Parental Problem Drinking and Children's Adjustment: Family Conflict and Parental Depression as Mediators and Moderators of Risk

We examined marital conflict, parent–child conflict, and maternal and paternal depression symptoms as mediators and moderators in the associations between fathers' and mothers' problem drinking and children's adjustment. A community sample of 6–12-year-old boys and girls and their mothers, fathers, and teachers participated. Marital conflict, parent–child conflict, and maternal depression symptomatology each functioned as a mediator of the association between father's problem drinking and children's externalizing and internalizing problems, and maternal depression symptoms accounted partially for the link between father's problem drinking and children's social problems. For mother's problem drinking, marital conflict, parent–child conflict, and maternal depression symptoms each mediated the association with children's externalizing problems. Further, parent–child conflict explained partially the link between mother's problem drinking and internalizing problems, and marital conflict accounted for the association between mother's problem drinking and social problems. When the mediators were simultaneously examined, parent–child conflict was the most robust mediator of the association between parental problem drinking and externalizing problems, and maternal depression symptomatology was the most consistent mediator of the relation between parental problem drinking and internalizing problems. Further, parent–child conflict and paternal and maternal depression symptoms each interacted with parental problem drinking to moderate some domains of children's adjustment. The significant moderation effects indicate that parent–child conflict is a robust vulnerability factor for internalizing problems.     

Reciprocal influences between parents' marital problems and adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior

The present study examines reciprocal associations between marital functioning and adolescent maladjustment using cross-lagged autoregressive models. The research involved 451 early adolescents and their families and used a prospective, longitudinal research design with multi-informant methods. Results indicate that parental conflicts over child rearing predicted adolescent depressive symptoms and delinquency. In turn, these adolescent problems exacerbated parental conflicts over child rearing. Furthermore, conflict over child rearing served as the nexus through which more generalized marital dissatisfaction and adolescent adjustment problems were reciprocally interrelated. This research replicates earlier observations that marital problems intensify adolescent maladjustment and extends the literature by demonstrating that adolescent problems also predict marital conflict and ultimately marital dissatisfaction. In sum, the present study demonstrates that marital dissatisfaction, conflict over child rearing, and early adolescent adjustment difficulties are interwoven in a dynamic family system marked by reciprocity along these dimensions.     

Interparental conflict, negative parenting, and children's adjustment: bridging links between parents' depression and children's psychological distress

Pathways linking parental depressive symptoms, adult relationship insecurity, interparental conflict, negative parenting, and children's psychological adjustment (internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems) were assessed using a 3-wave longitudinal research design. Two-parent families (N = 352) with 11- to 13-year-old children (179 boys, 173 girls) participated in the study. Maternal and paternal depressive symptoms were associated with insecurity in adult close relationships assessed 12 months later, which was concurrently related to heightened levels of interparental conflict. Controlling for children's initial symptom levels, interparental conflict was related to child appraisals of father and mother rejection assessed an additional 12 months later, which were related to children's internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems, respectively. Results are discussed with regard to the implications for understanding the complex interplay between adult depressive symptoms, attributions in close adult relationships, interparental conflict, negative parenting, and children's psychological adjustment.     

Children's influence in the marital relationship.

In a 3-wave longitudinal study, the authors tested hypotheses regarding children's influence on the marital relationship, examining relations between interparental discord and children's negative emotional reactivity, agentic behavior, dysregulated behavior, and psychosocial adjustment. Participants were 232 cohabiting mothers and fathers who completed questionnaires and a marital conflict resolution task. Consistent with theory, interparental discord related to children's negative emotional reactivity, which in turn related to children's agentic and dysregulated behavior. Agentic behavior related to decreases in interparental discord, whereas dysregulated behavior related to increases in discord and elevations in children's adjustment problems. Person-oriented analyses of agentic and dysregulated responses indicated distinct clusters of children linked with meaningful individual differences in marital and psychosocial functioning. Results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms of child effects, such as increased parental awareness of children's distress potentially leading to reduced marital conflict.     

Parental Dysphoria and Children’s Adjustment: Marital Conflict Styles,Children’s Emotional Security,and Parenting as Mediators of Risk

Dimensions of martial conflict, children's emotional security regarding interparental conflict, and parenting style were examined as mediators between parental dysphoria and child adjustment. A community sample of 262 children, ages 8–16, participated with their parents. Behavioral observations were made of parents’ interactions during marital conflict resolution tasks, which children later observed to assess their emotional security. Questionnaires assessed parents’ dysphoria, parenting, and children's adjustment. Structural equation modeling indicated that parental dysphoria was linked with child adjustment through specific and distinct mediating family processes, including marital conflict and parenting. Children's emotional security in the context of particular marital conflict styles also mediated relations between parental dysphoria and child adjustment problems, with similar pathways found for mothers and fathers. These pathways remained significant even after significant parenting contributions were considered.     

Marital discord and childhood behavior problems

Measures of overt marital hostility, general marital adjustment, and children's behavior problems were obtained from the parents of 64 children referred to a child psychological clinic. Correlations between children's scores on measures of general marital unhappiness and overt marital hostility were compared. Overt marital hostility correlated significantly with many behavior problems of boys. However, neither general marital unhappiness nor overt marital hostility related to problem behaviors in girls. Specific findings and possible reasons for the differential results with respect to boys and girls were discussed.Special thanks to Robert Emery for his expertise regarding the analysis of our data.     

A genetically informed study of associations between family functioning and child psychosocial adjustment

Research has documented associations between family functioning and offspring psychosocial adjustment, but questions remain regarding whether these associations are partly due to confounding genetic factors and other environmental factors. The current study used a genetically informed approach, the Children of Twins design, to explore the associations between family functioning (family conflict, marital quality, and agreement about parenting) and offspring psychopathology. Participants were 867 twin pairs (388 monozygotic; 479 dizygotic) from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden, their spouses, and children (51.7% female; M = 15.75 years). The results suggested associations between exposure to family conflict (assessed by the mother, father, and child) and child adjustment were independent of genetic factors and other environmental factors. However, when family conflict was assessed using only children's reports, the results indicated that genetic factors also influenced these associations. In addition, the analyses indicated that exposure to low marital quality and agreement about parenting was associated with children's internalizing and externalizing problems and that genetic factors also contributed to the associations of marital quality and agreement about parenting with offspring externalizing problems.     

Economic Pressure and Children's Psychological Functioning

We examined the mediating role of family dynamics (marital quality, parental depression) in the link between economic pressure and child psychological functioning using the data from the National Survey of Family and Households (NSFH). From the initial multiethnic probability sample, we used a subsample of 2998 parents with a focal child 5 to 17 years of age. We used structural equation modeling using AMOS 4.0 to test the model. The results indicated support for associations among economic pressure, marital quality, parental depression, parenting strategies and children outcomes. Economic pressure was associated with lower marital quality and higher depression. Higher conflict and psychological distress was associated with frequent use of harsh discipline techniques and lower psychological functioning in children.     

Marital Satisfaction and Child Adjustment: Direct and Mediated Pathways

We explored whether there is a direct association between marital satisfaction and children's psychological adjustment. We also investigated a competing model to assess whether marital satisfaction is indirectly related to child outcomes through its associations with parents' depression and involvement in childrearing. Analyses of data from 1,101 participants in the National Survey of Families and Households indicated that mothers' and fathers' reports of marital satisfaction were significantly associated with child symptomatology. Moreover, mothers who experienced marital dissatisfaction were less involved with their children, which in turn was associated with greater child psychological distress. This mediated pathway was not significant for fathers.     

Family Cohesion and Health-Related Quality of Life of Children with Type 1 Diabetes: The Mediating Role of Parental Adjustment

Despite the increasing number of studies on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D), little is known about the influence of family and parental factors on this outcome. This study aimed to explore whether family cohesion and children’s HRQOL were connected through three indicators of parental psychological adjustment (parenting stress, depressive symptoms, and anxious symptoms) as well as whether these links varied according to the child’s age. Levels of family cohesion, parenting stress, and depression/anxiety symptoms of parents of children with T1D and parents of healthy children were compared. The sample included 88 child–parent dyads composed of children/adolescents (8–18 years old) with T1D and one of their parents and 121 dyads composed of healthy children/adolescents and one of their parents. The parents completed self-report measures of family cohesion, parenting stress, and emotional adjustment, and the children completed measures of HRQOL. Testing of the hypothesized moderated mediational model showed that higher HRQOL ratings in children were associated with higher levels of cohesion through lower levels of parental stress, regardless of the child’s age. Parents of children with T1D perceived less cohesion and felt more anxiety and stress about parenting tasks compared to parents of healthy children. Our findings suggest that parents of children with T1D are at an increased risk of psychological maladjustment. Moreover, this study highlights the interrelation between family/parental functioning and child adjustment and makes an innovative contribution by identifying a mechanism that may account for the link between family and child variables.     

母亲感知的共同教养对幼儿行为问题的影响：一个有调节的中介模型

为探讨婚姻冲突在母亲感知的共同教养与儿童行为问题之间的中介作用,以及儿童心理韧性在其中的调节作用,本研究选取上海市2所幼儿园170名5岁儿童及母亲进行为期一年的追踪,结果发现:(1)母亲感知的共同教养与婚姻冲突、儿童行为问题呈显著负相关;(2)婚姻冲突在母亲感知的共同教养与儿童行为问题之间起中介作用;(3)儿童心理韧性在婚姻冲突影响儿童行为问题的关系中起调节作用,即儿童心理韧性调节了中介过程的后半段路径。上述结果表明,母亲感知的共同教养会通过婚姻冲突影响学龄前儿童行为问题,儿童拥有较高的心理韧性能够缓冲父母婚姻冲突对儿童行为问题的不良影响。     

Young Children's Responding to Interparental Conflict: Associations with Marital Aggression and Child Adjustment

We designed this study to examine children's self-reported and observed emotional and behavioral responding to marital conflict as a potential mechanism linking marital physical aggression (as reported by the parents) and children's behavioral adjustment (as reported by their preschool teachers). In a sample of 48 preschoolers, parental marital physical aggression was positively associated with children's observed dysregulated responding to interparental conflict and negatively associated with children's self-reported behavioral disruption. Marital aggression and children's self-reported responding to marital conflict predicted teacher-reported behavior problems, with both variables adding unique variance. Our findings suggested a potential pathway linking exposure to marital conflict, children's regulatory strategies, and children's behavioral adjustment outside the home.     

The effects of family composition,family health,parenting behavior and environmental stress on children's divorce adjustment

The traditional family composition model of children's divorce adjustment was compared to a family competence model. Subjects included 81 children whose parents remained married, were divorced, or were divorced and subsequently remarried. Divorced families had been separated for between 24 and 48 months. Custodial parents completed questionnaires regarding family functioning, occurrence of stressful life events, and child's psychosocial adjustment. Children completed questionnaires regarding parenting behaviors and self-esteem. A trained examiner conducted a structured diagnostic interview of the child. Multivariate analysis of covariance showed that family composition had a significant effect on the occurrence of stressful events and change in income but not children's adjustment. Hierarchical multiple regression correlations indicated the most powerful predictors of child adjustment were family competence variables which accounted for 21% of the variance in child adjustment scores. In contrast, family composition accounted for only 8% of variance in child adjustment scores. Further, hierarchical multiple regression correlations indicated that higher levels of family functioning were associated with families where parental hostility was low and parents displayed few rejecting behaviors while practicing consistent and appropriate discipline.     

Longitudinal Associations Between Parental and Children’s Depressive Symptoms in the Context of Interparental Relationship Functioning

Using longitudinal, multi-informant data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the present study tested associations between trajectories of parental and child depressive symptoms from ages 11 to 15 years. Consistent with predictions, changes in mothers’ and fathers’ depressive symptoms were positively associated with change in children’s depressive symptoms over time. In addition, youth characteristics of sex and pubertal development moderated the trajectories, with children more advanced on pubertal development showing higher initial levels of depressive symptoms, and girls demonstrating steeper slopes of depressive symptoms over time. The context of interparental relationship functioning (i.e., marital conflict, marital conflict resolution) moderated both the trajectories of child depressive symptoms and the interplay between parental and child depressive symptoms in ways largely consistent with hypotheses. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of treating youth depressive symptoms with a consideration of the broader family context, including parental and interparental functioning.     

The impact of parental multiple sclerosis on the adjustment of children and adolescents

Thirty-one parents with multiple sclerosis (MS) participated in a study to investigate the adjustment of their children, 24 boys and 24 girls aged 4 to 16 years. The majority of parents believed that their illness had an effect on their children. The perception of parents regarding their children's problems in the areas of emotions, concentration, behavior, or social interactions indicated that the children were at three times greater risk than the general community of developing psychological problems. In contrast, actual symptom scores reported by parents revealed that, although these children were at greater risk than the general community of developing peer problems, little difference was found on hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, or total difficulties. Parental negative affect predicted both parental reports of peer problems and perceptions that the parents' illness had an effect on their children. Parental relationship satisfaction and family income did not predict parental reports of children's level of adjustment. These results indicate that children of parents with MS demonstrate more difficulties in how they relate to others, the distress they experience, and how they manage their lives, rather than revealing higher levels of symptoms. Since the data were based on parental reports of their children's problems, the results may also be due to negative affect among the parents.     

Psychological adjustment of children in the pretransplant phase of bone marrow transplantation: Relationships with parent distress,parent stress,and child coping

Families of 22 children preparing to undergo bone marrow transplantation (BMT) provided information concerning parent-reported major negative life stress, child coping strategies, parental psychological symptomatology, and child adjustment. Immediately prior to BMT, children and families are confronted with multiple stresses which challenge the child's coping and strain the parents' ability to assist the child with coping. Hence, stress, parental adjustment (distress), and child coping may be important factors affecting the child's overall psychological adjustment. Results showed that 15–25% of children and parents experienced clinically significant levels of psychological distress. Parent and child psychological distress were closely related. Major negative life stresses experienced by the parent and use of avoidant coping by the child significantly predicted child adjustment problems in the pretransplant period. Coping skills interventions targeting avoidant coping and management of parental stress/distress may reduce child psychosocial risk prior to BMT.     

Parental conflict and other correlates of the adjustment of school-age children whose parents have separated

In this study, several factors related to psychological adjustment of schoolage children were examined in a sample of 40 lower-class families in which the parents were separated. It was hypothesized that parental conflict and other indices of family adversity, including maternal depression, income, and the length of time past since parental separation, would be important predictors of children's behavioral adjustment. Parental acrimony was found to be a significant correlate of children's behavioral problems, even when other family variables were taken into account. In addition, independent and additive effects on children's functioning were found for parental discord and maternal depression, with some support found for an additional variable, family income. In contrast to some prior investigations, the length of time since parental separation was unrelated to children's functioning. Results are discussed in terms of Rutter's cumulative stress hypothesis and previous research on parental discord.This research was supported in part by a grant to Robert E. Emery from the William T. Grant Foundation.     

Preschoolers with Asthma: Narratives of Family Functioning Predict Behavior Problems

This study tested a model predicting behavior symptoms in preschoolers with asthma. Specifically, it examined the role that asthma severity and children's representations of family functioning may play in the development of child behavior problems in a sample of 53 low-income preschoolers. The study included parent report of asthma severity and a narrative story-stem method to assess children's representations of both general and disease-specific family processes. A regression model tested the inclusion of both types of family processes in predicting child internalizing and externalizing behavior. Disease severity and children's family narratives independently predicted children's behavior over and above the combined effects of demographic variables including child age, socioeconomic status, and family structure. Although children's narratives about general family functioning predicted children's behavior, narratives about family response to asthma symptoms did not. Findings support that both disease severity and family functioning are important considerations in understanding children's behavior problems in the context of asthma. Clinical applications of findings may include: (1) Informing family based-assessments to incorporate children's narratives, and (2) A focus on reducing asthma symptoms and strengthening family functioning to prevent or address child behavior problems.     

Links between parental psychological violence, other family disturbances, and children's adjustment

In a sample of 143 parent-child dyads from two-parent and separated families, this investigation documented the links between parental psychological violence and separation or divorce, severity of parental conflict, triangulation of the child in this conflict, and polarized parent-child alliances. The unique and combined contributions of all these variables to children's behavior problems were also assessed. Participants were parents, mostly mothers, and their 10-12-year-old child. They were recruited through schools, community organizations, and newspapers. Questionnaires were administered at home. Findings suggest that separated families undergo more relational disturbances than two-parent families (more severe conflicts, more triangulation, stronger parent-child alliances), but the amount of parental psychological violence was similar in both groups. Psychological violence was associated with the severity of parental conflict, especially in two-parent families. Triangulation of the child in parental conflict was another correlate of psychological violence. Once all variables were controlled for, psychological violence remained the only significant correlate of children's externalized behavior problems. These findings raise the importance of preventing psychological violence toward children, especially in families plagued with severe parental conflicts.     

Parental Perceptions of Individual and Dyadic Adjustment as Predictors of Observed Coparenting Cohesion: A Cross‐National Study

Over the past 20 years, systemically guided approaches to understanding early family processes have helped to provide greater clarity concerning the interplay among individual, dyadic, and family level processes. Parental depression, marital functioning, and child adjustment in particular appear to be reliable predictors of coparental and family level functioning. Indeed, cohesion at the level of the family group covaries in theoretically meaningful ways with these indicators of individual and dyadic adjustment. In this study, two collaborating research groups (one in Switzerland, the second in the United States) partnered to examine whether similar patterns of relationships exist among individual and marital adjustment and coparenting processes in families of 4‐year‐old children. Using similar constructs but disparate and occasionally dissimilar measures, both groups measured parent‐reported depression, marital satisfaction, and child behavior problems. Coparenting cooperation and warmth were observed during family interactions. Despite differences between samples and evaluation tools, similar results were found for the Swiss and U.S. samples. A model with depression, marital satisfaction, and child symptoms as predictors of a latent factor of observed coparenting cooperation and warmth showed good fit to data in both samples, suggesting the model was relevant for each. Parameter estimation showed that higher coparenting cooperation and warmth was predicted by lower maternal depression and higher child internalizing symptoms. The common significant effects despite differences in assessment paradigms and instrumentation are of substantive interest. Future directions pertinent to the coparenting questions addressed in this research are discussed.