Parental problem-solving skills and child behavior problems: A comparison of physically abusive, neglectful, clinic, and community families

Failure to solve problems related to parenting and other aspects of daily living is hypothesized to result in frustration or inability to cope, and lead to deviant parental behavior such as aggression or neglect. The present investigation provided support for a procedure for measuring parental problem-solving skill and compared the problem-solving abilities and child behavior problems of maltreating and nonmaltreating parents. Subjects were 40 parents with at least one child between the ages of three and twelve. Subjects were assigned to one of four groups: (a) physically abusive parents (n = 9); (b) neglectful parents (n = 9); (c) nonmaltreating clinic parents seeking help for child behavior problems (n = 11); and (d) nonmaltreating, non-help-seeking community parents (n = 11). Abusive and neglectful parents were deficient in problem-solving skill as compared to clinic and community parents, yet there were many similarities in parental reports of child behavior problems for maltreating and nonmaltreating parents. Parental problem-solving skill did not correlate significantly with parental ratings of child behavior problems.