The Interplay between Child Temperament and Parenting Influences on Internalising and Externalising Difficulties of Children: A Systematic Review of the Literature

<jats:sec> <jats:title>Introduction:</jats:title> <jats:p>Both child temperament and parenting have been investigated as important factors in the development of the psychological and emotional well-being of children. However, their relationship has not been systematically reviewed in early-mid childhood. Therefore, this study aimed to review the interplay between child temperament and parenting influences on childhood internalising and externalising problems.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods:</jats:title> <jats:p>A systematic search was carried out on psychological and bio-medical databases from inception to July 2023. Only original articles, written in English, assessing the impact of temperament and parenting on childhood internalising and externalising problems before the age of 9 were included.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results and Discussion:</jats:title> <jats:p>Out of an initial pool of 868 records, a total of 190 records were deemed eligible for full-text screening, and 21 studies were included in the narrative synthesis. Of the 16 studies that explored both parent and child influences, all but one found a joint effect of parent and child variables on the outcomes. Multiple studies found evidence for temperament as a moderator in the relationship between parenting and mental health outcomes, but there was also evidence of moderating and mediating effects of parenting on internalising and externalising problems in childhood.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion:</jats:title> <jats:p>The findings of this review highlight that both parenting and child temperament play a role in internalising and externalising difficulties and the importance of considering both contributions of child temperament and parenting behaviours in developmental psychopathology research. However, whilst we can conclude parenting and child factors play a role in these difficulties, deciphering the specific traits and how they interact requires further exploration. Future studies should consider the importance of recruiting nationally representative samples or over sampling from disadvantaged communities and increasing the presence of fathers within the literature on parenting.</jats:p> </jats:sec>