effects of stressors. Resources also includes negative resources, or the potential or latent vulnerabilities of parents and parent–child relationships to stressors and crisis events. Negative resources at individual and relationship levels have the possibility of accentuating stress by increasing the adverse effects of stressors (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983; Patterson, 2002).
A distinguishing characteristic of resources (both positive and negative) is their potential rather than actual nature (Hennon et al., 2007; McCubbin & Patterson, 1983; Patterson, 2002). This means that parents, with seemingly equivalent resources, often vary in the extent to which they can put these reserves into action within the parent–child relationship. Variability in accessing resources underscores the idea that resources are only capacities that may or may not be put into action by parents (Henry et al., 2015). Resources are often classified based on their origins as within the person, within the familial environment, or other social contexts.
Personal Resources of Parents
The individual or personal resources of parents include economic well-being, knowledge (e.g., of child development), interpersonal skills, physical health, mental health and psychopathology (e.g., depression). Illustrative of individual resources are psychological and emotional qualities that are components of parents’ competence or incompetence as socializers and caregivers for children. Parental competence, a complex array of individual resources (among other resources), is composed of such qualities as psychological maturity, empathy, warmth, secure self-image, good mental health, parental self-efficacy, parental satisfaction, capacity to express affection, and ability to use firm, rational control with the young (Bush & Peterson, 2008, 2013; Katsikitis et al., 2013; Glatz & Trifan, 2019; Liu et al., 2012; Peterson & Bush, 2013, 2015). Such personal competencies function as potential resources that may empower parents to marshal their resources and manage stress.
The contrasting personal qualities, or negative and positive personal resources, shape the psychological experiences of parents. Adults who have psychological or emotional problems, such as extensive depression, anger, and anxiety, often are at risk for having these personal issues becoming evident within the parent–child relationship and increasing the vulnerability of parents for higher levels of parenting stress. Parents who are self-preoccupied, depressed, highly anxious, distant, hostile, or abusers of substances are less likely to dealing effectively with stressors or crisis events (Biondic, Wiener, Martinussen, 2019; Delvecchio, Di Riso, Chessa, Salcuni, Mazzeschi, & Laghezza, 2014; Gavazzi, 2011; Hanington, Heron, Stein, & Ramchandani, 2012; Johansson et al., 2017; Holden, 2015). Highly stressed parents also are less likely to demonstrate the patience, sensitivity, and responsiveness that is needed to raise children effectively (Bush & Peterson, 2008; Crnic et al., 2005; Deater-Deckard, 2004; Lee et al., 2018).
Familial and Social Resources
Parents also draw on resources and experience vulnerabilities that are situated both within the family system and the surrounding socioecological context (Hennon et al., 2009; Hennon & Peterson, 2007). For example, parental efficacy (or a sense of feeling competent as a parent) may be influenced by the quality of the neighborhoods that families live in or through expertise provided to them online or through social media (DeHoff et al., 2016). These contingent social environments can provide either the capacities for social support or dangerous circumstances (e.g., gang influences) that can diminish parental competence and increase parental stress (Henry et al., 2008; Ontai et al., 2008). The potential to acquire assistance or social support from social networks has been associated with a variety of positive mental health outcomes for parents, including lower psychological distress (McHale et al., 2002) and better capacities to deal with stressful events (DeHoff et al., 2016; Henry et al., 2008). Supportive partners, extended kin, friends, church members and neighbors can potentially assist parents to deal with stressors and crises by providing advice, emotional support, material assistance, and encouragement. Potential for this kind of assistance causes parents to believe they have someone to turn to when stressors arise, which, in turn, fosters feelings of security and being valued (Hennon et al., 2007).
Scholars differ in the types of social support they identify, but most distinguish between capacities to communicate caring or emotional support and concrete assistance that helps parents’ to deal with tasks and responsibilities or instrumental support (Hennon et al., 2009; Hennon et al., 2008). Although conceptualized as separate phenomena to clarify their meaning, emotional and instrumental support are not always mutually exclusive. The two types of support often do overlap, as demonstrated when Tiffany’s aunt quickly cancels her cherished plans to play golf with her friends to assist Tiffany and her children. Her niece needs her help to babysit Pamela and Joey due to emergency circumstances at her workplace that require her presence. The child care that Tiffany’s aunt provides is instrumental support, while her selfless actions to postpone her golf plans on short notice also provides emotional support to her niece.
The parents’ marital relationship also is a critical, immediate aspect of social networks from which potential sources of support can increase or decrease the vulnerability of parents (Boss, 2002; Crnic et al., 2005; Crnic & Low, 2002; Gerard et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2017; Ontai et al., 2008). Scholars have frequently concluded that the role of potential social support beyond family boundaries is of secondary importance to the role of marital relationships. Research indicates that maternal stress is reduced when a spouse uses humor and listening skills to smooth over difficult moments that frustrate their partner (Lamb, 2013). In fact, the overall importance of husbands supporting their wives cannot be overstated because mothers continue to have more responsibility, more involvement, and experience greater parental stress from parenting (Crnic et al., 2005; Hennon et al., 2007; Lamb, 2013). Marriages characterized by a lack of shared housework and caregiving, low support from fathers, marital dissatisfaction, marital hostility, and high marital conflict function as negative resources that add to parental stress (Deater-Deckard et al., 2005; Gerard et al., 2008; Grych, Oxtoby, & Lynn, 2013; Lin et al., 2017).
Social support from outside the family also has the potential to ameliorate parental depression and increase coping abilities during times of stress (Hennon et al., 2008; Lamb, 2013). Support from outside family boundaries becomes especially important when parents do not have adult partners, the involvement of partners in caregiving is inadequate, or alternative significant others (e.g., older siblings) are not available (Ontai et al., 2008). Moreover, social support has the potential to affect the quality of parenting indirectly by enhancing, maintaining, or impairing the emotional well-being of mothers and fathers (Lamb, 2013). Support that reduces parental distress assists parents to be more nurturant and rational and to use more moderate forms of control, while avoiding harsh or rejecting forms of discipline (Crnic et al., 2005 Deater-Deckard, 2004).
Consistent with conceptions of resources and vulnerabilities, an important idea is that social networks are not always supportive but may function to increase parental stress. For example, Tiffany’s mother is good at providing instrumental support in emergencies (e.g., picking up the children, helping out with bills between paydays). In contrast, her mother was not in favor of Tiffany’s divorce and tended to agree with Tiffany’s ex-husband about issues within their co-parenting relationship. Tiffany can’t rely on her mother for emotional support on these issues and feels that her mother wants her to return to an unsupportive, ex-husband. Consequently, the relationship between Tiffany and her mother has become strained similar to the stress, conflict, frustration, and disappointment that families of unmarried teenage mothers experience sometimes with their own mothers (Devereux et al., 2009; Huang et al., 2014). The social support provided by parents and extended kin members may include judgmental and restrictive qualities that increase the stress of the new parent significantly. For teenage mothers, effective social support should involve providing assistance, while also continuing to foster autonomy that acknowledges the young parent’s viewpoints, accepts the teen’s feelings, and resists being too intrusive into the young person’s life (Devereux et al., 2009; Huang et al., 2014). Such an approach has the potential to reduce stress, provide assistance for the demands of parenting, and promotes the long-term psychosocial maturity of young parents.
Parental Coping