Interparental violence, maternal emotional unavailability and children's cortisol functioning in family contexts

Our goal in the present study was to examine the specificity of pathways among interparental violence, maternal emotional unavailability, and children's cortisol reactivity to emotional stressors within interparental and parent-child relationships. The study also tested whether detrimental family contexts were associated, on average, with hypocortisolism or hypercortisolism responses to stressful family interactions in young children. Participants included 201 toddlers and their mothers who were from impoverished backgrounds and who experienced disproportionate levels of family violence. Assessments of interparental violence were derived from maternal surveys and interviews, whereas maternal emotional unavailability was assessed through maternal reports and observer ratings of caregiving. Salivary cortisol levels were sampled at 3 time points before and after laboratory paradigms designed to elicit children's reactivity to stressful interparental and parent-child contexts. Results indicated that interparental violence and the mother's emotional unavailability were differentially associated with children's adrenocorticol stress reactivity. Furthermore, these family risk contexts predicted lower cortisol change in response to distress. The results are interpreted in the context of risky family and emotional security theory conceptualizations that underscore how family contexts differentially impact children's physiological regulatory capacities.     

Delineating the sequelae of destructive and constructive interparental conflict for children within an evolutionary framework

We examined the joint role of constructive and destructive interparental conflict in predicting children's emotional insecurity and psychological problems. In Study 1, 250 early adolescents (M = 12.6 years) and their primary caregivers completed assessments of family and child functioning. In Study 2, 201 mothers and their 2-year-old children participated in a multimethod, longitudinal design with 3 annual measurement occasions. Findings from structural equation modeling in both studies revealed that children's emotional insecurity in the interparental relationship mediated associations between destructive interparental conflict and children's psychological problems even after including constructive conflict and family and child covariates as predictors. Conversely, emotional insecurity was not a mediator of associations between constructive interparental conflict and children's psychological problems when destructive interparental conflict was specified as a risk factor in the analyses. The results are consistent with the evolutionary reformulation of emotional security theory and the resulting primacy ascribed to destructive interparental conflict in accounting for individual differences in children's emotional insecurity and its pathogenic implications (Davies & Sturge-Apple, 2007).     

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.     

Caregiving representations of mothers of behaviorally inhibited and uninhibited preschool children

This study examined differences in the caregiving representations of mothers of 3- to 4-year-old behaviorally inhibited and uninhibited children with secure or insecure attachments. Mothers of inhibited children perceived their children as more vulnerable than did mothers of uninhibited children, and they acknowledged difficulties associated with their children's inhibited temperament. However, mothers of insecure inhibited children were less likely than mothers of secure inhibited children to validate their children's emotional experiences and to be aware of their children's internal states and perspectives, and they showed higher levels of boundary violation and defense against negative affect. Implications of the more problematic caregiving representations of mothers of insecure inhibited children for parent-child relationships are discussed.     

A Longitudinal Study of Interparental Conflict, Emotional and Behavioral Reactivity, and Preschoolers' Adjustment Problems among Low-Income Families

Researchers have begun to develop models that explain the processes by which interparental conflict impacts children's adjustment. The present study tested a model based on emotional security theory. The longitudinal relations among interparental conflict, boys' reactions to conflict, and internalizing and externalizing problems were examined in a sample of 129 mother–son dyads from low-income, 2-parent families from the time sons were age 2 to 5. Results indicated that children exposed to interparental conflict were more likely to have concurrent and later behavior problems and that patterns of interparental conflict across time made unique contributions in predicting later problems. Children's emotional reactivity in response to conflict had no direct relation to interparental conflict and only modest relations to behavior problems. However, interparental conflict and reactivity factors interacted to predict behavior problems at ages 3 1/2 and 5. Thus, some support was demonstrated for emotional reactivity as a moderator in the development of young children's behavior problems.     

Children's Emotional Security in the Interparental Relationship

ABSTRACT— In response to the societal premium placed on understanding the difficulties faced by children from high-conflict homes, emotional security theory aims to understand precisely how and why interparental discord is associated with children's psychological problems. One of its main premises is that interparental discord increases children's vulnerability to mental illness by undermining their sense of safety or security in the context of the interparental relationship. In this article, we highlight the main assumptions of a new ethological formulation of emotional security theory and its predictions and findings regarding the organization, precursors, and consequences of individual differences in children's emotional insecurity. We conclude with a synopsis of the value of the new formulation for future work.     

父母冲突损害青少年学业成绩:努力控制与课堂参与的中介作用

本研究采取方便取样法从山东省济宁市两所公立初中抽取815名学生作为被试,填写父母冲突特征量表、努力控制分量表和课堂参与量表,并以语文、数学和英语三门课程的期末考试成绩作为学业成绩的指标,考察父母冲突对青少年学业成绩的影响机制,特别是青少年努力控制和课堂参与的中介作用。结果显示：（1）父母冲突对青少年的学业成绩存在直接负向预测;（2）父母冲突通过损害青少年的努力控制而间接负向预测其学业成绩;（3）父母冲突通过依次损害青少年的努力控制能力和课堂参与而间接负向预测其学业成绩。本研究不仅启发教育工作者重视青少年学业不良的家庭风险因素,而且启发父母有意识地减少冲突,为孩子自控能力乃至学业发展创造良好的家庭环境。     

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.     

Prospective effects of interparental conflict on child attachment security and the moderating role of parents' romantic attachment.

This study investigated the impact of parents' observed conflict behavior on subsequent child attachment security, both as a main effect and as moderated by parents' romantic attachment. Participants were 80 heterosexual couples involving men from the Oregon Youth Study and their first-born children. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling to predict child security with each parent. Interparental psychological aggression predicted lower child security with father, regardless of romantic attachment. If the father was insecure, interparental positive engagement predicted lower child security with him. If either the mother or father was avoidant, interparental withdrawal did not predict lower child security, though it did for more secure parents. Results are discussed in terms of implications of attachment-(in)congruent behavior for parents' emotional availability.     

Parental Separation and Children's Behavioral/Emotional Problems: The Impact of Parental Representations and Family Conflict

In this longitudinal study, we examine whether the effect of parental separation on kindergarten children's behavioral/emotional problems varies according to the level of family conflict, and children's parental representations. One hundred and eighty seven children were assessed at ages 5 and 6. Family conflict was assessed using parents' ratings. Children's parental representations were assessed using a story-stem task. A multiinformant approach (parent, teacher, child) was employed to assess children's behavioral/emotional problems. Bivariate results showed that separation, family conflict, and negative parental representations were associated with children's behavioral/emotional problems. However, in multivariate analyses, when controlling for gender and symptoms at age 5, we found that children of separated parents who showed negative parental representations had a significantly greater increase in conduct problems between 5 and 6 than all other children. In terms of emotional symptoms and hyperactivity, symptoms at 5 and (for hyperactivity only) gender were the only predictors for symptoms 1 year later. Our results suggest that kindergarten children's representations of parent-child relationships moderate the impact of parental separation on the development of conduct problems, and underline play and narration as a possible route to access the thoughts and feelings of young children faced with parental separation.     

Parental conflict resolution styles and children's adjustment: children's appraisals and emotion regulation as mediators

Guided by the emotional security hypothesis and the cognitive-contextual framework, the authors investigated whether the associations between negative parental conflict resolution styles and children's internalizing and externalizing problems were mediated by children's appraisals of threat and self-blame and their emotion regulation. Participants were 192 Swiss 2-parent families with children aged 9-12 years (M age = 10.62 years, SD = 0.41 years). Structural equation modeling was used to test the empirical validity of the theoretical model. Results indicated that children's maladaptive emotion regulation mediated the association between negative parental conflict resolution styles and children's internalizing as well as externalizing problems. Whereas perceived threat was related only to children's internalizing problems, self-blame did not mediate the links between negative parental conflict resolution styles and children's adjustment. Implications for understanding the mechanisms by which exposure to interparental conflict could lead to children's maladjustment and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Preventing children's aggression: Outcomes of an early intervention

Mothers of medically at-risk infants were randomly assigned to a Healthy Start intervention (HV) or a cognitive reframing intervention (HV+). Outcome measures were taken at the conclusion of the intervention (1 year) and at the 3-year follow-up visit. At age 3, children in the HV+ condition (in comparison with those in the HV condition) showed fewer aggression problems (as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist). Maternal emotional unavailability (as measured by combined scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and avoidance items on the Conflict Tactics Scale) at the 1-year visit mediated the effects of the intervention on children's aggression at age 3. Findings suggest that an early, cognitively based intervention may lead to reduced child aggression as a result of increased maternal social-emotional availability within the caregiving relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

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.     

Families with Distinct Levels of Marital Conflict and Child Adjustment: Which Role for Maternal and Paternal Stress?

This study addresses the links between distinct levels of marital conflict and mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress and their associations with children’s adjustment. Using a sample of 358 Italian father–mother dyads with school–aged children, we computed a cluster analysis to identify distinct groups of families with different levels of interparental conflict. In each of the three groups identified (low, moderate, and high marital conflict), we conducted correlational and mediational analyses to explore the relationship between interparental conflict and children’s adjustment, the relationship between interparental conflict and maternal and paternal stress, and the potential mediating role of these components of maternal and paternal stress in the association between interparental conflict and children’s adjustment. We administered the R-CTS, PSI-SF, and CBCL to parents in order to assess marital conflict, maternal and paternal stress, and children’s behavioral problems; children completed the CPIC in order to evaluate their perceptions of interparental conflict. Results show that, in the high marital conflict group, levels of interparental conflict negatively affect children’s adjustment; moreover, the parent–child dysfunctional interaction component of maternal stress partially mediates the relationship between interparental discord and children’s internalizing behaviors, while the difficult child component of paternal stress fully mediates the effects of marital conflict on externalizing behaviors. In the moderate marital conflict group, levels of interparental conflict are correlated with the difficult child component of both maternal and paternal stress, while in the low marital conflict group, interparental conflict does not correlate with both maternal and paternal stress and children’s adjustment.     

Marital conflict and children's adjustment: a cognitive-contextual framework

Marital problems have been related to numerous indexes of maladjustment in children. Although several parameters of this association have been identified, the process by which exposure to interparental conflict gives rise to adjustment problems in children is largely unexplored. Research on the link between marital conflict and child maladjustment therefore is critically evaluated, and a framework is presented that organizes existing studies and suggests directions for future research on processes that may account for the association. According to the framework, the impact of marital conflict is mediated by children's understanding of the conflict, which is shaped by contextual, cognitive, and developmental factors. The implications of the framework for children's adjustment are discussed.     

Parents' job insecurity affects children's academic performance through cognitive difficulties.

The authors developed and tested a model in which children who perceive their parents to be insecure about their jobs are distracted cognitively, which in turn affects their academic performance negatively. Participants were 102 female and 18 male undergraduates (mean age = 18 years), their fathers (mean age = 49 years), and their mothers (mean age = 47 years). Students completed questionnaires measuring perceived parental job insecurity, identification with parents, and cognitive difficulties; 3 months later, they also reported their midyear grades. Fathers and mothers each completed questionnaires assessing their job insecurity. Support for the model was obtained using LISREL 8, and as predicted, children's identification with their mothers and fathers moderated the relationship between their perceptions of their mothers' and fathers' job insecurity and their own cognitive difficulties.     

The role of mothers' use of control in children's perfectionism: implications for the development of children's depressive symptoms

The central aim of this research was to investigate the possibility that when parents use heightened control with children, children develop perfectionistic concerns, which may foster depressive symptoms. Mothers' use of control with their elementary school children (N=104) was observed in the laboratory along with their affective expression toward their children; children's behavior (e.g., task engagement) that might influence mothers' use of control was also observed. Self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism and depression were assessed in children through self-report. Mothers using heightened control had children with perfectionistic concerns, particularly socially prescribed ones. This was not due to mothers' affective expression or children's behavior. Children's socially prescribed perfectionism mediated the link between mothers' use of heightened control and children's heightened depressive symptoms.     

Understanding how children's engagement and teachers' interactions combine to predict school readiness

This study examined the quality of preschool classroom experiences through the combination of children's individual patterns of engagement and teachers' classroom-level interactions in predicting children's gains in school readiness. A sample of 605 children and 309 teachers participated. The quality of children's engagement and teacher interactions was directly observed in the classroom, and direct assessments of children's school readiness skills were obtained in the fall and again in the spring. Latent profile analysis was used to examine children's patterns of engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks. Children's engagement and the quality of teacher interactions were associated with gains in school readiness skills. The effect of children's individual classroom engagement on their expressive vocabulary was moderated by classroom-level teacher interactions. The results suggest that when teachers engage in highly responsive interactions across the children in their classrooms, children may develop more equitable school readiness skills regardless of their individual engagement patterns.     

Parental conflict and children's coping styles in litigating separated families: Relationships with children's adjustment

The influence of interparental verbal and physical aggression, children's coping styles, and relevant demographic factors on children's adjustment was examined in a group of 52 families who were disputing custody and/or access arrangements after separation. It was hypothesized that parental conflict and specific children's coping strategies (i.e., cognitive redefinition and social support seeking) would be important predictors of children's adjustment. Consistent with previous research, aggressive styles of resolving conflict between parents were related to more frequent and severe behavior problems and diminished competence among children. Conversely, greater flexibility in coping and greater use of cognitive coping strategies among children were related to decreased behavioral disturbance. The unique and combined influence of these variables is discussed.This research was supported in part through a grant from the LaMarsh Research Programme on Violence and Conflict Resolution, York University, Toronto, Ontario. The author acknowledges the help of Cathy Melville and Susan Dickens in the data analyses. In addition, the author thanks the staff and families at the Toronto and London, Ontario, Family Court clinics who participated in this project.     

父母冲突与青少年自伤的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

以情绪安全感理论为依据考察父母冲突与青少年自伤的关系,并在此基础上提出一个有调节的中介模型,探讨情绪不安全感的中介作用以及情绪调节自我效能感的调节作用。采用整群抽样法对2800名中学生进行问卷调查,结果表明:(1)在所有青少年被试中有自伤行为的比例占41.49%,青少年的自伤水平在年级、学校类型和是否为独生子女这些人口学变量上有显著差异;(2)父母冲突能显著地正向预测青少年的自伤水平,情绪不安全感在两者之间起部分中介作用;(3)控制消极情绪自我效能感对情绪不安全感的中介作用有显著的负向调节作用,只有当控制消极情绪自我效能感很低时,情绪不安全感在父母冲突和青少年自伤水平的中介作用才是显著的。