Empirical evidence suggests that children's disruptive behaviour (CDB) and quality of parenting influence one another bidirectionally. However, few studies have considered the separate contribution of the mother--child and father--child relationships to disruptive behaviours within a longitudinal context. Against this background, the reciprocal influence between CDB and five dimensions of maternal and paternal parenting was examined from kindergarten through grade 2 in a community sample of 644 children. These relationships were investigated using cross-lagged panel correlation and reciprocal effect analysis. Differences and similarities emerged in the direction of effects linking maternal and paternal parenting and CDB. At school entry, a reciprocal parent--child influence was evident for mothers only. However, as children grew older, a unidirectional effect from CDB to parenting was noted for both fathers and mothers. Implications for future research focusing on the link between CDB and the parent--child relationship are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 5 figures.)