This study examines the relationship between marital relationship quality, parenting stress, and child maltreatment risk in Indonesian families, and tests parenting stress as a mediating pathway. A quantitative survey was conducted with 275 married parents of children aged 1–17 years. Measures included the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale, an Indonesian-adapted Parental Stress Scale, and the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scales. Data were collected online and offline with informed consent, confidentiality safeguards, and ethics approval. Analyses comprised descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and path analysis. Results indicate that marital satisfaction is significantly and negatively associated with parenting stress (β = −0.621), while parenting stress is significantly and positively associated with child maltreatment risk (β = 0.408). The direct effect of marital satisfaction on child maltreatment risk is not significant (β = −0.127), whereas the total effect is significant, with a significant indirect effect through parenting stress (β = −0.248), supporting a full mediation pattern. Descriptively, the most frequently reported non-violent discipline practice is punishing a child for wrongdoing, and the dominant form of psychological aggression is threatening to hit. Novelty and contribution: the study (1) empirically tests a theoretically grounded mediation mechanism in an under-researched Southeast Asian context; (2) integrates validated measures to map the “couple relationship → parenting stress → maltreatment risk” pathway across a broad child age range (1–17 years); and (3) translates findings into an applied prevention framework that supports integrated interventions combining couple strengthening, parenting stress regulation, and technology-enabled referral pathways for child protection services.

Authors:
Erna Risnawati, Open University Indonesia, Indonesia
Nisa Arafiyah Tri Wulandari, Indonesia Open University, Indonesia
Siti Sa'diah, Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Erna Risnawati, M.Si., is a lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, Universitas Terbuka (Indonesia).

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erna-risnawati-b4a73a2a7/

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