	High school and the following	62 (24.03)
	Specialized subject	108 (41.86)
	Bachelor's degree or above	88 (34.11)
Mother's age (years)	≤ 30	180 (69.77)
	30-40	62 (24.03)
	> 40	16 (6.20)
Cultural degree of mother	High school and the following	56 (21.71)
	Specialty	123 (47.67)
	Bachelor's degree or above	79 (30.62)
Family per capita income (yuan)	6000 or less	55 (21.32)
	6000-8000	116 (44.96)
	> 8000	87 (33.72)
Outdoor activities of time every day (hour)	≤ 1	61 (23.64)
	1-3	154 (59.69)
	> 3	43 (16.67)
Number of interest classes attended per week (times)	0	43 (16.67)
	1-3	166 (64.34)
	> 3	49 (18.99)
Sleep time (hour/day)	> 8	176 (68.22)
	≤ 8	82 (31.78)

Table 2 Parental stress, family upbringing and preschool children's behavior problems scores (points)

Project	Total score range, points	Score (mean ± SD)	Divide entries (mean ± SD)
PSI-SF, total score	36 to 180	87.64 ± 11.34	2.43 ± 0.32
Parenting and sorrow	12-60	33.37 ± 4.75	2.78 ± 0.40
Dysfunctional parent-child interaction	12-60	27.54 ± 3.88	2.30 ± 0.32
Difficult children	12-60	26.73 ± 3.62	2.23 ± 0.30
PBI company total score	0-69	31.54 ± 5.24	1.37 ± 0.23
Support/involvement	0-33	14.12 ± 2.38	1.28 ± 0.22
Hostility/mandatory	0 to 36	17.42 ± 3.36	1.45 ± 0.28
SDQ total score	0-50	27.54 ± 3.63	1.10 ± 0.15
Prosocial behavior	0-10	4.22 ± 0.17	0.84 ± 0.03
Externalizing behavior	0-20	10.56 ± 1.14	1.06 ± 0.11
Internalizing behavior	0-20	12.76 ± 1.58	1.28 ± 0.16

PSI-SF: Parenting stress index-short form; SDQ: Strength and difficulty questionnaire; PBI: Parental bonding instrument.

Table 3 Parental pressure, family upbringing and preschool children's behavior correlation analysis of emotional problems

Variable	PSI-SF, total score	Parenting and sorrow	Parent-child interaction disorder	Difficult children	SDQ total score	Prosocial behavior	Externalizing behaviors	Internalizing behavior	PBI total score	Supporting/participation
Parenting and sorrow	0.563b	1
Dysfunctional parent-child interactions	0.774b	0.524b	1
Difficult children	0.602b	0.541b	0.527b	1
SDQ total score	0.906b	0.637b	0.528b	0.742b	1
Prosocial behavior	0.754b	0.171a	0.207a	0.203a	0.545b	1
Externalizing behaviors	0.554b	0.587b	0.214a	0.525b	0.674b	0.555b	1
Internalizing behavior	0.635b	0.468b	0.562b	0.457b	0.454b	0.602b	0.571b	1
PBI company total score	0.897b	0.524b	0.567b	0.788b	0.842a	0.707b	0.813b	0.604b	1
Support/involvement	0.826b	0.197a	0.557b	0.126a	0.527b	0.204a	0.211a	0.367b	0.574b	1
Hostility/mandatory	0.578b	0.561b	0.587b	0.573b	0.617b	0.531b	0.226a	0.362b	0.603b	0.564b

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

PSI-SF: Parenting stress index-short form; SDQ: Strength and difficulty questionnaire; PBI: Parental bonding instrument.

Table 4 Adaptation degree index of structural equation modeling

Evaluation metrics	χ2 degree of freedom ratio	Value-added fitness index	The adaptation index	Compare adaptation index	Good eligibility adaptation index	Relative adaptation index	Adjusted adaptation degree index	The square root of the approximation error
Evaluation standard	< 3.000	> 0.900	> 0.900	> 0.900	> 0.900	> 0.900	> 0.900	< 0.080
Simulation results	1.527	0.938	0.964	0.927	0.918	0.906	0.914	0.032

Table 5 The path coefficient

Affect the path	SE	Standardized effect value	Proportion of mediating effects	P value	95%CI
Parental pressure to parents' family upbringing	0.27	0.56	-	< 0.002	0.32-1.51
Parental stress - children's behavior problems	0.36	0.61	-	< 0.013	0.85-2.27
Parents' family education to children's emotional problems	0.21	0.47	-	< 0.001	0.24-1.47
Parental stress → parental family rearing → children's behavioral and emotional problems	0.11	0.26	29.89%	< 0.026	0.14-0.50