into parent–child relationships (Collins, 2019; Escalante, 2019; Haines, Marchand, & Harvey, 2006; Bianchi & Milkie, 2010). Another source of chronic parental stress within ethnic-minority, immigrant families, generational dissonance, results from differential rates of immigrant acculturation as the younger generation accepts the new culture more rapidly than parents (Berry, Phinney, David, Sam, & Vedder, 2005; Birman & Poff, 2011; Gonzales, Fabrett, & Knight, 2009). Difficulties often arise when new cultural changes practiced by the younger generation cause parents to view their youth as betraying their culture of origin. The resulting increases in acculturative stress and parent–adolescent conflict may lead to greater distance between the generations (Berry et al., 2005, Birman, & Poff, 2011). Moreover, both persistent family poverty and prolonged marital conflict also can function as chronic stressors that can increase parental stress, spill over into the parent–child relationship and have detrimental consequences for the psychosocial outcomes of children and youth (Buehler, Benson, & Gerard, 2006; Finegood et al., 2017; Gerard et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2017; Santiago et al., 2012; Scarmella et al., 2008).
Chronic Stressors: Child Effects
Another source of chronic stress, specific child characteristics, often contribute to parental stress when the shock of the initial recognition of a child’s characteristic subsides and realities set in about the long-term challenges. Often referred to as the child effects perspective, this source of parental stress results from the impact of children’s health, physical handicaps, and well-being on the socioemotional lives of parents (Ambert, 1997; Bush & Peterson, 2013; Neece et al., 2012; Rich, 2017). Having children who have congenital birth defects, physical discrepancies, long-term illnesses, problematic behavior patterns (e.g., aggressiveness and disruptive behavior), socioemotional problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and schizophrenia, can create stressful circumstances for parents over the long term (Ambert, 1997; Beernink, Swinkels, Van der Gaag, & Buitelaar, 2012; Deater-Deckard, 2004; Hastings, 2002; Silva & Schalock, 2012, Vernhet et al., 2019). These accumulating conditions can result from treatment costs, social stigma, demanding supervision requirements, and constant demands for care even during the parents’ later years of life. These difficult circumstances create considerable potential for parents to experience stress, anger, embarrassment, guilt, despair, and a diminished sense of parental efficacy (Ambert, 1997, 1999; Caldwell et al., 2007).
Parents’ Recovery Factors: Resources, Coping, and Adaptation: Factor B
The level of disruptive change within parent–child relationships, the psychological experience of parents, and the length of stress or crisis may partially be determined by Factor B’s recovery factors referred to as parental resources, coping, and adaptation. Resources are the potential strengths of parents that may be drawn upon as the possible basis for progress toward renewal. In contrast, coping involves actually taking direct actions (e.g., acquiring resources, learning new skills, and asking for assistance), altering one’s interpretations (e.g., reframing circumstances), and managing one’s emotions (e.g., positively through social support or negatively through substance abuse). Finally, adaptation or resilience refers to the ability of parents and other family members to recover from stress and crisis and establish a new level of functioning (Henry et al., 2015; Hill, 1949).
Parental Resources
The first aspect of the B factor, parental resources, identifies potential factors that may contribute to pressures for change and foster distress as well as potential sources of recovery (Allen, 2017; Boss, 2002; Hennon et al., 2009; Hennon et al., 2007; Patterson, 2002). Positive resources are the traits, qualities, characteristics, and abilities of parents, parent–child relationships, family systems, and the larger social context that can possibly be brought to bear on the demands of stressors. These characteristics of individuals or the social context have potential or latent capacity to buffer stress by decreasing the negative effects of stressors. Resources also includes negative resources, or the potential or latent vulnerabilities of parents and parent–child relationships to stressors and crisis events. Negative resources at individual and relationship levels have the possibility of accentuating stress by increasing the adverse effects of stressors (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983; Patterson, 2002).
A distinguishing characteristic of resources (both positive and negative) is their potential rather than actual nature (Hennon et al., 2007; McCubbin & Patterson, 1983; Patterson, 2002). This means that parents, with seemingly equivalent resources, often vary in the extent to which they can put these reserves into action within the parent–child relationship. Variability in accessing resources underscores the idea that resources are only capacities that may or may not be put into action by parents (Henry et al., 2015). Resources are often classified based on their origins as within the person, within the familial environment, or other social contexts.
Personal Resources of Parents
The individual or personal resources of parents include economic well-being, knowledge (e.g., of child development), interpersonal skills, physical health, mental health and psychopathology (e.g., depression). Illustrative of individual resources are psychological and emotional qualities that are components of parents’ competence or incompetence as socializers and caregivers for children. Parental competence, a complex array of individual resources (among other resources), is composed of such qualities as psychological maturity, empathy, warmth, secure self-image, good mental health, parental self-efficacy, parental satisfaction, capacity to express affection, and ability to use firm, rational control with the young (Bush & Peterson, 2008, 2013; Katsikitis et al., 2013; Glatz & Trifan, 2019; Liu et al., 2012; Peterson & Bush, 2013, 2015). Such personal competencies function as potential resources that may empower parents to marshal their resources and manage stress.
The contrasting personal qualities, or negative and positive personal resources, shape the psychological experiences of parents. Adults who have psychological or emotional problems, such as extensive depression, anger, and anxiety, often are at risk for having these personal issues becoming evident within the parent–child relationship and increasing the vulnerability of parents for higher levels of parenting stress. Parents who are self-preoccupied, depressed, highly anxious, distant, hostile, or abusers of substances are less likely to dealing effectively with stressors or crisis events (Biondic, Wiener, Martinussen, 2019; Delvecchio, Di Riso, Chessa, Salcuni, Mazzeschi, & Laghezza, 2014; Gavazzi, 2011; Hanington, Heron, Stein, & Ramchandani, 2012; Johansson et al., 2017; Holden, 2015). Highly stressed parents also are less likely to demonstrate the patience, sensitivity, and responsiveness that is needed to raise children effectively (Bush & Peterson, 2008; Crnic et al., 2005; Deater-Deckard, 2004; Lee et al., 2018).
Familial and Social Resources
Parents also draw on resources and experience vulnerabilities that are situated both within the family system and the surrounding socioecological context (Hennon et al., 2009; Hennon & Peterson, 2007). For example, parental efficacy (or a sense of feeling competent as a parent) may be influenced by the quality of the neighborhoods that families live in or through expertise provided to them online or through social media (DeHoff et al., 2016). These contingent social environments can provide either the capacities for social support or dangerous circumstances (e.g., gang influences) that can diminish parental competence and increase parental stress (Henry et al., 2008; Ontai et al., 2008). The potential to acquire assistance or social support from social networks has been associated with a variety of positive mental health outcomes for parents, including lower psychological distress (McHale et al., 2002) and better capacities to deal with stressful events (DeHoff et al., 2016; Henry et al., 2008). Supportive partners, extended kin, friends, church members and neighbors can potentially assist parents to deal with stressors and crises by providing advice, emotional support, material assistance, and encouragement.
