Background and Aim Emotional/social problems in childhood are associated with delinquency in adolescence, violence in adulthood, and anxiety disorders. This study aims to investigate the role of parents’ stress and perceived social support in predicting children’s emotional/social problems.
Methods & Materials This is a descriptive-correlational study. The study population includes all parents and their children referred to health centers in Pardis, Tehran, Iran in 2020 who had children under 5 years of age. Of these, 230 parents were selected by a convenience sampling method. Data collection tools were the Parental Stress index, the multidimensional scale of perceived social support and the child behaviour questionnaire-parent form. For data analysis, multiple regression analysis was used in SPSS software, version 25.
Results Among participants, 42.6% were employed and 57.4% were housekeeper. The mean age of participants was 28.42±12.5 years. The results showed that parents’ stress and perceived social support had a significant role in predicting children’s emotional/social problems such that they explained 44.7% and 8.9% of the variance in children’s emotional/social problems.
Conclusion Parents’ stress and support from friends can be effective in predicting emotional/social problems of their children.
