Different associations of mother and father parenting practices with child conduct problems and CU traits in a clinic-referred sample of young children.

This study investigated associations between mother and father parenting practices and the severity of conduct problems and callous–unemotional (CU) traits for 92 clinic-referred children (3 to 9 years) diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and/or Conduct Disorder. Parents completed measures of positive (warmth, involvement, reinforcement) and negative (harsh, inconsistent discipline, poor monitoring) parenting and child CU traits and conduct problems. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that fewer positive parenting practices were uniquely associated with higher CU traits for both mothers and fathers, even after controlling for negative parenting, conduct problem severity, and demographic factors. In contrast, mother, not father, negative parenting practices were uniquely related to more severe conduct problems. These findings highlight the protective influence of positive parenting in mitigating CU traits and underscore the particular significance of mothers’ discipline strategies in the development of conduct problems. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.