Parents of children with developmental disabilities (DD) are at increased risk of
experiencing psychological stress compared to other parents. Children’s high levels of
internalizing and externalizing problems have been found to contribute to this elevated
level of stress. Few studies have considered the reverse direction of effects, however, in
families where a child has a DD. The present study investigated transactional relations
between child behavior problems and maternal stress within 176 families raising a child
with early diagnosed DD. There was evidence of both child-driven and parent-driven
effects over the 15-year study period, spanning from early childhood (age 3) to
adolescence (age 18), consistent with transactional models of development. Parent–child
transactions were found to vary across different life phases and with different domains of
behavior problems.