Bidirectional Associations Between Parenting and Irritability in Early Childhood: Multi-Method Evidence

Irritability is a common and impairing reason for childhood mental health referral, yet transactional processes between parenting and irritability remain understudied in early childhood, particularly using multi-method approaches. This study examined bidirectional associations between parenting and interview-based child irritability from ages 3 to 6 while accounting for parental psychopathology and child sex.

Participants were 609 children (54.5% male; 79.5% White, non-Hispanic) recruited at age 3 and followed to age 6. Child irritability was assessed using the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. Parenting was measured using observational coding of parent - child Teaching Tasks (supportive presence, hostility, relationship quality) and mother- and father-reported Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive). Cross-lagged panel models estimated stability and reciprocal associations between parenting and irritability across time.

All constructs demonstrated significant stability from ages 3 to 6. Higher irritability at age 3 predicted lower observed parental support, higher observed hostility, poorer parent - child relationship quality, and higher mother-reported authoritarian parenting at age 6. Parent-to-child effects were more limited: lower observed relationship quality and higher father-reported permissive parenting at age 3 predicted higher irritability at age 6. Findings remained after adjusting for parental lifetime mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders and child sex.

Findings support asymmetrical and caregiver-specific transactional pathways between parenting and irritability during early childhood. Early irritability may shape caregiving behavior over time, whereas dyadic relationship quality and fathers' permissive parenting represent potential targets for early intervention.