Date of Award

Spring 2011

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Bonnie Nicholson

Committee Chair Department

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Eric Dahlen

Committee Member 2 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Michael Madson

Committee Member 3 Department

Psychology

Abstract

There is a link between parenting stress and negative child outcomes. Research has focused on a number of risk and protective factors that may influence parental practices and child behavior. Parental trauma has been identified as a risk factor for increased parental stress. Previous research has demonstrated a link between combat exposure and parenting stress in veterans of war. Hardiness, a personality variable that describes an individual's sense of commitment, control, and challenge in light of life stress, has been identified as a protective factor that buffers against the development of psychological symptoms in combat veterans. The current study assessed the relationship between combat- related PTSD symptomatology and parenting stress, as well as the moderating influence of hardiness in this relationship in a sample of 117 modern veterans. Results supported hypotheses predicting a positive relationship between PTSD symptomatology and parenting stress and a negative relationship between hardiness and parenting stress. Hardiness was not found to moderate the relationship between PTSD symptomatology and parenting stress.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS