The moderating effect of parenting efficacy on the relationship between child's temperament and parental depression

[Display omitted] •Children's emotionality was positively related to parental depression.•Children's sociality was negatively associated with parental depression.•Children's activity was not associated with parental depression.•Parenting efficacy was negatively related to parental depression.•Parenting efficacy interacting with children's emotionality. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Korean Survey of Children (2018), 13.7% of the primary caregivers experienced depression. Depression experienced by main caregiver negative effect on the development of their children. This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of parenting efficacy on the relationship between child temperament and parental depression. Participants and setting: A total of 468 participants, including 431 women (92.1%) and 37 men (7.9%) were included in the study. This study analyzed data from the Korean Survey of Children (For Parents, 2018) conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea. The survey was conducted from January 7, 2019, to February 28, 2019. In this study, the Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability Scale (EAS), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and The Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC) were used to measure children's temperament, parental depression, and parenting efficacy. This study used PROCESS Macro 3.5 for SPSS 25.0 to analyze the moderating effect. Additionally, simple regression was conducted to verify the interaction effect. The results showed that the emotionality of children is positively related to their parents’ states of depression. Their sociality was negatively associated with parental depression. However, children's activities were not associated with parental depression. Second, parenting efficacy was negatively related to parental depression. Third, parenting efficacy moderated the relationship between the emotionality of children and parental depression. The results of this study suggest that there is a correlation between parent–child interaction, as well as parenting efficacy and parents' depression level. It is particularly significant in that it presents the necessity and theoretical basis for a parenting program.