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Interrupting the Link Between Temperamental risk, Adverse Parenting Practices, and Externalizing Problems in

William Gaudreau1, Katherine Pascuzzo2, Vincent Bégin1

  • 1Group for Research and Intervention On Children Social Adjustment (GRISE) of the Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada.

Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|September 15, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Adverse parenting, like hostility, links child temperament to externalizing problems. Teacher-child closeness can buffer these negative effects, offering protective factors for children.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Child temperament and parenting practices are known predictors of externalizing problems.
  • The interplay between temperament, parenting, and externalizing behaviors requires further investigation.
  • The moderating role of the teacher-child relationship in these developmental pathways is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine how adverse parenting practices mediate the link between child temperament and later externalizing problems.
  • To investigate whether the teacher-child relationship moderates these mediation pathways.
  • To identify specific parenting and teacher-child relationship factors influencing childhood externalizing behaviors.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study over three years involving 434 children with early-onset externalizing problems.
  • Data collection included child temperament, parenting practices, parent-reported externalizing problems, and teacher-reported teacher-child relationship quality.
  • Structural equation modeling was used to analyze mediation and moderation effects.

Main Results:

  • Parental hostility significantly mediated the association between temperamental factors (high negative affectivity, low effortful control) and later externalizing problems.
  • These indirect effects were more pronounced in children with lower or average closeness to their teachers.
  • Inconsistent parental discipline mediated the link between low effortful control and increased externalizing problems, but only when teacher-child closeness was high.

Conclusions:

  • Parental hostility and inconsistent discipline are key mediators linking child temperament to externalizing problems.
  • Teacher-child relationship closeness can act as a protective factor, altering the impact of adverse parenting on externalizing behaviors.
  • Interventions targeting parenting practices and strengthening teacher-child relationships may help mitigate externalizing problems in at-risk children.

Keywords:
Child externalizing problemsChild temperamentModerated-mediation modelParenting practicesTeacher–child relationship

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