Parental stress and indifference and the parent's withdrawal from the relationship with their child: a structural approach. / Stres rodzicielski, obojetnosc i wycofywanie sie rodzica z relacji z dzieckiem: ujecie strukturalne.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to test the theoretical model assuming that parental indifference arises as a result of the parent experiencing stress in the relationship with their child. Therefore, we tested the model describing the relations among the variables of: (a) parent's experience of stress in the relationship with their child, (b) formation of a negative mental representation of the child in the parent's mind, (c) indifference toward the child, and (d) withdrawal of the parent from the relationship with their child. Subsequently, it was tested whether parental indifference was related to the development of emotional and social competences, as well as school readiness of children. METHODS: The first study was carried out on a sample of 154 parents of preschool-age children (3 to 6 years old). The sample included 85 parents of boys and 69 parents of girls. The second study was conducted on 80 children between 6 and 10 years of age who were attending school and on their parents. Analyses were performed using the system of structural equations, data mining algorithms and the artificial neural network. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that the model fits the data accurately and the relations between the variables ranged from moderate to high. Parents with the highest level of withdrawal from the relationship with their child and of indifference were characterized primarily by negative mental representation of their child. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the variables described in the model, it is possible to predict at a good level the degree of parental withdrawal from the relationship with their child. Parental indifference is associated with the child's lower performance in the development of emotional and social competences, as well as school readiness.

The child's "difficult" temperament and its relation with parental stress in groups of parents bringing up boys and girls. / "Trudny" temperament dziecka i jego zwiazek ze stresem rodzicielskim w grupach rodziców wychowujacych chlopców i dziewczynki.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the research was to verify whether a child's "difficult" temperamental traits: low flexibility, low perseverance, low good mood and high bad mood are related to parental discrepancy (defined as the distance between parental goals, i.e. the features that parents want to shape in the child and the level of child development in terms of the shaped features) and the difficulties parents experience in their relationship with child (parental stress). METHODS: The study hypothesized that the child's "difficult" temperamental traits are related to parenting discrepancies and the experienced parental stress. The study involved 319 parents of children aged 3-6 years old (144 girls and 175 boys). A Generalized k-Means Cluser Analysis conducted by data mining algorithms was used for the analysis. RESULTS: The study revealed, that: (a) higher parental stress is related to the negative mood of the children and the higher temperamental flexibility, (b) the lower parental stress is related to the higher positive mood in children. This relation occurs both in the group of parents raising boys and girls. CONCLUSIONS: Parental stress is associated with the temperamental feature of mood. The lower the positive mood of the child, the more the parent experiences stress in relationship with their child.