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Externalizing behavior (EB) has been found to be pervasive in children across different interactional systems. The transactional model is one of the most interesting and plausible mechanisms explaining the development of behavioral problems (Sameroff, 2009). The main goal of the study is to test bidirectional and recursive transactional relations between the quality of the caregiver–child relationship and children's externalizing behavior. The transactional model was tested in three-wave longitudinal cross-lagged models involving 117 children (78.5% boys) aged 4 at the beginning of the study and three caregivers, i.e. their mother, father and teacher. All of the children had been clinically referred for externalizing behavior. The multi-informant three-wave design was an original feature of this research. The results provided no evidence for a transactional process. The results suggest the singularity of each of these three interactional systems. They are discussed from the theoretical viewpoint and in terms of their clinical implications.

Objectives: The impact of autism on family life quality is a clinical reality. Research indicates a dynamic of mutual reinforcement between child's behavior and mothers' symptoms of depression. The objective of the current study is to investigate the association between depressive symptoms of mothers who have a child with autism and the child's behavioral disorder, and to indicate the importance of perceived stress, parental sense of competence and individual coping in their associations with mothers' symptoms of depression. Method: Participants (53 mothers, from 29 to 51 years, with a child with autism from 3 to 16 years) completed five standardized questionnaires. Bivariate correlations analysis and step by step regression analyses were done. Results: Significant correlations between mothers' psychological well-being and mothers' stress perception, parental sense of competence, child's behavioral disorder, and individual coping were found. The child's behavioral disorder is the first predictor (26%, p < .001) of depressive symptoms of mothers, followed by individual coping (21%, p < .001) and perceived stress (5%, p < .05). Conclusions: The negative bidirectional reinforcement described in literature was found in this study. Indeed, behavioral disorders of children with autism increase depressive symptoms in mother and vice versa. These results also suggest other important factors which modulate well-being of mothers of children with autism. Finally, because marital and leisure stress and individual stress coping explain an additional variance of depressive symptoms in mothers, the role of spouse and family support, as well as self-help groups and associations of families, is raised.