Abstract

“Parenting by lying” refers to the parenting behavior whereby parents use lies to control their children’s emotions and behaviors. This widespread parenting practice is known to predict psychosocial maladjustment among children. However, few studies have examined the antecedents of this phenomenon. This study is intended to investigate the relationship between parenting stress, parenting by lying, children’s lying to their parents, and children’s psychosocial maladjustment among 195 parents of children aged 6 to 12. The results indicated that parents with higher levels of parenting stress lied more frequently, resulting in increased dishonesty among children toward their parents, ultimately contributing to children’s psychosocial maladjustment. This study is the first attempt to identify parenting stress as a preceding factor for parenting by lying among parents of school-aged children. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.