The participants in the first study were 28 female and 11 male parents of at least 1 child age 12 years or younger. The second study included 65 female and 19 male parents who responded as volunteers to notices sent home from their child's school. The parents completed the Parenting Stress Index, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. The data were analyzed by means of hierarchical regression analysis. The results of both studies revealed that parenting stress and anger expression were individually correlated with the potential for child abuse. The major finding of the research was that parenting stress and anger expression made a strong joint contribution to the Child Abuse Potential Inventory scores. Tables and 15 references