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Sociological Perspectives on Parenting Stress: How Social Structure and Culture Shape Parental Strain and the Well-Being of Parents and Children

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Parental Stress and Early Child Development

Abstract

From a sociological perspective, parenting stress occurs in economic, social, and cultural contexts in which some parents are more disadvantaged than others. In this chapter, we discuss key sociological perspectives, such as stress process and life course theories, to illuminate the patterning of stressors impinging on parents, the resources they are able to bring to parenting, and ultimately, the well-being of parents and their children. Parents’ social class, race-ethnicity, gender, and other statuses are critical to understanding the types and levels of problems they experience, and the supports that they have in the parenting process. Future directions for the sociological study of parenting stress are articulated.

Research for this chapter was supported in part by a funding by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R15HD083891-1 PI: Kei Nomaguchi)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43402, USA

    Kei Nomaguchi

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 2J4, Canada

    Melissa A. Milkie

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  1. Kei Nomaguchi
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  2. Melissa A. Milkie
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Correspondence to Kei Nomaguchi .

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  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Kirby Deater-Deckard

  2. Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

    Robin Panneton

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Nomaguchi, K., Milkie, M.A. (2017). Sociological Perspectives on Parenting Stress: How Social Structure and Culture Shape Parental Strain and the Well-Being of Parents and Children. In: Deater-Deckard, K., Panneton, R. (eds) Parental Stress and Early Child Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55376-4_3

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