Although the association between parenting stress and child behavioral outcomes is well established (Deater-Deckard, Clin Psychol 5:314–332, 1998), longitudinal research examining the direction of these effects is limited. This study examined transactional associations between parenting stress and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors among 1209 low-income female caregivers (M_age = 34.51) with children in early childhood or early adolescence (i.e., either 2- to 5-years-olds or 9- to 15-year-olds at Time 1) across a 6 year time span using three time points. Parent-driven associations between parenting stress and child internalizing problems for the early childhood group were found. In the early adolescent group, transactional and child-driven associations were found between parenting stress and child externalizing problems, but only child-driven associations for internalizing problems. Thus, transactional associations were only supported for the early adolescent group. These findings suggest developmental differences in how parenting stress and child behavioral problems are linked among low-income families. Clinical implications are discussed.

尽管育儿压力和儿童行为结果之间的关联已经确立（Deater-Deckard, Clin Psychol 5:314–332, 1998），但检验这些影响方向的纵向研究是有限的。本研究调查了 1209 名低收入女性照顾者（M_年龄 = 34.51) 与儿童早期或青春期早期的儿童（即时间 1 的 2 至 5 岁或 9 至 15 岁的儿童）在 6 年的时间跨度中使用三个时间点。发现了幼儿组的养育压力与儿童内化问题之间由父母驱动的关联。在早期青少年组中，在养育压力和儿童外化问题之间发现了交易性和儿童驱动的关联，但只有儿童驱动的关联用于内化问题。因此，交易关联仅支持早期青少年组。这些研究结果表明，低收入家庭的育儿压力和儿童行为问题之间存在着发展差异。临床意义进行了讨论。