Objective:

To examine the mediating role of harsh discipline in the relationship between parenting stress and internalizing problems (such as anxiety and depression) in children and adolescents, while considering the moderating effect of emotion regulation.

Key Findings:

• Harsh discipline mediates the link between parenting stress and internalizing problems in children and adolescents.
• Emotion regulation strategies such as acceptance and cognitive reappraisal reduce the impact of parenting stress on harsh discipline.
• Distraction and rumination enhance the effect of parenting stress on harsh discipline.
• Expressive suppression had no significant moderating effect.
• The intervention improved parents' emotion regulation, reduced parenting stress, and alleviated internalizing problems in children.

Interpretation:

The findings highlight the psychological mechanisms through which parenting stress affects child mental health and underscore the importance of emotion regulation interventions in mitigating these effects, suggesting avenues for future research.

Limitations:

• Cross-sectional design limits causal inferences.
• Self-reported measures may introduce bias.
• Sample diversity and generalizability are not addressed.

Conclusion:

Interventions focusing on emotion regulation can effectively reduce parenting stress and harsh discipline, thereby enhancing child mental health, particularly by addressing the role of harsh discipline.