Abstract
This study examined the role of fathers' depressive symptoms and lax and over-reactive discipline in children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in a community sample of 36 fathers and their children. Correlational analyses provided considerable support for the expected associations between the study variables. When a regression-based approach recommended by Baron and Kenny (J Personal Soc Psychol 51:1173-1182, 1986) was applied to the data in order to determine whether fathers' discipline mediated the association between their depressive symptoms and children's behavior problems, results indicated that fathers' lax discipline mediated the link between fathers' depressive symptoms and children's father-reported internalizing behaviors. In contrast, fathers' depressive symptoms and lax discipline were independent predictors of children's father- and mother-reported externalizing behaviors.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 181-189 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Adult Development |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2012 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Life-span and Life-course Studies