Parenting and children’s adjustment in families living in supportive housing.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to examine parenting and children's adjustment in the under-researched population of families living in supportive housing. The impact of specific dimensions of observed parenting on teacher-reported school-aged children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms were examined between two time points one year apart. Data from 77 families enrolled in the Early Risers: Healthy Families prevention study were used. Higher observed parenting dimensions of skill encouragement and positive involvement at baseline were associated with lower children's externalizing scores at one-year follow-up. However, higher observed problem solving was associated with higher children's internalizing scores at one-year follow-up. These findings offer evidence that positive parenting practices have the potential to impact externalizing symptoms over time, while the relationship between parenting and internalizing symptoms may be more complex.