Paternal Influence on the Developmental Pathways of Maternal Parenting Stress, Home Learning Stimulation, and Children’s Social Skills in the U.S. and Korea: A Moderated Mediation Model1

Abstract

To increase the specificity in paternal influence as the importance caregiving context on mothers and children, we aimed to test 1) whether the mediation effect of maternal parenting stress at age 3 on children’s social skills at age 9 via home learning stimulation at age 5 was significant; 2) whether this mediation effect varied according to paternal involvement and depression at age 3; and 3) whether this proposed path was culturally generalizable. To examine causal pathways and compare differences between two cultures, we analyzed the proposed moderated mediation models using nationally representative longitudinal data from the U.S. (the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study) and Korea (the Panel Study on Korean Children) using SPSS 25 and PROCESS. We found that in both countries, higher maternal parenting stress at age 3 hindered the development of school-aged children’s social skills through lower levels of home-learning stimulation. We also found cultural differences: paternal involvement significantly buffered the negative effects of maternal parenting stress in Korea, while paternal mental health (i.e., non-depression) played that buffering role in the U.S. This study illustrates both the cross-cultural generalizability and culture-specific aspects of family processes, then discusses some theoretical implications and potential practices that would better support families in promoting their children’s social development.