Author(s): Nunes, Cristina ; Ayala-Nunes, Lara ; Ferreira, Laura Inês ; Pechorro, Pedro ; Freitas, Délia ; Martins, Cátia ; Santos, Rita
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/18774
Origin: Sapientia - Universidade do Algarve
Subject(s): At-risk families; Efficacy; Instrumental study; Parenting competences; PSOC; Satisfaction
Parenting sense of competence (PSC) is a cognitive and emotional construct that refers to the judgments that parents hold about their abilities as caregivers. It also includes parents’ beliefs about their capacity to positively influence their children’s development and their satisfaction with the parenting role [1–3]. This construct has been widely studied and is a relevant dimension for the assessment and understanding of family dynamics. Parenting sense of competence has been associated to several family dimensions, such as marital relationship and family functioning [2,4,5]. For instance, mothers’ sense of competence has been positively linked to coparenting support [6], and a reciprocal relationship between perceived parental competence and marital stress over a 6-year interval has been reported for both mothers and fathers [7]. It is especially important to assess this construct in families who are at psychosocial risk [8–12]—i.e., families that have difficulties in adequately meeting children’s needs but not severely enough to require children’s placement in foster care [13]. This is because research has suggested indirect relationships between PSC and potential for child abuse [14] and maltreatment [15]. Similarly, PSC is thought to be a protective factor for negative outcomes, buffering the impact of risk factors such as maternal depression, children’s difficult temperament, and disadvantaged environments [16,17].
