Abstract
Family resources (i.e. household income and spouse support), parenting challenges (i.e. number of children, difficulty finding reliable child care, and child characteristics), work rewards (i.e. work interest) and work demands (i.e. hours and work overload) were tested as predictors of parenting role stress among mothers and fathers in two-earner families of five-year old children with disabilities. The two-level hierarchical model was adapted to assess mothers and fathers as nested within married couples. Both common and unique predictors of maternal and paternal parenting role stress were found. Having fewer children in the family predicted less stress for both parents. Household income and an interaction between child behaviour problems and work interest were significant predictors of maternal parenting role stress. In contrast, greater difficulty in finding reliable child care predicted higher levels of parenting role stress for fathers but not mothers. The policy and research implications of these findings are discussed.