Parenting by mothers from marginalized communities and the role of socioeconomic disadvantage: insights from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia.

Background: Roma living in marginalized communities often face poor living conditions and material deprivation, which may negatively impact parenting. Our aim is to compare the parenting behavior (support, harsh discipline, and stimulation) of mothers from marginalized Roma communities and the majority population in Slovakia. We also examine the role of socioeconomic disadvantage and related worries in the differences in parenting behavior between these groups.

Perceived Stress of Mothers, Harsh Discipline, and Early Childhood Mental Health: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study in Marginalized Roma Communities.

This study aims to compare the early childhood mental health of children from marginalized Roma communities (MRCs) in Slovakia with that of the majority and explore possible mediating pathways of mothers' perceived stress and harsh discipline practices. We used data from the first wave of the longitudinal RomaREACH study collected in 2021-2022. Two populations were included in the sample: 94 mother-child dyads from MRCs and 79 from the majority population (children aged 14-18 months).