The role of family dynamics in symptoms, course, and outcome of pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) has been extensively studied. Individual caregiver characteristics have received less attention in the literature. Understanding how caregiver traits are related to child symptoms could have important implications for psychosocial treatment of PBD, where the parents are heavily involved. This study explored the direct and interactive associations between parent psychopathology, stress, efficacy, and coping and symptoms of PBD in 64 parents of children meeting DSM-IV criteria for bipolar I, II, or NOS. Parent psychopathology predicted increased child mania and depression severity among parents with low, but not average or above average use of coping skills. Without effective coping skills, parent psychopathology may have effects of the severity of their child’s symptoms of mania or depression. Future research should explore the extent to which interventions that teach caregivers effective tools and skills to cope with their child’s illness mitigate the effects of their own psychopathology.