Comparative study on emotional behavior and parental job stress of only-child and non-only-child preschool children.

Background: Studies have revealed that Children's psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems are easily influenced by the family environment. In recent years, the family structure in China has undergone significant changes, with more families having two or three children.
Aim: To explore the relationship between emotional behavior and parental job stress in only preschool and non-only preschool children.
Methods: Children aged 3-6 in kindergartens in four main urban areas of Shijiazhuang were selected by stratified sampling for a questionnaire and divided into only and non-only child groups. Their emotional behaviors and parental pressure were compared. Only and non-only children were paired in a 1:1 ratio by class and age (difference less than or equal to 6 months), and the matched data were compared. The relationship between children's emotional behavior and parents' job stress before and after matching was analyzed.
Results: Before matching, the mother's occupation, children's personality characteristics, and children's rearing patterns differed between the groups ( P < 0.05). After matching 550 pairs, differences in the children's parenting styles remained. There were significant differences in children's gender and parents' attitudes toward children between the two groups. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores of children in the only child group and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) scores of parents were significantly lower than those in the non-only child group ( P < 0.05). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that after matching, there was a positive correlation between children's parenting style and parents' attitudes toward their children ( r = 0.096, P < 0.01), and the PSI-SF score was positively correlated with children's gender, parents' attitudes toward their children, and SDQ scores ( r = 0.077, 0.193, 0.172, 0.222).
Conclusion: Preschool children's emotional behavior and parental pressure were significantly higher in multi-child families. Parental pressure in differently structured families was associated with many factors, and preschool children's emotional behavior was positively correlated with parental pressure.
Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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