Role of perceived social support in the relationship between parent temperament and distress tolerance

• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Author: Alexandra E. Morford,Neil Jordan,Heather J. Risser
• Date: 01 April 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12584

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Role of perceived social support in the relationship

between parent temperament and distress tolerance

AlexandraE.Morford| NeilJordan | HeatherJ.Risser

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral

Science, Feinberg School of Medicine,

Northwestern University, Chicago,

Illinois, USA

Correspondence

Alexandra E. Morford, Department of

Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Feinberg

School of Medicine, Northwestern University,

710 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago,

IL 60611, USA.

Email: alexandramorford2022@

u.northwestern.edu

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate whether social support mediates the

relationships between parent temperament and distress tol-

erance (DT) in mothers and fathers.

Background: Distress tolerance is central to many of the

factors identified as high-risk for parents perpetrating child

maltreatment. To create effective parenting programs

aimed at reducing child maltreatment, it is essential to

understand the risk and protective factors associated with

parental DT. Additionally, examining these factors in both

mothers and fathers is important for determining whether

mechanisms of risk and protective factors function

similarly.

Method: Using existing cross-sectional data, self-report assess-

ments from 584 parents (67% female, M

age

=32.35 years) of

children between the ages of 6 months and 10 years were ana-

lyzed using mediation analyses.

Results: Perceived social support partially mediated the

relationship between negative affect and distress tolerance,

in the overall sample and in mothers only, but not for

fathers only. Perceived social support was not a mediator

of the relationship between effortful control and distress

tolerance in any of the samples.

Conclusion: Results suggest that negative affect and per-

ception of social support play important roles in parents’

DT capabilities. Furthermore, the inconsistency across

genders, suggests that risk and protective factors of DT

may differ for mothers and fathers.

Implications: Investigating risk factors of low parental DT

is important for advancing knowledge about parents who

may ultimately engage in child maltreatment to inform the

design of prevention and early intervention parenting

programs.

Received: 6 February 2020Revised: 3 May 2020Accepted: 4 October 2020

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12584

© 2021 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:561–582.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 561

KEYWORDS

distress tolerance, effortful control, negative affect, parenting, social

support, temperament

INTRODUCTION

Studies have identified several risk factors for parents who engage in child maltreatment,

including depression and anxiety, substance use, partner violence, parents’own history of

trauma, and high parent stress (Stith et al., 2009). Notably, emotion regulation capacity is cen-

tral to all of these factors among parents identified as high-risk for perpetrating child maltreat-

ment (Kim & Cicchetti, 2010). Becoming a parent adds more inconsistency to the adult

emotion regulation experience because existing capabilities for regulating emotion are chal-

lenged in new and unique ways. Additional stress and sleep deprivation may further strain par-

ents’capacity to regulate emotions. Although many parents effectively navigate these

additional challenges, some may have difficulty regulating emotions and engage in maladaptive

behaviors, such as child maltreatment. Therefore, there is value in examining early predictors of

parental emotion regulation to identify potentially modifiable risk and protective factors that

could inform parent prevention and early intervention.

Distress tolerance

One aspect of emotion regulation that is salient to parents and their risk of perpetrating child

maltreatment is distress tolerance—the ability to persist in goal-oriented activities while

experiencing aversive emotional states (Amstadter et al., 2011). That is, distress tolerance is the

ability to endure negative affect to effectively problem solve. Adults low in distress tolerance

tend to show more impulsivity (Anestis et al., 2007) and discontinue difficult tasks more quickly

(Rutherford et al., 2015). Studies have shown a strong association between low distress toler-

ance and increased levels of substance abuse, delinquency, aggression, mood disorders, history

of trauma, and environmental stressors, such as low income (e.g., Salsman & Linehan, 2012).

Additionally, many of the skills taught in parenting intervention programs for parents at risk of

engaging in maladaptive behaviors provide information about child development, appropriate

discipline, using praise, and other strategies but do not teach parents about distress tolerance or

how to increase distress tolerance capabilities (van der Put et al., 2018). Most parents can be

effective in managing child behavior that is not emotionally activating. The challenge becomes

how to parent effectively when the parent is experiencing strong, negative emotions—often

because their parenting goal is being thwarted. The parent may have to first manage their own

emotions and then effectively (and calmly) guide the child. This could be more challenging to

the parent if a child’s strong emotions are activating the parent emotions.

The underlying salience of distress tolerance capabilities for many factors associated with

various adaptive functioning in parenthood is clear. Yet the lack of existing literature on the

factors that contribute to parental distress tolerance is surprising. Extant research has focused

primarily on risk factors for distress tolerance in clinical populations (Allan et al.,2014), transi-

tions from childhood through emerging adulthood (e.g., Fletcher et al., 2014), and among late

adulthood populations (McHugh & Lawlor, 2012). To create effective parenting programs, it is

essential to understand the risk and protective factors associated with parental distress toler-

ance. Of the numerous factors associated with parental distress tolerance, temperament and

social support are ideal constructs for investigation because they are empirically related to

models of both emotion regulation and child maltreatment.

562 FAMILY RELATIONS