Factors Affecting Early School-Age Children's Subjective Happiness: Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model of Parental Variables

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study of cause-and-effect relationship, which used the 7th year data of the Panel Study on Korean Children, to investigate the effects of parenting stress, depression, and family interactions of the parents of early school-age children on children's subjective happiness. METHODS: The present study included data of 1419 pairs of parents who participated in the mother and father survey of the Panel Study on Korean Children. The effects of parenting stress, depression, and parental family interactions on children's subjective happiness were analyzed as actor and partner effects using path analysis. RESULTS: Parenting stress had an actor effect on depression; maternal parenting stress (β=−.21, p < .001) and depression (β=−.30, p < .001) had an actor effect on maternal family interaction; and paternal parenting stress (β=−.18, p < .001) and depression (β=−.17, p < .001) had a partner effect on maternal family interaction. Paternal parenting stress was found to have an actor effect on paternal family interaction (β=−.30, p < .001), and parental depression was found to have actor effect (β=−.23, p < .001) and maternal depression had a partner effect on paternal family interactions (β=−.22, p < .001). Children's subjective happiness was found to have a statistically significant relationship with maternal family interaction (β=.40, p < .001). CONCLUSION: The significance of the study is in its provision of basic data for adjusting parents' family interactions that are closely related to the growth and development of children by confirming the effect of parents' parenting stress, depression, and family interaction on children's subjective happiness.