Parenting Stress (Current Perspectives in Psychology)

"This book examines the cause and consequences of parenting distress, drawing on a wide array of findings in current empirical research. Kirby Deater-Deckard explores normal and pathological parenting stress, the influences of parents on their children as well as children on their parents and the effects of biological and environmental factors." "Beginning with an overview of theories of stress and coping. Deater-Deckard goes on to describe how parenting stress is linked with problems in adult and child health, including emotional and behavioral problems, developmental disorders, and illness. He considers how parental behaviors (e.g., warmth, harsh discipline) may account for the link between higher parenting stress and more severe problems in children's development. Stress factors outside the family - such as marital quality work roles, and community and cultural influences - are also, discussed. The book concludes with a useful review of coping strategies and interventions that have been demonstrated to alleviate parenting stress."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Self-Help. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.