The Role of Parenting Dimensions and Child-Parent Relationship in Children's Internalized and Externalized Behavioral Problems

This research was aimed to predict and investigate the relationship between parenting dimensions and child-parent relationship with internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems; and designed with descriptive-correlative method. The statistical population included 413 single-child and multi-childe elementary school students in Yazd (141 single-child, 121 two-child, 101 three-child, 50 four-child and more) with their parents, who were selected by multistage random cluster sampling. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Alabama Parenting Dimensions Questionnaire (APQ), Parent ÜChild Relationship Scale (PCRS) and also a researcher-made form for demography information, were used for data collecting. Results of a stepwise linear regression showed that among parenting skills, dimensions of “poor control”, and “physical punishment” were better predictors for internalized behavioral problems, and dimensions of “participation” and “physical punishment” were better predictors for externalized behavioral problems in children. Among subscales of PCRS, the “dependence” in boys and the “conflict” in girls were better predictors for internalizing problems, and the subscale of “conflict” in both boys and girls was a better predictor for externalizing problems.