THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED PARENTAL COMPETENCE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL PSYCHOPATHIC TRAITS AND PARENTING BEHAVIORS

Abstract

The importance of parenting in shaping child development has been widely supported, with many researchers considering parenting to be one of the factors most predictive of child outcomes. Despite the importance of parenting behaviors, not enough is known about their antecedents. In this study, we examine the extent to which psychopathic personality traits relate to parenting behaviors by determining which aspects of parental competence mediate these associations in a community sample. Our analyses support the mediating role of one aspect of parental competence — parental satisfaction — in the relationship between several domains of psychopathic personality traits and parenting behaviors. The results suggest that the relationship between parental personality traits and parenting behaviors is nuanced and involves underlying mechanisms related to parental competence.