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Updated: Sep 4, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Parental employment status and preschoolers' emotional and behavioral problems in Western China: a cross-sectional
Guiting Ren1,2, Hongli Sun3, Jingyu Bu4
1School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
Objectives:
Guided by the Family Economic Stress Model, this study investigated the associations between parental employment status and emotional and behavioral problems among preschoolers in Western China.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study included 21,968 children aged 3-6 years recruited from 189 kindergartens. Parental employment status was categorized into four family-level patterns and further analyzed separately for paternal and maternal employment. Children's outcomes were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Results:
Father-only employment was associated with higher internalizing problems (aOR = 1.11) but lower externalizing problems (aOR = 0.90); dual non-employment was associated with increased internalizing problems (aOR = 1.31). Paternal unemployment was linked to externalizing problems (aOR = 1.25), while maternal non-employment was associated with internalizing problems (aOR = 1.11-1.27). No significant effect modification was observed after FDR correction.
Conclusions:
Parental employment status is associated with preschoolers' emotional and behavioral problems in a gender-differentiated manner. Paternal unemployment is primarily linked to externalizing problems, whereas maternal non-employment is more strongly associated with internalizing problems.
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