Parenting profiles and dimensions in relation to children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the ECHO program

Parenting behaviors play a critical role in children’s socioemotional development and risk for psychopathology. Prior research has relied on both variable- and person-centered approaches to examine links between parenting and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors, yet few studies have integrated these approaches within a single investigation. In the current study, we combined both approaches by first utilizing latent profile analyses to identify profiles of parenting practices across multiple dimensions. We then utilized path analyses to examine whether parenting profiles (person-centered) and individual parenting dimensions (variable-centered) were associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The sample included children participating in the ECHO Cohort (N = 2,752; 49% female; M age  = 9.90 years, range = 5–18). Three parenting profiles were identified: Higher Positive Parenting–Better Supervision, Lower Positive Parenting–Medium Supervision, and Medium Positive Parenting–Poorer Supervision. The three profiles differed in children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors, with symptom levels increasing from Higher Positive – Better Supervision to Lower Positive – Medium Supervision, and highest in Medium Positive – Poorer Supervision. At the dimension level, positive parenting was negatively related to both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, whereas inconsistent discipline was positively related to both outcomes. Poor supervision was positively related to externalizing behaviors but was not associated with internalizing behaviors. Together, these findings advance theoretical models of the caregiving environment and its associations with child psychopathology risk, suggesting that interventions should target both specific dimensions and broader profiles of parenting practices.