Browsing by Author "Oksanen, Minna"

Aims: Externalizing problem behaviour is common among children which when left untreated can have far-reaching, negative consequences across the lifespan. Parenting has a significant effect on childhood and adolescent development, and one part of which parenting comprises is the parent’s cognitions concerning their parenthood, such as parenting self-efficacy explored in the current study. There has been some research into the associations between externalizing problem behaviour and parenting self-efficacy, but the existing literature contains multiple contradictions and limitations, such as the scarcity of longitudinal designs, research focusing mainly on clinical populations and the tendency to bypass fathers’ experiences. Earlier results on the associations between externalizing problem behaviour and parenting self-efficacy have also been conflicting. The current study explores the associations between externalizing problem behaviour and parenting self-efficacy between the ages 8 and 12. Methods: The used data was from the Finnish population based GLAKU cohort stud. Mothers and fathers of 226 children were asked to assess the children’s externalizing behaviour using the Child Behavior Checklist questionnaire and their sense of parenting self-efficacy using the Parenting Sense of Competence questionnaire when the children were aged 8 and 12. In addition, variables showing change in the assessments on externalizing behaviour and parenting self-efficacy were calculated. The associations between externalizing problem behaviour and parenting self-efficacy were analysed using linear and logistic regression analyses. Results and conclusions: Externalizing behaviour and parenting self-efficacy were significantly associated when the children were aged 8. Higher externalizing behaviour at age 8 was also significantly associated with lower parenting self-efficacy at age 12, and higher parenting self-efficacy at age 8 was significantly associated with lower externalizing behaviour at age 12. Parenting self-efficacy was not significantly associated with change in externalizing behaviour between ages 8 and 12, and higher externalizing behaviour was associated with declining paternal but not maternal parenting self-efficacy. The results of the current study point to a stable association between the two variables during the developmental period between middle childhood and early adolescence. The results also highlight a need to improve the way in which parenting self-efficacy is taken into account during interventions aimed at reducing externalizing problem behaviour among children.