Prediction of Sexual Behavior Problems of Children Based on Parenting Stress and Marital Conflict

Sexual behavior problems are among the most common behavioral problems of children. This study aimed to predict sexual behavior problems of children, both with and without pre-existing sexual problems, based on parenting stress and marital conflict.

The present study was a descriptive-correlational study. The study population consisted of parents with children between the aged between 6 to 12 in Ahvaz city in 2021. A total of 294 parents were selected for the study using convenient sampling. The data were collected online using the questionnaires of children's sexual behavioral problems, parenting stress, and marital conflicts. Data analysis was conducted by discriminate analysis throughout SPSS software.

The results showed that parenting stress and marital conflicts are predictors of children's sexual behavioral problems; And these variables are able to predict the group membership of children in two groups with sexual behavioral problems and without sexual behavioral problems. The significance level in this study was p<0.01.

Finding suggest that reducing parenting stress and resolving in marital conflicts can help prevent children's sexual problems. Moreover, these parental variables should be considered when working with children who have sexual problems.