Parenting practices and child irritability across diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds: A temporal network analysis

Irritability is a core symptom and diagnostic criterion in several childhood psychiatric disorders. Research has documented bidirectional associations between child irritability and parenting practices; however, cultural variations in these associations remain underexplored.Using three-wave longitudinal data (N = 2,408) from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) in the United States, this study examined associations between child irritability, parenting behaviors (psychological aggression, physical assault, neglect, and non-violent discipline) and parenting stress across three racial-ethnic groups: non-Latine Black (n = 1,167; 605 males), non-Latine White (n = 614; 314 males), and Latine (n = 627; 316 males) using cross-sectional and temporal network analyses.Parenting behaviors and stress were associated with child irritability concurrently and longitudinally across groups. Results showed bidirectional effects between parenting behaviors/stress and child irritability across ages 3, 5, and 9, with more similarities than differences between groups. Physical assault and lower use of non-violent discipline predicted higher future child irritability (partial correlations = 0.03-0.18 for physical assault and 0.04-0.07 for non-violent discipline) across racial-ethnic groups.These findings suggest parenting interventions may be scalable across cultural contexts to promote positive child outcomes and well-being, though future work should elucidate culturally specific factors that inform tailored practices.