Paternal parenting stress and young children's social adjustment: The mediating role of instrumental media use and the moderating role of coparenting quality

Objective: To explore the relationship between fathers' parenting stress and preschoolers' social adjustment, and to examine the mediating role of instrumental media use and the moderating role of coparenting quality. Methods: The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, the Child Social Competence and Behavior Scale, the Instrumental Media Use Scale, and the Perceived Coparenting Relationship Scale were used to survey the parents of 287 middle- and senior-class preschoolers in public kindergartens in Shanghai. Results: (1) Fathers' parenting stress was significantly positively correlated with preschoolers' internalizing and externalizing problems, and significantly negatively correlated with social competence; (2) Instrumental media use partially mediated the relationship between fathers' parenting stress and preschoolers' social adjustment...