Parental personality traits and changes in parenting stress after a parent- child psychodynamic intervention

Introduction The Focal Play Therapy with Children and Parents (FPT-CP) is a psychodynamic treatment originally developed for eating and evacuation disorders and then adapted to a wide range of parent–child relationship problems during preschool years. It is based on both the active engagement of parents in the diagnostic-therapeutic process and the use of play as a narrative dimension of the family history. Aim The present study wants to investigate the relationship between parental personality traits and changes in parenting stress after the first seven sessions of FPT-CP. Material and Method Parents accessed the Psychological Consultation Centre for Children and Parents (Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy) for their child’s (0-5 years) behavioral, eating, or evacuation problems.Sixty Italian parents (30 mothers; M = 39.9, SD = 4.9, and M = 42.1, SD = 5.1, for mothers and fathers respectively) participated to the study. The FPT-CP is structured into weekly alternate play sessions with children and parents together and sessions with parents only. At the end of the first session parents were asked to fill in a demographic questionnaire and two self-reports on parenting stress and the Big Five personality traits, while at the end of the seventh session only the questionnaire on parenting stress was completed. Conclusion Results show an association between variation in parenting stress from the first to the seventh FPT session and personality traits. Different patterns were detected in mothers compared to fathers. For example, neuroticism was involved in both mothers and fathers parental stress levels but for fathers had a significant positive association only with post-intervention stress levels. Personality traits should be taken into consideration when treating child-related problems.