This study examines if self-esteem mediates the relationship between marital satisfaction and
parenting practice by using the Panel Study of Korean Children of Korea Institute of Child Care and
Education, and empirically analyzes if household income causes the difference of mediating effect.
For this research, the 3rd Panel Study of Korean Children (2010), including 1,802 children whose
average age is 25.75 months (SD=1.37), is employed. Based on the preceding studies which
demonstrated the effect of marital satisfaction on mothers' parenting behavior directly and indirectly,
a research model is designed by predicting that marital satisfaction might have a positive effect on
parenting practice through the mediation of self-esteem. Structuring equation was used to analyze
the model as the appropriate research method. The result of the data analysis utilizing a structural
equation model is as follows: Firstly, the higher the marital satisfaction of a mother is, the more it
influences her positive child-rearing attitude, not only directly, but also indirectly through her
self-worth. Secondly, the modifying effect in accordance with the level of the income of a household
was found to be meaningful only in the influences of the marital satisfaction to the self-worth. This
study result suggests that the enhancement of the self-worth of a mother will contribute to
improving the quality of child-rearing, regardless of the level of the income of a household.