The impact of child self-regulation difficulties on parents: A qualitative study

Abstract

The capacity for children to self-regulate is an important developmental task of early childhood, with caregivers playing an integral role in self-regulation development. While caregivers’ emotions and behaviors are known to impact child self-regulatory capacity, the impact of child self-regulation difficulties on parents is less understood. This study explored parents’ experience of child self-regulation difficulties using semi-structured qualitative interviews with 23 parents (87% female; 90% European Australian; M age = 35.95) of children (aged 5 years and under) in Australia. Five key themes were identified through thematic analysis: ‘supporting child self-regulation is hard’, ‘takes a toll on parents’, ‘challenging for parents to self-regulate’, ‘relationships change’, and ‘daily life needs to change’. This research highlights the need for programs that support parents with children experiencing self-regulation difficulties.