Bidirectional Relationships Between Child Behaviour and Parenting Practices: A Cross-Lagged Panel Study in Lagos and Ogun States

This study examines the bidirectional relationships between child behaviour problems and parenting practices over time through a cross-lagged panel design in Lagos and Ogun states, South West Nigeria. Developmental research has increasingly recognised that parent-child relationships are transactional, with children's characteristics eliciting parenting responses that in turn shape subsequent child behaviour. However, direct longitudinal tests of bidirectional models using Nigerian samples are absent from the literature. A sample of 520 parent-child dyads with children aged 4 to 7 years at baseline was assessed at three time points across 18 months. Child behaviour was assessed using the Achenbach Child Behaviour Checklist, and parenting practices were evaluated using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. Cross-lagged autoregressive structural equation models with full information maximum likelihood estimation were applied. Results indicate significant cross-lagged effects in both directions: harsh parenting predicted subsequent child externalising behaviour, and elevated child externalising behaviour predicted subsequent increases in harsh parenting. The child-to-parent effect was stronger for boys, while the parent-to-child effect was more robust for internalising symptoms. Positive parenting demonstrated bidirectional protective effects across the assessment period. The study contributes original longitudinal transactional evidence from a Nigerian sample and recommends that parenting interventions address child behaviour management skills alongside parental warmth and consistency, recognising the reactive dynamics that sustain coercive cycles. Keywords: bidirectional relationships, child behaviour, parenting practices, cross-lagged panel study, Nigeria.