PARENTAL SELF-ESTEEM AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN - SIMILARITIESBETWEEN MOTHERS AND FATHERS

The relationship between parental self-esteem and behavior problems in children was investigated using 1624 married couple's responses from the National Survey of Families and Households. The sample was weighte d to be nationally representative in terms of race and ethnicity. It w as hypothesized that the existence of behavior problems among children would be associated with low self-esteem among parents and that the p arent's gender, child's gender, parents' gender role attitudes, and pa rental employment would moderate this relationship. The results indica ted that parental self-esteem is negatively associated with behavior p roblems in children. However, none of the moderating variables had a s ignificant impact. This suggests that the relationship between parenta l self-esteem and behavior problems among children is robust and does not vary appreciably with the gender of the parent, the gender of the child, the attitudes of the parent, or the employment of the parent.