Introduction <p>Mothers with a history of childhood maltreatment tend to exhibit more negative parenting behavior and lower sensitivity toward their children, contributing to the intergenerational cycle of maltreatment. Higher levels of parenting stress may play a key role in this relationship.</p> Purpose <p>In this study, we examined the influence of parenting stress as a moderator between a history of maternal emotional abuse and parenting behaviors.</p> Method <p>A sample of 65 mothers with children aged 2 to 5 years was recruited for the study. The short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF) was used to assess the type of maltreatment experienced by the participants. An observation grid from the Coding Interactive Behavior (CIB) tool was used to assess positive and negative parenting behaviors. Finally, the short form of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-SF) was administered to measure the level of parenting stress experienced by the mothers.</p> Results <p>Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that when parenting stress is low, there are fewer negative parenting behaviors when mothers have no history of emotional abuse, and it increases with more severe experiences of emotional abuse. When parenting stress is high, negative parenting practices are high when there is no documented history of emotional abuse, and they decrease as the severity of maltreatment increases.</p> Conclusions <p>These findings have important implications for intervention. For parents without a history of childhood emotional abuse, parenting stress could be an important focus for interventions. However, for parents with a history of emotional maltreatment, interventions should focus on trauma first.</p>