Perceived child behaviour problems, parenting stress, and marital satisfaction: comparison of new arrival and local parents of preschool children in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVE To compare parental perception of child behaviour problems, parenting stress, and marital satisfaction in new arrival and local parents. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey; semi-structured interview. SETTING Maternal and Child Health Centres, social service centres, preschools. PARTICIPANTS Parents of preschool children, including new arrival parents and local parents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Child behaviour problems, parenting stress, and marital satisfaction. RESULTS After controlling for socio-economic factors, new arrival parents were more troubled by their children's behaviour problems and their parent-child interactions were more dysfunctional than those of local parents. There were no differences in parent-reported severity of child behaviour problems, parental distress, and marital satisfaction. New arrival parents reported difficulties in adapting to the new living environment and lack of social support. CONCLUSIONS New arrival parents were more troubled by their children's behaviour, and their parent-child interactions were more dysfunctional than those of local parents. These might in part be related to their settlement difficulties. Parenting programmes should address their specific settlement needs.