Families at Psychosocial Risk. Analysis of the Relation Between Parenting Competencies and Externalizing Problems in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

It is well known that children who grow up in at-risk families tend to have more behavioral problems; however, few studies have addressed this issue from a parenting competencies framework. This investigation analyzed the relation between parenting competencies and children’s externalizing problems. A total of 562 caregivers from at-risk families were assessed through the Interview for the Assessment of Parenting Competencies and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The three competencies in which the families presented more difficulties were parental co-responsibility, child stimulation and family life structuring, and emotional self-regulation. According to the hierarchical regression, the capacity to offer warmth and to establish a healthy communication could explain children’s behavioral difficulties. Family interventions should focus on those competencies where families tend to have more difficulties. Furthermore, to prevent and/or reduce externalizing problems, it is convenient to foster, particularly, communication and warmth among their members.

Keywords

at-risk families parenting competencies behavioral adjustment family preservation

Introduction

In approaching their educational responsibilities and tasks, families may have different styles, since there is no ideal or unique model of parenting. However, not all forms succeed in providing a healthy environment for the development and well-being of children. In this way, families at psychosocial risk are those families whose parents are not properly facing their parental responsibilities, with negative consequences for their children, although not to the extent of requiring the child's separation from his or her family (Rodrigo et al., 2012).

Among these negative consequences for children, behavioral problems are placed as one of the main (Marçal, 2020; Uriarte et al., 2019). Hot tempers, disobedience, fights with other children, lies, or thefts can be behaviors that indicate these externalizing problems (Reynolds, 1992). Growing up in a psychosocial risk context is a factor that could predict behavioral difficulties in both genders (Pitzer et al., 2010) with no differences in the level of externalizing problems between girls and boys from disadvantages contexts (Marçal, 2020; Rocchino et al., 2017). With respect to age, according to Bathelt et al. (2021), behavioral problems in community areas are more frequent in childhood compared to adolescence, as in the process of maturation, their externalizing problems disappear in a wide proportion of cases. However, when children live in environmental conditions that are not appropriate to promote positive development, as usually occurs in families at psychosocial risk, children have more difficulties to achieve appropriate social development and this inadequate behavioral adjustment becomes worse (Lorence, 2013).

According to the ecological-transactional approach adapted to the family context, children’s development is influenced by factors from different ecological levels (i.e., macrosystem, exosystem, and microsystem) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). At the same time, children’s development, personality, and traits affect the context in a complex interaction, where nature and nurture interact and change one another permanently (Sameroff, 1983). In this way, to understand the process by which children develop externalizing problems, numerous studies show the relationship between parenting practices and children behavioral adjustment (Flannery et al., 2021; Jarvis et al., 2021). Moreover, many of the behavioral difficulties experienced by children in families at psychosocial risk arise from dysfunctional family dynamics, some of which are related to difficulties in adequate parenting competencies (Ayala-Nunes et al., 2018; Jones et al., 2021). Parenting competencies are a multidimensional construct that integrates the cognitive, emotional, and material resources that enable adults to fulfill their role as parents, that is, to respond to the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social needs of their children (Daly, 2007). As defined by Hidalgo et al. (2022), parenting competencies are:

The feelings, attitudes, knowledge, skills, and strategies required for an adequate execution of parental duties and responsibilities. The responsible exercise of positive parenting requires basic commitment to and involvement in the upbringing tasks to guarantee the rights and satisfy the evolutionary-educational needs of children and adolescents, in an adaptive manner and according to the socio-cultural context. (p. 19)

The recent model of parenting competencies described by Hidalgo et al. (2022) includes 12 competencies necessary for a positive and responsible exercise of parenting, including educational skills (affection, communication, or rule setting); personal resources (emotional self-regulation or stress coping strategies); abilities related to the family system (skills to establish adequate co-responsibility between caregivers and to organize family life); and the competence to seek and obtain the necessary social support. In the following paragraphs, we revise the relationship between each one of these categories of parenting competencies and child externalizing problems.

In relation to educational parenting competencies, much has been published about how the quality of the interactions that parents maintain with their children affects their behavior. Several studies have proved that affection is a very important factor to prevent externalizing problems (García et al., 2011; Ge et al., 1996; Healy et al., 2015). While a parenting style based on affection and inductive discipline is more strongly related to socially appropriate behaviors in children and adolescents (Simons & Conger, 2007), authoritarian styles have been linked to externalizing problems (Braza et al., 2015). If there is a hostile and conflictive relationship between parents and children or adolescents, behavioral difficulties are more likely to occur (Wang et al., 2018). However, when parents develop a proactive parenting, anticipating problematic situations, and taking action before they appear, behavioral difficulties decrease (Gardner et al., 2007). To finish with the educational competencies, the scientific literature also contains data highlighting the importance of stability, structuring, and the establishment of routines and habits at home. Thus, children living with more chaotic environments—with noise, without predictability or routines, with people coming and going frequently—would be related to higher levels of behavioral difficulties (Deater-Deckard et al., 2009).

In addition, the personal resources of adults are also linked to child and adolescent well-being (Ayala-Nunes et al., 2018). Regarding emotional self-regulation in parents, Bailey and Marker (2021) observed that paternal anger was a risk factor for externalizing problems in children, that is, the way parents manage their emotions may entail consequences in the behavior of their children. Moreover, children whose parents tend to talk more about emotions present fewer behavioral difficulties (Chan et al., 2022). Another personal competence linked to behavioral adjustment in childhood and adolescence is coping strategies for parental stress, as has been suggested by research that links increased family stressors and high parental distress with higher levels of behavioral difficulties and hyperactivity scores (Flannery et al., 2021; Jarvis et al., 2021). Also, the influence of satisfaction with the parental role has been observed. Recent studies have shown that parents who enjoy carrying out their parental responsibilities and have higher levels of perceived parenting competence are more likely to develop parenting that is sensitive to the needs of their children and these experience fewer behavioral difficulties (Jarvis et al., 2021; Kim, 2018).

Focusing on competencies of a more systemic nature and related to the organization of family life, there is evidence remarking the importance of parental co-responsibility, that is, the ability of the parental figures to cooperate and share tasks and issues linked to the education and upbringing of their children. In homes where this co-responsibility is not adequately presented (with conflicts existing between caregivers and not collaborating as a true parental team), there is a higher probability of developing behavioral difficulties in their offspring (Baril et al., 2007; Teubert & Pinquart, 2010). Another competence within this category is related to the time and routines that family members share together. This factor is important because, during family activities, caregivers can serve as models to transmit values and ways of acting and behaving to their children (Hidalgo et al., 2022). In addition, family leisure time acts as a protective factor against undesirable behaviors in children and adolescents, since they are relaxed moments of enjoyment to educate and strengthen bonds (Liédana et al., 2013).

The last aspect that conforms this model of parenting competencies is social support. The literature shows that the existence of good social support networks is related to the adjustment of children; thus, a higher level of satisfaction with help in parenting tasks is linked to lower externalizing problems in boys and girls (Vanderbilt-Adriance et al., 2015). However, families at psychosocial risk tend to have a social network with greater deficits compared to families in community contexts and often rely on their children for inappropriate issues (Ayala-Nunes et al., 2017). In addition, these families show a greater need for emotional support, which is prioritized even above their obvious material needs (Menéndez et al., 2010). They are also more likely to turn to professionals for emotional support than families with lower social risk (Ayala-Nunes et al., 2017).

To the best of our knowledge, despite all these studies, no research has been developed from a comprehensive and holistic understanding of parenting competencies, taking into account all the dimensions that integrate the parenting construct at once. Therefore, further detailed studies should explore the parenting competencies in families at risk and how externalizing problems are related to parents' childrearing strategies in a more global framework, in the light of an ecological-transactional perspective. Professionals claim for further research on preventive action against behavioral difficulties (Husain, 2011), and an advisable way to do so is basing it on all the aspects linked to the principles of positive parenting (Council of Europe, 2006).

In recent years, we have witnessed a spectacular increase in the number of actions aimed at supporting families at risk. Thus, to ensure the optimal development of children in families at psychosocial risk, it is necessary to know how the parenting competencies of these families are, and to provide them with the necessary support to strengthen their competencies, so that they can adequately cope with their parental responsibilities (Daly, 2007). In this line, several authors state that one of the best strategies to prevent and improve the externalizing problems of children is the implementation of parental support programs aimed at the promotion of parenting competencies (Jones et al., 2021; Kaminski & Claussen, 2017).

Within this framework, the objectives of this study were as follows: (a) to increase our knowledge about the behavioral difficulties exhibited by children and adolescents living in families at psychosocial risk, as well as the parenting competencies of their main caregivers, and (b) to examine whether parenting competencies can partially explain the externalizing problems of the children in their care.

Based on what is collected in the previous literature, it is expected that the children in this research present behavioral difficulties and that their primary caregivers have medium-low levels of parenting competencies. Furthermore, we hypothesized that these competencies are related to externalizing problems, with better competencies being associated with lower levels of behavioral difficulties.

Method

Participants

The sample consisted of 562 caregivers of children and adolescents (96.80% parents, 1.10% grandparents, 1.60% legal guardians, and .50% aunts/uncles) from families attended to by family preservation services in different regions of Spain, who were recruited to participate in parenting support programs. In most cases (82.40%), the main caregiver was female, with a mean age of 42.52 years (SD = 7.82; range: 18–72 years). In terms of educational level, 6.70% had not completed primary education, 41.80% had completed primary education, 25.40% had completed secondary education, and the remaining 26.10% had completed higher education. The participants were in charge of two-parent households in 62.30% of the cases, and 44.40% were unemployed. A total of 73.70% of the participants were Spanish. From the total of the non-Spanish participants, 36.99% came from Africa, 45.89% were born in Central or South America, and the remaining 17.12% came from other European countries. A total of 32 participants (5.70%) provided information on more than one child.

Regarding the children for whom information was provided for this research, their mean age was 12.16 years (SD = 3.16), with ages ranging from 1 to 17 years and equal distribution according to gender (55.50% boys).

Instruments

Sociodemographic Survey

This ad hoc instrument collects the sociodemographic characteristics of the families, based on the information provided by the main caregivers. The requested data are related to the main caregiver (relationship with the child or adolescent, sex, age, level of studies, country of origin, and professional situation) and to the family system (family structure, people living together in the household, number of minors and age, and sex of each member). This instrument is composed of both multiple-choice questions (such as family structure) and open-ended questions (such as age). This survey requires about 5 minutes to be filled in.

The Interview for the Assessment of Parenting Competencies

(ECP-12; Hidalgo et al., 2020; Jiménez et al., 2021). This scale is conducted through expert judgment and assesses 12 competencies necessary to cope with parental responsibilities. The professional in charge of the assessment rates 53 observable indicators on a Likert scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 5 = completely, through a semi-structured interview with the family caregiver. The 12 competencies assessed by this instrument are listed below (the number of items corresponding to each dimension is indicated in brackets): child stimulation and family life structuring (8); shared family time (3); parental co-responsibility (4); adequate beliefs and expectations about development (3); affection, communication, and acceptance (8); school involvement (3); rules and supervision (5); emotional self-regulation (4); adequate perception of the parental role (5); facing stressful situations (3); social support (4); and household management (3). This interview allows obtaining a score for each subscale, as well as a total parenting competence score. Both in the different dimensions and in the total score, the resulting value ranges between 1 and 5, with high values indicating better skills in that competence. Values equal to or higher than 4 indicate adequate levels of parenting competencies, both for the total score and for each of its dimensions. This scale has demonstrated adequate reliability in the present study, with a Cronbach's α equal to .97, with the reliability of its different subscales falling within the range between .73 and .92. This interview takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.

Externalizing Problems

This variable is assessed through the conduct problems subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997), in its Spanish version (García et al., 2000). This instrument allows detecting emotional and behavioral difficulties, as well as assessing the prosocial behaviors of the child or adolescent being evaluated. It consists of a self-administered test that is completed by the caregiver with information about his or her child. The conduct problems subscale consists of 5 items (“often lies or cheats”), which are assessed on a 3-point Likert scale (0 = not true; 1 = somewhat true; and 2 = yes, absolutely true). The score ranges between 0 and 2, where higher values indicate higher levels of externalizing problems. The following cut-off points were established: .0–.6 normal level; .7–.9 borderline level; and 1.0–2.0 abnormal level (Rodríguez-Hernández et al., 2014). The Cronbach’s alpha of this dimension was .76 in the present study. The questionnaire as a whole takes approximately 10 minutes.

Procedure

The participating families in this study were selected to attend parenting support programs at the family preservation services in Spain. The data were collected by the professionals working in those services as part of the initial assessment to plan the family intervention for each case. The inclusion criteria were caregivers (1) in charge of minors, (2) in need of support in their parenting skills, and (3) with room for improvement. The exclusion criteria were caregivers (1) with a mental disorder and (2) not willing to collaborate.

Before beginning the evaluation, in accordance with all relevant ethical principles, the families were provided with the informed consent document that they had to read and sign after resolving all the questions. This document informed them of the voluntariness of participating in the research, the objectives of the study, the confidentiality of their data, and the possibility of leaving the process at any time without any consequences for them, following the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki (The World Medical Association, 2013). This investigation was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Loyola Andalucía University.

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. To respond to the first objective, a descriptive analysis was carried out. An ANOVA was used to identify significant differences in behavioral difficulties between boys and girls. Another ANOVA was conducted with post-hoc tests to study the level of behavioral difficulties presented, differentiating by age in three different ranges: (1) early childhood, comprising children from 0 to 6 years of age; (2) second childhood, comprising children between 7 and 12 years of age; and (3) adolescence, comprising adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. Continuing with the second objective, a multiple linear regression analysis was carried out using the hierarchical method. Firstly, correlation analyses between the different dimensions of the ECP-12 and between parenting competencies and behavioral difficulties were carried out. Subsequently, in the first model of the regression analysis, control variables of the informant caregiver (sex, education level, and family structure of their living unit) and the child or adolescent (sex and age) were introduced. The second model included parenting competencies that were significantly correlated with behavioral difficulties.

Results

Starting with the levels of behavioral difficulties of children and adolescent in these families, the mean was .83 (SD = .53). Table 1 shows both the mean and standard deviation of behavioral difficulties according to the sex and age of the person reported in the assessment. No significant differences were found between the externalizing problems presented by boys compared to those seen in girls, F (1,591) = .48, p = .490, R² < .01.

Table 1.

Means and Standard Deviations of Externalizing Problems by Sex and Age.

	M	SD
By sex
Man	.84	.51
Woman	.81	.56
By age
1–6 years old	.56	.41
7–12 years old	.72	.52
Older than 13	.94	.52

However, significant differences were found in the behavioral difficulties as a function of age with a medium effect size, F (2,591) = 18.75, p < .001, R² = .06. The Dunnett’s test showed statistically significant differences in the level of behavioral difficulties presented by the children under 6 years of age with respect to the levels observed in the adolescents. Likewise, significant differences were also found between the level of externalizing problems of school-age children and that of adolescents (see Table 1).

Table 2 shows the means and standard deviations of the different parenting competencies, as well as the bivariate correlations between all the variables. As can be seen in this table, the competencies with the lowest levels were parental co-responsibility, child stimulation and family life structuring, and emotional self-regulation. The mean of the total parenting competencies score was 3.15 (SD = .71).

Table 2.

Descriptive Data (M and SD) and Correlations of the Study Variables.

	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1. SS	2.84	.88	-
2. FAM	2.94	1.13	.69**	-
3. CO	2.73	1.18	.50**	.46**	-
4. ABE	3.38	.90	.65**	.54**	.45**	-
5. ACA	3.36	.88	.69**	.69**	.45**	.69**	-
6. SI	3.13	1.07	.68**	.53**	.37**	.61**	.64**	-
7. RS	2.92	.95	.71**	.64**	.47**	.66**	.72**	.69**	-
8. ESR	2.89	.89	.62**	.53**	.37**	.59**	.72**	.57**	.61**	-
9. APP	3.32	.82	.66**	.58**	.45**	.69**	.77**	.63**	.68**	.74**	-
10. FSS	3.13	.82	.61**	.52**	.44**	.60**	.65**	.56**	.64**	.66**	.75**	-
11. SOS	3.02	1.00	.42**	.31**	.27**	.29**	.33**	.40**	.35**	.35**	.41**	.37**	-
12. HM	4.06	.83	.41**	.26**	.29**	.42**	.41**	.44**	.43**	.41**	.50**	.48**	.33**	-
EP	.83	.53	−.27**	−.37**	−.13**	−.22**	−.45**	−.15**	−.28**	−.23**	−.27**	−.17**	−.04	−.15**

Note. SS: child stimulation and family life structuring; FAM: shared family time; CO: parental co-responsibility; ABE: adequate beliefs and expectations; ACA: affection and communication; SI: school involvement; RS: rules and supervision; ESR: emotional self-regulation; APP: adequate perception of the parental role; FSS: facing stressful situations; SOS: social support; HM: household management; EP: externalizing problems; *p < .05; **p < .01.

Furthermore, Table 2 shows that there were significant correlations between all the parenting competencies, with correlation coefficients ranging from .27 to .77, with parental role satisfaction being the one with the highest values. All of them were in an acceptable range of values to be introduced in the hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis as independent variables. With the exception of the dimensions of social support and household management, which presented medium effect sizes, all the competencies obtained mostly large effect sizes in these correlations.

Furthermore, it was found that behavioral difficulties correlated inversely and significantly with all the parenting competencies, except for social support, although not all of them had a considerable effect size (see last row of Table 2). Two of the dimensions (shared family time and the subscale related to affection and communication) had a medium effect size with behavioral difficulties. The rest of them had only a small effect size. In all cases, the higher the achieved levels of competence, the fewer behavioral difficulties were detected in both children and adolescents.

In the hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis, there were no problems of multicollinearity, since the correlation indexes between the different independent variables did not reach the critical value of .80 (see Table 2), and the tolerance values and the variance inflation factors were correct (see Table 3). As can be seen in Table 3, both models were significant, although only model 2 had a medium effect size, explaining 28% of the variance. The analysis revealed that externalizing problems can be explained by one of the sociodemographic variables (i.e., the age of the child), with the probability of behavioral difficulties increasing as the age of the child increases, with a small effect size. In addition, several parenting competencies explained behavioral difficulties, but only the dimension of affection and communication showed a medium effect size, with a negative sign β coefficient, that is, the higher the level of this competence, the lower the perceived behavioral difficulties. The remaining competencies showed a small effect size.

Table 3.

Hierarchical Multiple Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Child and Adolescent Externalizing Problems, Together With Tolerance Values (Tol.) and Variance Inflation Factors (VIF).

	Beta	F/t	df	p	R²/ΔR²	Tol	VIF
Model 1		6.10**	5,478	<.001	.05
Caregiver sex	.07	1.62	478	.105	<.01	.98	1.02
Caregiver education level	<.01	.01	478	.989	<.01	.98	1.02
Family structure	−.03	−.65	478	.515	<.01	.99	1.01
Child age	.24	5.27**	478	<.001	.06	.97	1.03
Child sex	−.04	−.82	478	.415	<.01	1.00	1.00
Model 2		12.91**	16,467	<.001	.28
Caregiver sex	.06	1.63	467	.104	<.01	.95	1.05
Caregiver education level	<.01	.05	467	.960	<.01	.87	1.15
Family structure	−.05	−1.17	467	.245	<.01	.79	1.27
Child age	.14	3.19**	467	.002	.02	.81	1.24
Child sex	−.05	−1.39	467	.166	<.01	.97	1.03
SS	−.04	−.62	467	.534	<.01	.29	3.42
FAM	−.17	−2.73**	467	.007	.01	.41	2.47
CO	.05	.91	467	.366	<.01	.57	1.75
ABE	.05	.84	467	.404	<.01	.40	2.51
ACA	−.65	−8.44**	467	<.001	.11	.25	3.98
SI	.22	3.64**	467	<.001	.02	.40	2.49
RS	.05	.77	467	.443	<.01	.32	3.13
ESR	.05	.84	467	.404	<.01	.37	2.70
APP	.05	.64	467	.520	<.01	.26	3.83
FSS	.13	2.04*	467	.042	<.01	.38	2.68
HM	−.08	−1.71	467	.087	<.01	.69	1.45

Discussion

The first objective of this study was to describe the presence of behavioral difficulties of children and adolescents in families at psychosocial risk, and the parenting competencies of their main caregivers.

In view of the obtained results, the levels of behavioral difficulties of these children were medium-low, as opposed to what was initially expected. In relation to the cut-off points that Rodríguez-Hernández et al. (2014) obtained with a Spanish normative sample, the mean value obtained in our sample would be located between the normal and borderline categories. Considering that, as previously noted, children in families at risk are more likely to develop externalizing problems than those living in community contexts (Marçal, 2020; Uriarte et al., 2019), and the children and adolescents in this study did not present behavioral difficulties, at least according to their parents’ report. Likewise, no differences were found between boys and girls as a function of sex, which is in line with recent research that show similar patrons in terms of externalizing problems for boys and girls in vulnerable situations (Marçal, 2020; Rocchino et al., 2017). These similarities in behavior patterns could be due to the tendency observed in girls to behave in the same way as boys in all areas of the externalizing problems (Sánchez-Queija, 2007).

Furthermore, age proved to be a differentiating factor in the present study. Thus, adolescents presented a higher level of externalizing problems than children of early and second childhood. A reason of that could be that the difficult conditions of the context where these children grow up, do not allow them to achieve an appropriate social development during the maturation process, and the disruptive behaviors become more frequent (Lorence, 2013). These results seem to reveal the need of more support for adolescents in order to help them develop a proper behavioral adjustment.

With respect to parenting competencies in the caregivers of these families, the overall score of the sample did not reach the level recommended in the ECP-12 Technical Manual (Hidalgo et al., 2020) to be considered an adequate degree of the competencies necessary for a responsible exercise of parenting. These results support the initial hypothesis that these families would have support needs in their parental responsibilities. The three parenting competencies with the lowest scores were parental co-responsibility, child stimulation and family life structuring, and emotional self-regulation. In agreement with the results of parental co-responsibility, although there have been many advances in this regard, it has been found that parenting tasks continue to fall on mothers, and the sharing of responsibilities for the care and education of children has not yet managed to achieve a balance between caregivers (Gaba & Salvo, 2016; Sánchez-Vidal et al., 2020). In addition, parental co-responsibility may have obtained such low results due to the cases of couple breakup, given that, in some cases, parents continue to develop their parenting responsibilities unilaterally, without the support of the other member of the couple, after separation (Alonso, 2015). With respect to the competence related to child stimulation and family life structuring, this includes several aspects: (a) providing formal and informal learning opportunities to children and adolescents, (b) interacting with children to enrich and promote their development, and (c) structuring family life through healthy routines and habits. To the best of our knowledge, no research has provided data on the situation of families at risk in terms of this competence. The previous scientific evidence only provided information linked to formal learning, with this population showing greater school absenteeism (Brown, 2012), and higher rates of school dropout (Save the Children, 2016), both of which are in line with our results. Regarding emotional self-regulation, it is very likely that these parents also grew up in at-risk families, given that family adversity may be intergenerationally transmitted (Merrick et al., 2013); thus, these adults themselves could have suffered from an inadequate environment that hindered their development of social-emotional skills (Braet et al., 2014).

The second objective of this work was to analyze whether these behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents could be explained by the skills and the attitudes that parents have in the upbringing of their children. According to the results of this study, the comprehensive model of parenting competencies can explain, to a large extent, the behavioral difficulties that these children develop, as it was hypothesized. Although lacking an integrative approach, previous research had showed the importance of the parent’s skills and attitudes for the behavioral adjustment of their children, including educational skills (Braza et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2018), strategies for organizing family life (Hidalgo et al., 2022; Teubert & Pinquart, 2010), social support (Vanderbilt-Adriance et al., 2015), and personal resources (Ayala-Nunes et al., 2018; Jarvis et al., 2021). Between all these competencies, in the present study, it has been highlighted that the parenting competence related to establish a relationship based on affection, emotional closeness, and dialog with the children, as it is the one that better explained the children’s externalizing problems (García et al., 2011; Ge et al., 1996; Healy et al., 2015). From the attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969), we know that children and adolescents need proximity and love from their family to grow healthy. If these ingredients are missing, caregivers’ attention may be demanded through behavioral problems, as studies show how adolescents with secure attachment have fewer externalizing problems compared to adolescents with insecure attachment (Natarajan, 2013).

The results of this study provide tentative evidence to conclude, firstly, that children of families at psychosocial risk do not have worrying levels of externalizing problems (with no gender differences), but it is an aspect that cannot be neglected, especially in adolescents. Secondly, the parenting competencies of the caregivers in these families do not reach the values considered adequate for the exercise of positive parenting. Particularly, these families need more support in three aspects: (1) achieving a good alliance between parents to carry out parenting responsibilities as a cooperative team; (2) promoting strategies and behaviors that provide learning opportunities for children, in addition to establishing healthy routines in the home; and (3) expressing and understanding their emotions adequately, showing proper control and management. In addition, the competence related to developing attitudes and habits that manage to establish warm and close relationships between caregivers and their children seems to be a factor that may explain the behavioral difficulties of children and adolescents.

This study has certain limitations that must be taken into account. To begin with, the population studied was selected by convenience sampling and, therefore, the generalization of these results to other populations with different characteristics may be limited. Secondly, a replication study with a bigger sample is needed to come to conclusions in the competencies that did not reach a medium effect size. In addition, this information came only from the mother or father and has not been contrasted with data from other informants.

Despite these limitations, the present study contributes to the field of family interventions with interesting results, since it is a novelty to analyze the different dimensions of parenting competencies jointly in relation to the externalizing problems of children and adolescents. However, it is necessary to further explore how parenting competencies are related to behavioral difficulties. Future research could compare this relationship in different age ranges of children, since there could be different results depending on the evolutionary development. In addition, it would be interesting to reproduce this study with populations from other countries, in order to determine whether the results of this study are generalizable or not.

The conclusions of this work may have important practical implications to be considered, as they allow us to be more exhaustive when planning and implementing programs for the promotion of parenting competencies. First of all, these support programs should consider those competencies in which these families have more difficulties, and they should be worked on in a deeper and more extensive way. Additionally, working at the family level on the emotional warmth experienced at home will be recommendable to help children and adolescents with behavioral difficulties and to prevent this situation. Other studies have shown the possibility to work in this competence to improve the disruptive behavior patterns. For example, the program called Familias Unidas (United Families) was found to reduce the behavioral difficulties of the adolescents through the improvement of the communication between caregivers and their children (Molleda et al., 2017). Recent research has highlighted the need for more exhaustive studies on how to change adolescents’ attitude and behavior (Husain, 2011). The present work provides valuable information in this sense, being useful in future intervention programs designed for this population and in training for professionals working with families at risk for family preservation reasons.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

The Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities has funded the author E.H. with a predoctoral grant (FPU 19/00125).

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Predoctoral grant (FPU 19/00125).

ORCID iDs

Ester Herrera-Collado

María Dolores Lanzarote-Fernández

Lucía Jiménez

Victoria Hidalgo

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