Path models on random samples of fathers (N = 159) and mothers (N = 275) in Utah examine direct and indirect relations between parenting difficulty and variables reflecting family stressors, social and personal resources, and background characteristics. Parenting difficulty appears to be significantly affected by the stressful characteristics of the parenting environment. Specifically, for both mothers and fathers, the inconvenience of parenting seems to affect parenting difficulty positively. Among fathers, parenting difficulty is also related to financial stress. The availability of privacy in the home appears to affect parenting difficulty indirectly for both parents by reducing the experience of parenting inconvenience. Nonfamily social support variables do not appear to affect aspects of the parenting environment or the level of parenting difficulty. Family size and family life cycle variables are more relevant to mothers than to fathers, since they affect only the mothers' access to privacy.
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