Child Developmentaleducational Status in Kindergarten and Family Coping as Predictors of Parenting Stress: Issues for Parent Consultation

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Abstract
This study examined the relationship among three constructs that frequently form the basis for parent consultation in early intervention, parenting stress, family coping, and developmental/educational status. Parents (N = 116) of kindergarten children completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales (F-COPES), while their children were administered the Early Screening Profiles (ESP). Pearson correlations among the PSI, F-COPES, and the ESP revealed low positive to moderately negative correlations; most of the correlations were negative. These negative correlations were expected because coping and developmental/educational attainment may be related inversely to parenting stress. A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the ESP Total Score and two coping strategies, Passive Appraisal and Reframing, accounted for 27.1%o of the variance on the PSI Total Scores. Implications for parent consultation are discussed.