Research Symposium

BIO

Kaitlyn Goslinga is majoring in Biological Science on a Pre-Physician Assistant path. She is a first-year student at Florida State University from Gainesville, Florida who is currently working with Dr. Longfeng Li on the Parent-Child Interactions and Well-Being in Daily Life project as a research assistant. Additionally, she was on the President's List for the 2025 fall semester. Her interests lie within the fields of medicine and healthcare, and she hopes to one day work in pediatrics. Working on Dr. Longfeng Li's project has given her greater insight into the field of family sciences, which will be valuable when planning a career focused on children. She plans to apply to Physician Assistant school and pursue a career in healthcare after college.

Momentary Effects of Parental Stress on Parenting and Children’s Self-Regulation

Abstract

Parental stress plays a critical role in shaping parenting behaviors and children’s self-regulation. However, most prior studies have relied on cross-sectional designs and overlooked how everyday, temporary stressors influence parents and children, particularly within higher-risk families. To address this gap and inform prevention efforts, we examined how temporary fluctuations in parental stress shaped parents’ immediate interactions with their preschool-aged children and children’s momentary self-regulation. This work aims to support the development of targeted, evidence-based interventions to buffer families from the adverse consequences of daily stress. We hypothesized that greater parental stress would be negatively associated with parenting behaviors and children’s self-regulation. Participants were 15 mother-child dyads from higher-risk families in Florida with children aged 2.5 to 3.5 years. Mothers completed an initial survey, followed by brief ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys three times daily (morning, afternoon, evening) for 21 days. EMA surveys assessed parental stress, parenting behaviors (i.e., how well they were getting along with their child), and children’s self-regulation of emotion, behavior, and attention. Multilevel models revealed negative within-dyad associations between parental stress and both parenting behaviors and children’s self-regulation (ps < .05). At moments when parents experienced higher-than-usual stress, they were less likely to report getting along well with their child and more likely to report difficulties in their child’s self-regulation. These findings highlight the dynamic, interrelated nature of parental stress, parenting behaviors, and children’s self-regulation in daily life, suggesting that family-system approaches designed to buffer families from everyday stress may be especially beneficial for higher-risk families.

Keywords: Stress in Children and Self-regulation