Marital Quality and Parent-Child Relationships
Amato, P. R. (1986). Marital conflict, the parent-child relationship,
and child self-esteem. Family Relations, 35, 403-410.
Examined the association between levels of marital conflict and the
self-esteem of 132 children (aged 8-9 yrs) and 142 adolescents (aged
15-16 yrs) in Australia. Marital conflict was negatively associated
with self-esteem among primary school girls but not among primary
school boys. Weak negative associations between conflict and self-esteem
were found for male and female adolescents. Marital conflict was negatively
associated with the quality of the child-father relationship in all
groups except among primary school boys. The negative effects of conflict
tended to be strongest when children's relationships were poor with
both parents. However, for young females, conflict was also negatively
related to self-esteem when relationships with both parents were good.
Belsky, J., & Fearon, R. M. P. (2004). Exploring marriage-parenting
typologies and their contextual antecedents and developmental sequelae.
Development & Psychopathology, 16, 501-523.
To identify types of families, latent-class analysis was applied to
(reported) marriage and (observed) parenting measures obtained during
the infancy, toddler, and/or preschool years for 828 two-parent families
participating in the NICHD Study of Child Care. Five types of families
were identified: Consistently Supportive (i.e., good parenting, good
marriage, 15% of sample), Consistently Moderate (i.e., moderate marriage,
moderate parenting, 43%), Consistently Risky (i.e., poor parenting,
poor marriage, 16%), Good Parenting/Poor Marriage (19%), and Poor
Parenting/Good Marriage (7%). When groups were compared in terms of
contextual antecedents (measured at child age 1 month) and child cognitive-academic
and socioemotional functioning in first grade, results indicated (a)
that contextual risks increased linearly and children's functioning
decreased linearly as one moved across the first three aforementioned
groups; and after controlling for group differences in background
factors (b) that children in the Good-Parenting/Poor-Marriage families
outperformed those in the Poor Parenting/Good Marriage; (c) that there
was evidence of "added value" developmentally when children
experienced two sources of support (i.e., good marriage and good parenting)
rather than just one (i.e., good marriage or good parenting); but
(d) that there was only modest evidence of protective buffering whereby
children experiencing just good parenting (but not just good marriages)
outperformed children experiencing poor parenting and poor marriages.
Results are discussed in terms of the relative influence of marriage
and parenting on child development and the potential benefits of applying
typological approaches to the study of marriage-parenting family subsystems.
Belsky, J., Youngblade, L., Rovine, M., & Volling, B.
(1991). Patterns of marital change and parent-child interaction. Journal
of Marriage and the Family, 53, 487-498.
To examine the interrelation of marital and parent-child subsystems
in the family, 100 families participating in the Pennsylvania Infant
and Family Development Project were studied when their 1st child turned
3. The goal of the work was to determine whether maternal, paternal,
and child behavior differ in households in which marital quality declines
vs. those in which it does not. Distinct patterns of marital change,
identified on the basis of marital reports obtained at 4 points in
time (during pregnancy and at 3, 9, and 36 mo), were related to parent
and child behavior that was measured during free-play and teaching
sessions and composited by means of cluster analytic procedures. Results
reveal more systematic associations between marital change patterns
and father-child interaction than between marital changes and mother-child
interaction. Whereas discerned associations in the case of men indicate
that marriages that were deteriorating in quality were associated
with more negative and intrusive father behavior and more negative
and disobedient child behavior, some evidence of a more compensatory
process was discerned in the case of associations between mothers'
marriage and behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of relationship
boundaries, styles, and alliances.
Brody, G. H., Arias, I., & Fincham, F. D. (1996). Linking
marital and child attributions to family processes and parent-child
relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 10, 408-421.
The contribution of marital attributions to parenting and parent-child
interaction was examined, along with the contribution of children's
attributions for negative parental behavior to ineffective parent-child
communication. Data from 170 children 10 to 12 years old (84 girls,
86 boys) were used to test a model of hypothesized links among conflict-promoting
marital attributions, negative marital context, parenting practices,
children's attributions for parent behavior, and ineffective parent-child
communication. Husbands' and wives' marital attributions were related
to the marital context, which was related to ineffective parent-child
communication. Husbands' and wives' conflict-promoting marital attributions
also were related to parenting practices, which were related to children's
attributions for negative parental behavior. Children's attributions
also accounted for unique variance in ineffective parent-child communication.
Brody, G. H., Pillegrini, A. D., & Sigel, I. E. (1986).
Marital quality and mother-child and father-child interactions with
school-aged children. Developmental Psychology, 22, 291-296.
The objective of the present study was to examine parent-child interactions
with school-aged children in the context of the parents' marital relationship.
Sixty families with a school-aged child served as subjects. Mother-child
and father-child teaching interactions were videotaped, from which
frequency counts of efficacious teaching behaviors were obtained for
each parent-child teaching interaction. Parents completed a self-report
measure of marital problems. A dyad score of marital problems was
formed by adding the husbands' and wives' scores. A two-level variable
of marital problems was then derived by performing a median split
on the marital problem dyad scores. Normative comparisons suggested
that the couples whose scores fell below the median were characterized
as nondistressed and the couples whose scores fell above the median
were characterized as slightly discontented with their marital relationship.
Few differences in teaching styles were detected between mothers and
fathers in the nondistressed group. Mothers in the slightly discontented
group used more questions, positive feedback, informational feedback,
and verbal task management and intruded less often into their children's
learning efforts than did the fathers in this group. Fathers with
increased reports of marital problems used less positive feedback
and were more intrusive; mothers in this group appeared to compensate
for a less than satisfactory marriage by being more involved in teaching
their children. In turn, children of slightly discontented mothers
were more actively responsive to their teaching behaviors than were
children of nondistressed mothers.
Buehler, C., & Gerard, J. M. (2002). Marital conflict, ineffective
parenting, and children's and adolescents' maladjustment. Journal
of Marriage & Family 64, 78-92.
Data from the 1988 National Survey on Families and Households were
analyzed to examine the associations among marital conflict, ineffective
parenting, and children's and adolescents' maladjustment. The weighted
sample for this study includes 2,541 married parents with a target
child aged 2-18 yrs living in the household. Data indicate that parents'
use of harsh discipline and low parental involvement helped explain
the connection between marital conflict and children's maladjustment
in children aged 2-11 yrs. Parent-child conflict was measured only
in families with a target teenager and also was a significant mediator.
Although ineffective parenting explained part of the association between
marital conflict and children's maladjustment, independent effects
of marital conflict remained in families with target children aged
2-11 yrs (but not for families with a teenager). With a few exceptions,
this pattern of findings was consistent for mothers' and fathers'
reports, for daughters and sons, for families with various ethnic
backgrounds, and for families living in and out of poverty.
Burman, B., John, R. S., & Margolin, G. (1987). Effects
of marital and parent-child relations on children's adjustment. Journal
of Family Psychology, 1, 91-108.
Investigated the effects of marital dissatisfaction, marital conflict,
and the parent-child relationship on the childhood adjustment of 30
boys and 26 girls (aged 6-14 yrs) in 47 nonclinic families. In support
of previous findings, results of a battery of tests show a strong
relationship between mothers' marital satisfaction and conflict style
and their own ratings of boys' adjustment. However, based on fathers'
and children's reports, marital satisfaction and conflict style did
not contribute unique variance over the parent-child relationship
in predicting children's adjustment.
Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., Ablow, J., Johnson, V., & Measelle, J. (Eds.). (2005). The family context of parenting in children's adaptation to school. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (published as a book and as part of Parenting: Science and Practice Monographs in a series edited by Marc Bornstein)
Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (2002). Interventions as
tests of family systems theories: Marital and family relationships
in children's development and psychopathology. Development & Psychopathology,
14, 731-759.
This paper addresses the role of family-based studies of preventive
and therapeutic interventions in our understanding of normal development
and psychopathology. The emphasis is on interventions designed to
improve parent-child and/or marital relationships as a way of facilitating
development and reducing psychopathology in children and adolescents.
Intervention designs provide the gold standard for testing causal
hypotheses. We begin by discussing the complexity of validating these
hypotheses and the implications of the shift from a traditional emphasis
on theories of etiology to developmental psychopathology's newer paradigm
describing risks, pathways, and outcomes. We summarize correlational
studies that document the fact that difficult and ineffective parent-child
and marital relationships function as risk factors for children's
cognitive, social, and emotional problems in childhood and adolescence.
We then review prevention studies and therapy evaluation studies that
establish some specific parenting and marital variables as causal
risk factors with respect to these outcomes. Our discussion focuses
on what intervention studies have revealed so far and suggests an
agenda for further research.
Cox, M. J., Paley, B., & Harter, K. (2001). Interparental
conflict and parent-child relationships. In J. H. Grych & F. D.
Fincham (Eds.), Interparental conflict and child development: Theory,
research, and applications (pp. 249-272). New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press.
(from the chapter) To understand how marital conflict affects the
way parent-child relationships develop, it is important to conceptualize
the family as a system with multiple, mutually influential levels
and relationships existing across time. Unfortunately, little research
addresses the link between marital conflict and parent-child relationships
in this way. These and other issues are considered in this chapter.
The authors begin the chapter with a discussion of the different pathways
that may link marital and parent-child relationships. They then turn
to consider whether these relations differ by gender of child and
parent. Finally, they conclude with a discussion of future directions.
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (2002). Effects of marital
conflict on children: Recent advances and emerging themes in process-oriented
research. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 43, 31-63.
The effects of marital conflict on children's adjustment are well
documented. For the past decade research has increasingly focused
on advancing a process-level understanding of these effects, that
is, accounting for the particular responses and patterns embedded
within specific contexts, histories, and developmental periods that
account for children's outcomes over time. As a vehicle for presenting
an update, this review follows the framework for process-oriented
research initially proposed by E. M. Cummings and J. S. Cummings (1988),
concentrating on recent research developments, and also considering
new and emerging themes in this area of research. Understanding of
the impact of marital conflict on children as a function of time-related
processes remains a gap in a process-oriented conceptualization of
effects. Based on this review, a revised model for a process-oriented
approach on the effects of marital discord on children is proposed
and suggestions are made for future research directions.
Cummings, E. M., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Graham, M. A.
(2002). Interparental relations as a dimension of parenting. Monographs
in parenting. In J. G. Borkowski & S. L. Ramey (Eds.), Parenting
and the child's world: Influences on academic, intellectual, and social-emotional
development (pp. 251-263). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) Suggests that interparental relations should be
considered as another dimension of parenting behavior since such behaviors
involve a volitional choice by the parents with regard to how to behave,
and these behaviors have effects and implications for children's development
and functioning. This chapter examines evidence that the parents'
behavior in the context of marriage is a significant influence on
child development. In particular, the authors focus on the implications
for children's functioning of how parents work through their everyday
disagreements and problems, that is, interparental conflict behavior.
Conflict behavior is a predictor of marital happiness and risk for
divorce and marital distress is by some reports the most common reason
why adults seek psychological help. In recent years considerable evidence
has also accumulated to indicate that the qualities of interparental
conflict predict children's adjustment. Thus, an accumulating literature
supports the thesis of this report: that marital functioning merits
inclusion as a dimension of parenting.
Davies, P. T., Sturge-Apple, M. L., & Cummings, E. M.
(2004). Interdependencies among interparental discord and parenting
practices: The role of adult vulnerability and relationship perturbations.
Development & Psychopathology, 16, 773-797.
We examined the nature and directionality of associations between
interparental discord and parenting practices in a sample of 227 mothers
and fathers of kindergarten children over two measurement waves spaced
1 year apart. Cross-lagged models indicated that associations between
interparental discord and maternal and paternal parenting practices
(i.e., acceptance, discipline) were generally negligible with one
exception: interparental discord at Time 1 predicted decreases in
maternal acceptance from Time 1 to Time 2. However, consistent with
the family systems conceptualization of the family as an open system,
prospective associations among interparental and parent-child subsystems
varied significantly as a function of parental depressive symptoms,
interparental relationship insecurity, and child-rearing disagreements.
The moderating role of adult characteristics commonly varied across
the type of adult vulnerability (e.g., depressive symptoms, interparental
relationship insecurity, child-rearing disagreements), dimension of
parenting practices (e.g., maternal and paternal acceptance and inconsistent
discipline), and the directionality of the paths between interparental
and parent-child subsystems.
El-Sheikh, M., & Elmore-Staton, L. (2004). The link between
marital conflict and child adjustment: Parent-child conflict and perceived
attachments as mediators, potentiators, and mitigators of risk. Development
& Psychopathology, 16, 631-648.
Parent-child conflict and perceived attachments to parents were examined
as predictors, mediators, and moderators in the marital conflict-child
adjustment connection in a sample of older children and young adolescents.
After controlling for marital conflict, parent-child conflict predicted
additional unique variance mainly for children's externalizing problems,
and attachments to parents accounted for unique variance in children's
externalizing and internalizing problems. Moderation effects illustrated
that a higher level of parent-child conflict was a vulnerability factor,
whereas a secure attachment was a protective factor, for behavior
problems associated with marital conflict. Mediation effects were
also evident and supported the proposition that parent-child conflict
and attachment to parents mostly are partial mediators of effects
in the marital conflict-child outcomes link. The findings illustrate
the aggregation, potentiation, and amelioration of risk for adjustment
problems associated with marital conflict, and highlight the importance
of assessing multiple systems within the family.
Erel, O., & Burman, B. (1995). Interrelatedness of marital
relations and parent-child relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological
Bulletin, 118, 108-132.
It is widely assumed that a linkage, crucial to the understanding
of child behavior, exists between marital and parent-child relationship
quality. A meta-analysis of 68 studies was conducted to determine
whether this linkage exists and, if so, whether the linkage is positive
(as suggested by the spillover hypothesis) or negative (as suggested
by the compensatory hypothesis). Results supported the spillover hypothesis;
a positive and nonhomogeneous effect size of moderate magnitude was
found (d = 0. 46). This suggests that research in this area can move
beyond the question of whether a positive or negative association
exists to identifying moderators of the association. Examination of
the impact of 13 potential moderators did not support the existence
of any of these variables that could be adequately examined. This
suggests that the link between marital and parent-child relations
functions as a more stable force than previously thought.
Fauber, R., Forehand, R., Thomas, A. M., & Wierson, M.
(1990). A mediational model of the impact of marital conflict on adolescent
adjustment in intact and divorced families: The role of disrupted
parenting. Child Development, 61, 1112-1123.
Presents a study concerned with the development and testing of a structural
equation model wherein the relation of interparental conflict to the
adjustment problems of young adolescents is mediated through its impact
on three aspects of parenting behavior: lax control, psychological
control, and parental rejection.
Fauchier, A., & Margolin, G. (2004). Affection and conflict
in marital and parent-child relationships. Journal of Marital &
Family Therapy, 30, 197-211.
In this study, we examined affection and conflict in marital and parent-child
relationships, as reported by mothers, fathers, and 9- and 10-year-old
children in a community sample of 87 families. Affection and conflict
were inversely related within relationships, with mixed findings across
relationships. Most reports showed an association between marital
and parent-child conflict as well as between marital and parent-child
affection. According to fathers, however, the association between
marital affection and father-child affection is moderated by marital
conflict. Clinical implications of the associations between positive
and negative dimensions of family interaction and of the links between
marital and parent-child relations are discussed.
Feldman, S. S., Wentzel, K. R., Weinberger, D. A., &
Munson, J. A. (1990). Marital satisfaction of parents of preadolescent
boys and its relationship to family and child functioning. Journal
of Family Psychology, 4, 213-234.
Investigated the relationship between parents' marital satisfaction
(MS) and family and child outcomes among 50 mothers and 43 fathers
with 6th-grade sons. Outcomes in 3 domains of functioning were studied:
within-family functioning, 2 aspects of sons' social-emotional (SEM)
adjustment (distress and restraint), and sons' academic achievement.
Two mediators by which MS might influence the outcomes were also assessed:
individual parental characteristics (i.e., SEM functioning) and child-rearing
practices. Quality of the marital relationship was signficantly related
to outcomes in each domain of functioning. Mothers' MS was related
to overall family functioning; fathers' MS was related to sons' school
achievement and development of self-control. The relationship between
fathers' MS and sons' self-restraint was accounted for by fathers'
SEM functioning and child rearing.
Fincham, F. D. (1994). Understanding the association between
marital conflict and child adjustment: An overview. Journal of Family
Psychology, 8, 123-127.
To highlight advances in the literature linking marital discord and
child adjustment, a heuristic distinction is drawn between 1st and
2nd generation research. A review of 1st generation research documenting
the existence of an association between marital and child functioning
points to the need for 2nd generation research on why this association
exists. Several issues that will facilitate research on the mechanisms
linking marital and child functioning are therefore discussed. This
discussion provides a framework for outlining how each of the contributions
to the special section advances understanding of the impact of marital
discord on child adjustment.
Frosch, C. A., & Mangelsdorf, S. C. (2001). Marital behavior,
parenting behavior, and multiple reports of preschoolers' behavior
problems: Mediation or moderation? Developmental Psychology, 37, 502-519.
Associations among positive and conflictual marital behavior and multiple
reports of child behavior problems were examined in a community sample
of 78 families with 3-year-old children. Maternal and paternal parenting
behaviors were tested as potential mediators and moderators. Parents
reported on child behavior problems and were observed during parent-child
interaction and couple discussion in the presence of the child. Observers
and preschool teachers also reported on child behavior problems. Less
positive marital engagement and greater conflict were associated with
observers' reports, but not with parents' or teachers' reports, of
more behavior problems. Associations between marital behavior and
child behavior problems were not explained by maternal or paternal
behavior; stronger support was found for moderating effects of parenting.
Also, positive marital engagement was a slightly better predictor
of child behavior problems than was marital conflict.
Frosch, C. A., Mangelsdorf, S. C., & McHale, J. L. (2000).
Marital behavior and the security of preschooler-parent attachment
relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 144-161.
Longitudinal and concurrent relations among positive and negative
marital behaviors in 2 contexts and preschoolers' security of attachment
were examined for 53 families. At 6 months postpartum, couples were
observed in their homes during couple discussion and family play.
At 3 years, parents completed the Attachment Q-Set (E. Waters, 1987);
marital and parenting behavior was also observed. Interparental hostility
during family play at 6 months predicted less secure preschooler-mother
attachment. Greater marital conflict at 3 years was associated with
less security with mother and father, whereas positive marital engagement
at 3 years was associated with more secure child-father attachment.
Mothers' parenting partially explained the linkages between marital
behavior and child-mother attachment. These results highlight the
impact of positive and negative marital behaviors on children's abilities
to use their parents as a secure base.
Gonzales, N. A., Pitts, S. C., Hill, N. E., & Roosa,
M. W. (2000). A mediational model of the impact of interparental conflict
on child adjustment in a multiethnic, low-income sample. Journal of
Family Psychology, 14, 365-379.
Path analysis was used to determine whether the effects of interparental
conflict on children's depression and conduct disorder are mediated
by 3 dimensions of parenting: acceptance, inconsistent discipline,
and hostile control. The study extends the literature by testing this
mediational model with a low-income, predominantly ethnic minority
sample of preadolescent children and by examining the effects of multiple
dimensions of interparental conflict from the child's perspective.
Results supported the mediational model when analyses were based on
child's reports of all variables but not when mother's reports were
used to assess child depression and conduct problems. Exploratory
analyses revealed unique mediational paths associated with conflict
frequency and resolution, which were examined along with intensity
as distinct dimensions of interparental conflict.
Grych, J. H. (2002). Marital relationships and parenting.
In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 4: Social conditions
and applied parenting (2nd ed., pp. 203-225). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) This chapter examines the theoretical and empirical
underpinnings of research on the relation between marriage and parenting.
Although parenting experiences undoubtedly affect marital functioning
as well, the chapter focuses on understanding how marital relationships
may support or undermine parenting. After a brief overview of the
development of research in this area, the conceptual perspectives
that have informed this work are described and the body of empirical
findings linking marital quality with different aspects of parenting,
including behavior, affect, cognition, and coparenting processes,
are reviewed. The chapter closes by considering critical issues that
need to be investigated if we are to more fully understand the links
between marriage and parenting.
Grych, J. H., & Fincham, F. D. (1990). Marital conflict
and children's adjustment: A cognitive-contextual framework. Psychological
Bulletin, 108, 267-290.
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.
Jaycox, L. H., & Repetti, R. L. (1993). Conflict in families
and the psychological adjustment of preadolescent children. Journal
of Family Psychology, 7, 344-355.
We examined the cross-sectional association between conflict in families
and child psychological adjustment in 72 4th-5th graders. Multiple
informants (parents, children, and teachers) assessed conflict and
anger in the social climate of the home, marital discord, negative
emotional tone in the parent-child relationship, and child adjustment.
As predicted, child adjustment was more strongly related to family
conflict than to marital discord. There was a stronger association
between family conflict and maladjustment in girls. Moreover, the
association between a general climate of conflict at home and child
maladjustment was independent of anger and discord in the marital
or parent-child relationships. During the study of the effects of
interpersonal conflict at home, it appears to be important to identify
the locus of anger and aggression. Findings suggest that researchers
should distinguish between a general climate of conflict in the family
and interparental discord.
Jenkins, J. M., & Smith, M. A. (1991). Marital disharmony
and children's behaviour problems: Aspects of a poor marriage that
affect children adversely. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry,
32, 793-810.
Examined the elements of the parental marital relationship that put
children at risk for behavioral and emotional problems, using data
from 119 families with a child aged 9-12 yrs. The relationships among
children's emotional and behavioral problems and overt parental conflict,
covert tension between parents, and discrepancies in childrearing
practices were assessed. Overt parental conflict related most strongly
to children's emotional and behavioral problems using mothers', fathers',
and children's accounts of the children's symptoms. Aspects of the
parent-child relationship were not mediating variables in the relationship
between parental conflict and children's emotional and behavioral
problems.
Jouriles, E. N., & Farris, A. M. (1992). Effects of marital
conflict on subsequent parent-son interactions. Behavior Therapy,
23, 355-374.
48 maritally intact families with sons aged 41-82 mo were assigned
to 1 of 4 conditions in which conflictual or nonconflictual marital
interaction was followed by mother-son or father-son interaction.
Marital conflict altered parents' general conversation with their
sons, fathers' delivery of confusing and threatening commands, and
sons' noncompliance to fathers' commands. Effects of marital conflict
on each of these behaviors dissipated over time. Additionally, marital
conflict interacted with parent gender, differentially influencing
the probability of parents responding to noncompliance with vague/confusing
commands.
Jouriles, E. N., Pfiffner, L. J., & O'Leary, S. G. (1988).
Marital conflict, parenting, and toddler conduct problems. Journal
of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 197-206.
Examined relationships involving marital conflict, parenting, and
toddler conduct problems using 60 mother and toddler (aged 18-31 mo)
dyads. Mothers completed measures of marital satisfaction and conflict
and toddler conduct problems; dyads were also observed in a laboratory
setting. Marital conflict was positively correlated with observations
of toddler deviance and maternal reports of conduct problems as well
as with the frequency of maternal disapproval statements directed
toward sons' misbehaviors. Marital conflict was correlated negatively
with the ratio of disapproval statements to daughters' misbehaviors.
Results suggest the importance of examining parenting practices and
child characteristics that may mediate the relationship between marital
conflict and child behavior problems.
Kerig, P. K. (1995). Triangles in the family circle: Effects
of family structure on marriage, parenting, and child adjustment.
Journal of Family Psychology, 9, 28-43.
Mothers, fathers, and 6- to 10-year-old children used the Family Cohesion
Index to type their family system as cohesive (all close), separate
(all distant), triangulated (cross-generational coalitions), or detouring
(child excluded from the parental subsystem). Family members agreed
modestly with one another. Multivariate analyses of variance showed
that parents in triangulated families were higher in marital conflict
and dissatisfaction than were cohesive and detouring parents. Children
in triangulated families reported more interparental conflict and
more negative affect in the family. Children in detouring families
rated themselves higher in self-blame for their parents' conflicts,
and their parents rated them highest in internalizing problems. Parents
in separate families rated their children highest in externalizing
problems. Implications for the integration of family systems perspectives
with research on marriage and parenting are discussed.
Kerig, P. K., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (1993). Marital
quality and gender differences in parent-child interaction. Developmental
Psychology, 29, 931-939.
This microanalytic study of family interaction establishes links among
marital quality, gender, and parent-child relationships. Dyadic conversational
exchanges between 38 mothers and fathers and their 3. 5 year-old first-born
son or daughter were analyzed. Marital quality was related to gender
differences in both parent and child behavior, with less maritally
adjusted fathers of daughters showing the most negativity toward their
children. Sequential analyses showed that gender differences in parents'
and children's responses to one another were also mediated by marital
quality. Mothers in less satisfied marriages were the least accepting
of daughters' assertiveness and were more likely to reciprocate the
negative affect of sons. Daughters of parents lower in marital satisfaction
were less compliant with their fathers. Implications of these findings
for understanding gender differences in the effects of marital conflict
on parenting and child development are discussed.
Kitzmann, K. M. (2000). Effects of marital conflict on subsequent
triadic family interactions and parenting. Developmental Psychology,
36, 3-13.
This study examined marital conflict's indirect effects on children
through disruptions in family alliances and parenting. Forty married
couples were observed interacting with their 6-8-year-old sons after
pleasant and conflictual discussions. After conflictual discussion,
fathers showed lower support/engagement toward sons, and coparenting
styles were less democratic. Couple negativity was correlated with
family negativity, regardless of the topic of discussion, which suggests
continuity in the affective quality of the two family subsystems.
Mothers' marital satisfaction moderated families' responses to the
experimental manipulation. The results provide stronger evidence than
previously available of a causal link between conflict and disrupted
parenting. Further research is needed to identify which conflict-related
disruptions in parenting influence the development of children's problems.
Krishnakumar, A., & Buehler, C. (2000). Interparental
conflict and parenting behaviors: A meta-analytic review. Family Relations:
Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 49, 25-44.
Examined the association between interparental conflict and parenting
using meta-analytic review techniques. 138 effect sizes from 39 studies
are analyzed. The overall average weighted effect size is -0.62, indicating
a moderate association and support for the spillover hypothesis. The
parenting behaviors most impacted by interparental conflict are harsh
discipline and parental acceptance. Several moderating effects for
subject and method characteristics are significant.
Kurdek, L. A. (1996). Parenting satisfaction and marital
satisfaction in mothers and fathers with young children. Journal of
Family Psychology, 10, 331-342.
This study examined parenting satisfaction (PS) and marital satisfaction
(MS) in married couples over 4 yrs (ns ranged from 59 to 87). There
was little evidence of interdomain spillover in that, for both husbands
and wives, PS and MS were generally unrelated at each assessment and
change in PS was unrelated to change in MS. With regard to interparent
spillover, the link between spouses' MS tended to be stronger than
the link between spouses' PS at each assessment, and the link between
spouses' change in MS was stronger than the link between spouses'
change in PS. A typology of satisfaction with family life is proposed
as one way of integrating the study of marital relationships and parent-child
relationships.
Lindahl, K. M., Clements, M., & Markman, H. (1997). Predicting
marital and parent functioning in dyads and triads: A longitudinal
investigation of marital processes. Journal of Family Psychology,
11, 139-151.
This study assessed longitudinally whether couples' dysregulated negative
affect before parenthood is predictive of conflict, as well as diminished
affective quality, in family relationships 5 years later. Observations
of 25 couples' marital communication were made before parenthood and
again 5 years later, when data also were collected on parent-child
and family interactions. Husbands' prechild marital behavior and couples'
prechild negative escalation were predictive of husbands' conflict
and triangulation of the child into marital conflict. Family-level
functioning (e. g. , coalition formation) was predicted by prechild
negative escalation. Parenting behavior was not predicted by prechild
marital functioning but was related to current marital functioning.
The data provide support for the hypothesis that how couples regulate
negative affect early on in marriage sets the tone for future interactions
involving parents and their child.
Lindahl, K. M., & Malik, N. M. (1999). Marital conflict,
family processes, and boys' externalizing behavior in Hispanic American
and European American families. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology,
28, 12-25.
Used self-report and observational measures to explore associations
among marital conflict, triadic family processes, and child adjustment
in Hispanic American, European American, and biethnic families. One
hundred and thirteen families with a 7- to 11-year-old son participated.
More similarities than differences were found between European American
and Hispanic American families. A hierarchical parenting style was
associated with externalizing behaviors for European American and
biethnic families but not for Hispanic American families. Marital
conflict and disengaged family alliances were associated with child
externalizing behavior for all ethnic groups. Ethnicity was not found
to moderate the relation between marital conflict and family functioning,
and greater levels of marital conflict were associated with disengaged
family interactions and also with lax or inconsistent parenting. Implications
for understanding cross-ethnic issues in family systems and child
adjustment are discussed.
Margolin, G. O., Pamella H. M., Anna, M. (2001). Conceptual
issues in understanding the relation between interparental conflict
and child adjustment: Integrating developmental psychopathology and
risk/resilience perspectives. In J. H. Grych & F. D. Fincham (Eds.),
Interparental conflict and child development: Theory, research, and
applications (pp. 9-38). New York, NY: Cambridge. 2001.
(from the chapter) Despite widespread acceptance of the belief that
exposure to interparental conflict is a serious stressor for children,
much remains unknown about exactly why and how this stressor translates
into different outcomes across children. The assumption that marital
conflict is a stressor for children stems from several explanatory
frameworks--family systems theory, social learning theory, the transmission
of affect, consistencies in cognitive style, genetic transmission
theories, and trauma theory. This chapter reviews these frameworks
and illustrates how a developmental psychopathology perspective can
inform research in this area. Specifically, the authors analyze the
status of marital conflict as a risk factor, consider how research
on vulnerability and protective factors can delineate processes that
intensify or interrupt the trajectory from marital conflict to negative
child outcomes, and recommend greater attention to the resilience
of many children living in highly conflictual homes. This perspective
underscores the complexity of the relationship between marital conflict
and child outcomes and suggests why conflict does not affect children
in predictable or consistent ways.
Owen, M. T., & Cox, M. J. (1997). Marital conflict and
the development of infant-parent attachment relationships. Journal
of Family Psychology, 11, 152-164.
Couples were studied before and after the birth of their 1st child
to understand processes by which marital conflict influences child
development. Hypotheses were tested concerning direct and indirect
processes relating marital conflict to the security of infant-mother
and infant-father attachment and disorganized attachment behavior.
Findings supported the prediction that chronic marital conflict interferes
with sensitive, involved parenting and thereby predicts insecurity
in attachment relationships, particularly for fathers. It was also
argued that chronic marital conflict presents the infant with experiences
of frightened or frightening parents and diminished behavioral options
to alleviate accompanying distress. As predicted, disorganized attachment
behavior with mother and father was explained by chronic marital conflict
and not mediated by parental ego development or sensitive parenting.
Peterson, J. L., & Zill, N. (1986). Marital disruption,
parent-child relationships, and behavior problems in children. Journal
of Marriage and the Family, 48, 295-307.
Examined the effects of marital disruption on children's behavior,
accounting for variations in postdisruption living arrangements and
the effects of parent-child relationships and marital conflict, in
a 1981 national sample of 1,423 children aged 12-16 yrs. Disruption
was associated with a higher incidence of several behavior problems
(e.g., depression/withdrawal, antisocial behavior, impulsivity), negative
effects being greatest with multiple marital transitions. The negative
effects were lower if the S lived with the same-sex parent following
divorce or maintained a good relationship with one or both parents.
High, persistent conflict in intact families was also related to behavior
problems.
Stone, G., Buehler, C., Barber, B. K. (2002). Interparental
conflict, parental psychological control, and youth problem behavior.
In B. K. Barber (Ed.), Intrusive parenting: How psychological control
affects children and adolescents (53-95). Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
(from the chapter) Discusses the understanding of parental psychological
control of adolescents by setting it in the larger family context.
The authors make a compelling theoretical and empirical link between
parental psychological control and interparental conflict (particularly
covert interparental conflict), both "indirect and insidious
family patterns that disrupt the development of social and emotional
competence in children." They show empirically that psychological
control is distinct from interparental conflict, and that their findings
of both direct and indirect associations of conflict (through parental
psychological control) with adolescent functioning are independent
of demographic variation. Further, although their adolescent self-reported
measurement is common to the established work on psychological control,
their multisample replication design adds confidence to the validity
of the findings. In sum, this chapter provides an instructive and
systematic analysis of the various ways in which multiple family processes
can be understood, and the authors provide interesting initial information
on the role of parental psychological control amid other key family
processes.
Sturge-Apple, M. L., Gondoli, D. M., Bonds, D. D., Salem,
L. N. (2003). Mothers' responsive parenting practices and psychological
experience of parenting as mediators of the relation between marital
conflict and mother-preadolescent relational negativity. Parenting:
Science & Practice, 3, 327-355.
This study assessed direct and indirect relations between marital
conflict and mother-preadolescent relational negativity. Self-report
questionnaire data were gathered from 156 married mothers and their
firstborn 5th graders who were between the ages of 10 and 12 years.
Participants completed measures of marital conflict, responsive parenting
practices, the psychological experience of parenting, and mother-preadolescent
relational negativity. Structural equation modeling indicated that
marital conflict was positively associated with maternal reports of
negativity in the mother-preadolescent relationship. In contrast,
marital conflict was not associated with preadolescent reports of
negativity in the mother-preadolescent relationship. Subsequent analyses
revealed that the relation between marital conflict and maternal report
of mother-preadolescent relational negativity was indirect and mediated
by responsive parenting practices and mothers' psychological experience
of parenting. This study integrated essential components from the
marital conflict, stress and coping, and parenting literatures. Understanding
the roles of different aspects of parenting in the relation between
marital conflict and the mother-child relationship suggests new directions
for research.
Webster-Stratton, C. (1994). Advancing Videotape parenting
training: A comparison study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
62, 583-593.
This study examines the specific effects of adding a broader based,
videotape treatment component (ADVANCE) to a basic videotape parent
skills training program (GDVM). ADVANCE treatment trains parents to
cope with interpersonal distress through improved communication, problem
solving, and self-control skills. Seventy-eight families with a child
diagnosed as oppositional-defiant or conduct-disordered were randomly
assigned to either GDVM alone or GDVM plus ADVANCE. Parent reports
of child adjustment and parent distress, assessment of child's knowledge
of social skills, as well as independent observations of mother-and
father-child interactions and communication and of problem solving
between parents were obtained at pre- and post-GDVM and at post-ADVANCE.
Both groups significantly improved at short-term follow-up. ADVANCE
produced additional significant improvements in parents' communication,
problem-solving skills, and consumer satisfaction, as well as children's
increased knowledge of prosocial solutions. The clinical significance
of these findings is discussed.
Zimet, D. M., & Jacob, T. (2001). Influences of marital
conflict on child adjustment: Review of theory and research. Clinical
Child & Family Psychology Review, 4, 319-335.
This review summarizes the literature on the relationship between
marital conflict and child maladjustment with an emphasis on variables
that qualify, explain the association, or both. Following a historical
review, the modest findings on the strength of the association between
marital conflict and child maladjustment is explored. The definition
of marital conflict is clarified through specification of its various
dimensions (frequency, intensity, content, resolution). The role of
variables that serve to moderate and/or mediate the relationship between
marital conflict and child maladjustment are elaborated. Mediating
models include exposure theories (Modeling, Cognitive-Contextual effects:
appraisal of threat and blame, and Emotional Insecurity) and changes
in the parent-child relationship (Spillover). Variables that moderate
or qualify the relationship include children's cognitions and behaviors,
contextual factors, and demographic differences. A model is presented
summarizing these mechanisms. Research recommendations are proposed
and the clinical implications of this literature are addressed.
Domestic Violence and Child Well-Being
Cummings, E. M. (1998). Children exposed to marital conflict
and violence: Conceptual and theoretical directions. In G. W. Holden
& R. Geffner (Eds.), Children exposed to marital violence: Theory,
research, and applied issues (pp. 55-93). Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
(from the chapter) Describes a family-wide perspective on the implications
of marital conflict and violence for children and considers the effects
of specific forms of interadult conflicts on children, including aggression
and violence, providing evidence for a distinction between constructive
and destructive forms of conflict from the children's perspective.
The author examines (1) marital conflict and violence as they pertain
to family functioning, (2) conceptualizations relevant to the process-oriented
study of marital conflict, (3) marital conflict and violence on a
continuum and the distinction between constructive and destructive
conflict, and (4) sensitization and emotional insecurity as theoretical
constructs for the processes mediating effects of marital conflict
and violence on children.
Gordis, E. B., Margolin, G., & John, R. S. (1997). Marital
aggression, observed parental hostility, and child behavior during
triadic family interaction. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 76-89.
This study used direct observation to examine how a history of exposure
to interparental aggression relates to children's behavior during
conflict with both parents present. Ninety 2-parent families with
a child 9-13 years of age participated. Consistent with a sensitization
hypothesis, results indicated that exposure to interparental physical
aggression during the previous year was related to child withdrawal,
anxiety, and distraction during a family discussion task. In addition,
the interaction between reported interparental aggression and observed
child-directed hostility accounted for significant variance in boys'
behavior. Follow-up correlation analyses revealed that boys who had
been exposed to physical marital aggression were more anxious and
distracting when their parents were more hostile toward them during
the discussion, whereas boys who had not been exposed withdrew more.
Harger, J., & El-Sheikh, M. (2003). Are children more
angered and distressed by man-child than woman-child arguments and
by interadult versus adult-child disputes? Social Development, 12,
162-181.
Six to 10-year-olds' responses to witnessing videotapes of five contexts
of verbal and physical arguments (man-woman, man-boy, man-girl, woman-boy,
and woman-girl) were compared to examine the hypotheses that: (1)
man-child disputes would be perceived more negatively and evoke more
negative affect in children than woman-child conflict; and (2) man-woman
conflict would be viewed more negatively and elicit greater negative
emotions in children than adult-child arguments. Results lend support
to the two predictions, and consistent with the emotional security
hypothesis, reveal that (1) man-child conflict evoked more sadness
and fear in children than woman-child disputes; (2) man-woman arguments
evoked more intense feelings of sadness and fear than any of the adult-child
disputes, and the adult in the conflicts was perceived as more sad
and scared when arguing with the spouse than with the girl or boy;
and (3) physical conflict evoked more negative affect than verbal
disputes.
Holden, G. W., & Ritchie, K. L. (1991). Linking extreme
marital discord, child rearing, and behavior problems: Evidence from
battered women. Child Development, 62, 311-327.
Relations between marital discord, parental behavior, and child behavior
were investigated in a sample of 37 battered women and 37 comparison
mothers and their children, aged 2-8 years. It was hypothesized that
violent fathers would be more irritable but less involved, battered
women more stressed and inconsistent in discipline, and both parents
would reportedly use fewer positive and more negative child-rearing
responses than comparison families. Based on matemal self-reports
and mother-child observations, the only robust self-report difference
between the groups of mothers were the level of stress and reports
of inconsistency in parenting; in contrast, all of the expected differences
were found between the mothers' reports of the 2 groups of fathers.
Group effects on child behavior problems were also found. Children
from violent families were reported to have more internalizing behavior
problems, more difficult temperaments, and to be more aggressive than
the comparison children. In the violent families, maternal stress
and paternal irritability were the 2 significant predictors of child
behavior problems, whereas in the comparison families only maternal
stress was a reliable predictor.
Jouriles, E. N., Barling, J., & O'Leary, S. G. (1987).
Predicting child behavior problems in maritally violent families.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 165-173.
Examined the relationships involving interspousal aggression, parent-child
aggression, and child behavior problems in 22 boys (mean age 8.7 yrs)
and 23 girls (mean age 8.2 yrs) from maritally violent families. Mothers
indicated how often their children witnessed interspousal aggression
and were victims of parent-child aggression; they also rated their
children's problem behaviors, while Ss reported on their own depressive
symptoms. The witnessing of interspousal aggression was highly associated
with parental aggression directed toward children. Parent-child aggression
related to attention problems, anxiety-withdrawal, motor excess, and
conduct problems in children; however, the witnessing of interspousal
aggression was not significantly related to child behavior problems.
Results are consistent with theoretical predictions (e.g., G. R. Patterson,
1982) linking marital problems to child behavior by virtue of their
association with parenting.
Jouriles, E. N., McDonald, R. Spiller, L., Norwood, W. D.,
Swank, P. R., Stephens, N., Ware, H., & Buzy, W. M. (2001). Reducing
conduct problems among children of battered women. Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, 69, 774-785.
This study was an experimental evaluation of an intervention designed
to reduce conduct problems among children of battered women. Participants
were 36 families (mothers and children) in which the mother had sought
shelter because of relationship violence and had at least 1 child
(4-9 years old) with clinical levels of conduct problems. The intervention
consisted of 2 primary components: (a) providing instrumental and
emotional support and (b) teaching child management skills to mothers.
Families were randomly assigned to either the intervention condition
or the existing services comparison condition and were assessed on
5 occasions over 16 months after shelter departure. Compared with
families receiving existing services, children in the intervention
condition improved at a faster rate, the proportion of children displaying
clinical levels of conduct problems was greatly diminished, and mothers
displayed greater improvements in child management skills.
Jouriles, E. N., & Norwood, W. D. (1995). Physical aggression
toward boys and girls in families characterized by the battering of
women. Journal of Family Psychology, 9, 69-78.
Forty-eight families (mothers and children) participated in a study
on physical aggression toward boys and girls in households characterized
by the battering of women. In each family, the mother had sought shelter
because of relationship violence and had a son and daughter between
4 and 14 years. Mothers completed measures of physical marital violence
directed at themselves, aggression toward children, and children's
externalizing behavior problems. Older children completed measures
of aggression directed at themselves. Results indicated that child
gender moderates the relationship between the battering of women and
aggression toward children. In families characterized by "more
extreme" battering, boys were more often victims of aggression
than girls, boys exhibited more externalizing problems than girls,
and gender differences in externalizing problems helped account for
the differential aggression directed at boys and girls.
Jouriles, E. N., Norwood, W. D., McDonald, R., & Peters,
B. (2001). Domestic violence and child adjustment. In J. H. Grych
& F. D. Fincham (Eds.), Interparental conflict and child development:
Theory, research, and applications (pp. 315-336). New York, NY: Cambridge.
(from the chapter) This chapter reviews the empirical literature on
the link between wife abuse (and marital violence) and child adjustment.
The authors explore some of the parameters of this association and
note conceptual, methodological, and practical issues confronting
researchers in the area. They also highlight several controversial
issues in the conceptualization of violence and note gaps in our knowledge
that limit what can be concluded about this association. The authors
conclude by offering several suggestions for future research.
Kanoy, K., Ulku-Steiner, B., Cox, M., & Burchinal, M.
(2003). Marital relationship and individual psychological characteristics
that predict physical punishment of children. Journal of Family Psychology,
17, 20-28.
The relationships among use of physical punishment of children, marital
conflict, and individual adult hostility were examined longitudinally.
Couples expecting their first child completed self-report scales of
individual hostility and were observed in marital problem-solving
situations for level of marital conflict during the prenatal period.
The marital problem-solving situations were again assessed at 2 years
and 5 years following the child's birth. At the later time points,
discipline practices were assessed through interview. A climate of
negativity, manifested through either high rates of individual hostility
or marital conflict, predicted the use of more frequent and severe
physical punishment of children at 2 and 5 years, even when parent
educational level was controlled. Implications for policy and parent
education are discussed.
Katz, L. F., & Woodin, E. M. (2002). Hostility, hostile
detachment, and conflict engagement in marriages: Effects on child
and family functioning. Child Development, 73, 636-651.
Examined the relations between patterns of marital communication,
child adjustment, and family functioning. Couples with a 4- or 5-year-old
child were divided into three groups based on observed patterns of
emotional communication: Hostile couples showed a cumulative increase
in negative speaker behaviors over the course of a high-conflict marital
discussion; hostile-withdrawn couples showed a cumulative increase
in both negative speaker and negative listener behaviors over the
course of the interaction; and engaged couples showed a cumulative
increase in both positive speaker and listener behaviors over the
course of the interaction. The families of these three types of couples
were then compared on child outcomes (i.e., peer relations, behavior
problems), parenting quality, co-parenting quality, and family-level
functioning. Differences in marital violence and marital satisfaction
between marital couples were also examined in relation to family risk.
Families in which couples were hostile-detached showed the most negative
outcomes. Hostile-detached couples were more likely than hostile or
conflict-engaging couples to use more power-assertive methods of discipline;
to be ineffective in co-parenting; and to have family units that were
less cohesive and more conflictual.
Kitzmann, K. M., Gaylord, N. K., Holt, A. R., Kenny, E. D.
(2003). Child witnesses to domestic violence: A meta-analytic review.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 339-352.
This meta-analysis examined 118 studies of the psychosocial outcomes
of children exposed to interparental violence. Correlational studies
showed a significant association between exposure and child problems
(d = -0. 29). Group comparison studies showed that witnesses had significantly
worse outcomes relative to nonwitnesses (d = -0. 40) and children
from verbally aggressive homes (d = -0. 28), but witnesses' outcomes
were not significantly different from those of physically abused children
(d = 0. 15) or physically abused witnesses (d = 0. 13). Several methodological
variables moderated these results. Similar effects were found across
a range of outcomes, with slight evidence for greater risk among preschoolers.
Recommendations for future research are made, taking into account
practical and theoretical issues in this area.
Margolin, G. (1998). Effects of domestic violence on children.
In P. K. Trickett & C. J. Schellenbach (Eds.), Violence against
children in the family and the community (pp. 57-101). Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
(from the chapter) Witnessing violence, in general, has been associated
with emotional, behavior, and learning problems in children, with
children's susceptibility affected by developmental level, chronicity
of exposure, physical closeness to the incident, and emotional closeness
to the victim. On the basis of those parameters, one may conclude
that witnessing violence between parents is a particularly insidious
event. It is most likely to occur in the home--the one environment
generally associated with safety and protection of the child. It is
not surprising, therefore, that exposure to marital violence has been
associated with a variety of problems in children. Issues on this
topic discussed in this chapter include: incidence and prevalence
of children's exposure to marital violence; co-occurrence of exposure
to marital violence and to other forms of violence; features of exposure
to marital violence; outcomes associated with exposure to marital
violence; summary of outcomes; factors mediating the effects of exposure
to interparental violence; explanatory factors and mechanisms; and
questions for further research.
Margolin, G. G., Oliver, E. B., Pamella, H. (2004). Links
between marital and parent-child interactions: Moderating role of
husband-to-wife aggression. Development & Psychopathology, 16,
753-771.
The present study examined how marital conflict may compromise parenting
by identifying interdependencies across marital and parent-child subsystems
in a sample of 86 two-parent families with a child aged 9-13. The
study used direct observation of three family discussions to examine
interdependencies across family subsystems. The study also assessed
whether a history of husband-to-wife aggression strengthened interdependencies.
Overall, families with husband-to-wife aggression showed a negative
tone that pervaded throughout the family. Consistent with theories
about physically aggressive men tending to withdraw from conflict,
fathers who had engaged in husband-to-wife aggression showed an association
between marital hostilities and lower levels of empathy toward their
children. Consistent with stress theories, women who had been exposed
to husband-to-wife aggression showed a link between marital hostilities
and negative affect when interacting with their children. These findings
illustrate how a history of exposure to marital aggression can create
a family environment of multiple risks for children. For children
in families with prior marital aggression, ongoing marital hostilities
can be linked to the additional risk of erosions in parental support.
Meredith, W. H., Abbott, D. A., & Adams, S. L. (1986).
Family violence: Its relation to marital and parent satisfaction and
family strengths. Journal of Family Violence, 1, 299-305.
Studied the association between satisfaction with family relationships
and the occurrence of family violence in a sample of 304 respondents
to a survey of married parents (61% were female, and 39% were male).
The Conflict Tactics Scale of M. A. Straus (1979), the Family Strengths
Scale of D. Olson et al (1982), the Marital Satisfaction subscale
of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale of G. B. Spanier (1976), and the Parent
Satisfaction Scale of Meredith et al (1986) were used. Perceived family
strength, marital satisfaction, and parent satisfaction decreased
as family violence increased. Marital violence was related to parent-child
violence. Results provide evidence that violence damages relationships
within a family.
Yates, T. M., Dodds, M. F., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland,
B. (2003). Exposure to partner violence and child behavior problems:
A prospective study controlling for child physical abuse and neglect,
child cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, and life stress. Development
& Psychopathology, 15, 199-218.
Previous research suggests an association between partner violence
and child behavior problems. However, methodological shortcomings
have precluded the formation of directional conclusions. These limitations
include failure to control for the effects of child physical abuse
and general life stress, employment of nonrepresentative samples from
battered women's shelters, and reliance on a single contemporaneous
reporter, usually the mother, for information on both independent
and dependent measures. This study used prospective, longitudinal
data (N=155) and multiple informants to examine the relation between
maternal reports of partner violence in the home and teacher- and
youth-report ratings of concurrent and prospective child behavior
problems. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to control
for the effects of child physical abuse, child physical neglect, socioeconomic
status, child cognitive ability, and life stress. The contribution
of partner violence to child behavior problems was confirmed for boys'
(n=81) externalizing problems and girls' (n=74) internalizing problems.
Child developmental status at the time of exposure further influenced
these relations.
Fathering and Co-parenting Relationships
Belsky, J., Crnic, K., & Gable, S. (1995). The determinants
of coparenting in families with toddler boys: Spousal differences
and daily hassles. Child Development, 66, 629-642.
In order to advance understanding of the phenomenon of coparenting,
naturalistic observations of firstborn sons were undertaken when they
were 15 months of age at a time when both parents were home and family
life was demanding. Narrative records of coparenting events were scored
to determine the frequency with which parents supported and undermined
each other and to
test two hypotheses pertaining to individual differences in coparenting:
that greater differences
between spouses in demographic factors, personality, styles of relatedness
and child-rearing
attitudes would forecast more unsupportive and less supportive coparenting;
and that the adverse
effects of such spousal differences would be amplified by high levels
of family stress, as indexed by frequency and intensity of daily hassles.
Both hypotheses received support and are discussed
in turn.
Coiro, M. J., & Emery, R. E. (1998). Do marriage problems
affect fathering more than mothering? A quantitative and qualitative
review. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 1, 23-41.
The important question of whether marital problems disrupt fathering
more than mothering
is addressed in (a) a quantitative review of evidence on marital conflict
and parenting in
intact families, and (b) a qualitative review of research on mother
and father involvement
with their children following divorce. We conclude that (a) there
is limited evidence that,
relative to mothering, fathering is more likely to be affected by
marital conflict, but suggest
that (b) marital status (i.e., divorce) affects fathering notably
more than it affects mothering.
We further suggest that marital problems may disrupt father involvement
which, in turn,
weakens the quality of father-child relationships; there likely are
multiple alternative pathways
through which marriage problems affect parenting, including both "spillover"
and "compensation"; researchers need to examine more carefully
how marital problems disrupt
coparenting; child age and gender may moderate linkages between the
parental and marital
subsystems; and coparenting, marital happiness, and the institution
of marriage itself may
be essential first avenues of intervention for those who wish to improve
or maintain fathers'
involvement with their children.
Cowan, C. P., & Cowan, P. A. (1987). Men's involvement
in parenthood: Identifying the antecedents and understanding the barriers.
In P. Berman & F. A. Pederson (Eds.), Fathers' transition to parenthood
(pp. 145-174). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) Men differ in the extent of their participation
in family life.
Contemporary fathers fight an uphill battle against their socialization
history, societal constraints, and complex dynamics within the couple
relationship that both encourage and discourage their participation
in childrearing. How involved men become in that relationship and
how stressed or satisfied they feel in the early years of parenthood
depends on what is happening in many aspects of life within and outside
the family.
Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., & Kerig, P. K. (1993). Mothers,
fathers, sons, and daughters: Gender differences in family formation
and parenting style. In P. A. Cowan & D. Field (Eds.), Family,
self, and society: Toward a new agenda for family research (pp. 165-195).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) For the past 17 years, we [the authors] have been
studying families in the process of development. Although we did not
initially plan to concentrate on gender issues, our longitudinal findings
make it clear that we cannot describe parents without knowing whether
we are talking about mothers or fathers, nor can we discuss children
without specifying whether we are talking about boys or girls. We
believe that it is not possible to understand family processes without
paying attention to the particularities of husband-wife, father-son,
father-daughter, mother-son, and mother-daughter relationships--at
least in the early phases of family development. We have amassed considerable
evidence in the course of our longitudinal research to support the
contention that one key source of gender-differentiated parenting
is inherent in the process by which men and women make their transition
from couple to family. We focus on the marital relationship as an
important context in which parent-child relationships develop. In
the Becoming a Family Project, we assessed 72 expectant couples with
interviews, questionnaires, and observations: 48 of the couples completed
interviews and questionnaires in late pregnancy and an additional
24 completed questionnaires after birth only. Then, all of the couples
were reassessed when their children were 6, 18, 42, and 66 months
old. In the last two assessments, the children were approximately
3 1/2 and 5 1/2 years.
Cox, M. J., Owen, M. T., Lewis, J. M., & Henderson, V.
K. (1989). Marriage, adult adjustment, and early parenting. Child
Development, 60, 1015-1024.
Assessed the impact of parents' marriages, measured prenatally, on
their parenting of firstborn, 3-mo-old infants. Though the association
between marriage and parenting was the focus, adult psychological
adjustment was also measured to rule out the alternative hypothesis
that psychological adjustment relates to both marital quality and
parenting quality and accounts for any association between them. Even
when differences in individual psychological adjustment were considered,
mothers were warmer and more sensitive with their infants; fathers
held more positive attitudes toward their infants and their roles
as parents when they were in close/confiding marriages. Qualities
of marriage play an important part in the development of parent-child
relationships.
Deal, J. E., Halverson, C. F., & Wampler, K. S. (1989).
Parental agreement on child rearing orientations: Relations to parental,
marital, family, and child characteristics. Child Development, 60,
1025-1034.
136 families and their preschool children were studied by observation
and an extensive self-report questionnaire package. Parental agreement
was assessed using the Block Child-rearing Practices Report Q-Sort
(J. Block and J. Block, 1980). Analyses revealed that the agreement
score rarely added any information not already provided by the parental
effectiveness scores. A Q-factor analysis revealed that the agreement
score actually represented agreement to a standard of good parenting.
Parents who were high agreers were good parents who agreed with other
good parents, while low agreers were ineffective parents who disagreed
with other parents, good or bad.
Dickstein, S., & Parke, R. (1988). Social referencing
in infancy: A glance at fathers and marriage. Child Development, 59,
506-511.
Social referencing was defined as the tendency of a person to look
to a significant other in an ambiguous situation to obtain clarifying
information. 40 11-mo-old infants were observed once with their mothers
and once with their fathers in a 15-min social referencing situation
that involved entrance of a female stranger as the ambiguous stimulus.
Infants used their fathers and mothers as referencing targets to an
equal extent. Additionally, marital satisfaction was found to be a
significant modifier of referencing. Paternal marital satisfaction
predicted social referencing to fathers as well as to mothers; no
effect was found for maternal marital satisfaction alone.
Doherty, W. J., & Beaton, J. M. (2004). Mothers and fathers
parenting together. LEA's communication series. In A. L. Vangelisti
(Ed.), Handbook of family communication (pp. 269-286). Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) The purpose of this chapter is to summarize contemporary
research on the parenting relationship between mothers and fathers,
to delineate conceptual frameworks that can be fruitful for understanding
the co-parenting relationship, to offer a preliminary theoretical
model of factors influencing co-parenting, and to suggest fruitful
areas for further research. An emerging body of research is demonstrating
the importance of co-parenting relationships in families and the value
of a triadic approach to studying families. The four conceptual frameworks
for co-parenting research discussed in the article are social constructionism,
family systems theories, family development theories, and human ecology
theories. The focal point of the conceptual model presented in the
chapter is the triadic mother-father-child relationship and the marital
status of the parents. Outside the triangle are depicted several categories
of influences on the co-parental relationship: individual factors,
mother-father relationship factors, and broader ecological factors.
Gaps in the current research on co-parenting include co-parenting
relationships during the child's adolescence and young adulthood,
how children participate in socially constructing the co-parenting
relationship, and co-parenting among various racial groups.
Feinberg, M. E. (2002). Coparenting and the transition to
parenthood: A framework for prevention. Clinical Child & Family
Psychology Review, 5, 173-195.
Notes that the way that parents work together in their roles as parents,
the coparenting relationship, has been linked to parental adjustment,
parenting, and child outcomes. The coparenting relationship offers
a potentially modifiable, circumscribed risk factor that could be
targeted in family-focused prevention. This paper briefly outlines
an integrated and comprehensive view of coparenting, and suggests
that the time around the birth of the first child is an opportune
moment for coparenting intervention. To support the development of
such prevention programs, an outline of the possible goals of coparenting
intervention is presented with a description of the processes by which
enhanced coparenting may have effects in each area. The paper discusses
several issues involved in developing and disseminating effective
coparenting interventions.
Feinberg, M. E. (2003). The internal structure and ecological
context of coparenting: A framework for research and intervention.
Parenting: Science & Practice, 3, 95-131.
Research on coparenting has grown over the past decade, supporting
a view of coparenting as a central element of family life that influences
parental adjustment, parenting, and child outcomes. This article introduces
a multi-domain conception of coparenting that organizes existing research
and paves the way for future research and intervention. This article
advances a conceptualization of how coparenting domains influence
parental adjustment, parenting, and child adjustment. An ecological
model that outlines influences on coparenting relationships, as well
as mediating and moderating pathways, is described. Areas of future
research in the developmental course of coparenting relationships
are noted.
Gable, S., Crnic, K., & Belsky, J. (1994). Coparenting
within the family system. Family Relations, 43, 380-387.
The article focuses on coparenting in families raising toddler sons.
Researches have shown that there are positive associations between
the quality of marital relations and parenting effectiveness and indicators
of children's well-being. Beginning early in life, systematic connections
have been demonstrated between marital quality, parenting style, and
infant and toddler development. One characteristic of the marital
relationship that has emerged as a potent predictor of problems during
the preschool and adolescent years involves interadult conflict. The
connections between inter- spousal conflict, troubled parenting, and
problems for children appear to persist from the preschool years through
adolescence. Thus, one specific characteristic of the marital relationship-overt
conflict-appears to function prominently as a process variable for
interrupting effective parenting and explaining how adults' behavior
might directly and indirectly contribute to children's growth and
development.
Grossman, F. K., Pollack, W. S., & Golding, E. (1988).
Fathers and children: Predicting the quality and quantity of fathering.
Developmental Psychology, 24, 82-91.
This study looked at the quality and quantity of interactions between
fathers and their firstborn 5-year-olds from the perspective of the
family as a developmental interdependent system. The goals were to
identify predictors of men's parenting from men's own adaptation (direct
effects) and from their wives' characteristics (indirect effects),
both measured during the expectancy. Twenty-three families from the
Boston University Pregnancy and Parenthood Project made up the sample.
Measures included self-report scales, observations, and semistructured
interviews. Several of men's psychological characteristics, particularly
their autonomy and job satisfaction, predicted their play time and
the quality of their interactions with their children. Women's autonomy,
occupation, and age in the expectancy predicted men's caretaking and
weekday time involvement with their 5-year-olds. We suggest that the
findings can best be explained by the concepts of complementarity
and identification.
Laakso, J. (2004). Key determinants of mothers' decisions
to allow visits with non-custodial fathers. Fathering, 2, 131-145.
Increases in single-parent households, often involving never married
couples, have heightened the urgency to understand decisions parents
make about parent-child relationships after separation. This qualitative
study provides a descriptive analysis of the concerns of mothers in
non-marital relationships that may affect their decisions regarding
visitation and clarifies the relationship between visitation and paying
child support. Weighing the benefits versus the costs, most mothers
were willing to allow visitation even if the father did not pay child
support, recognizing the importance of father-child relationships.
It is imperative to make parenting plans and visitation as important
as payment of child support. Funding for fathering programs and creation
of father-friendly environments are essential to increase involvement
of non-custodial fathers.
Margolin, G., Gordis, E. B., & John, R. S. (2001). Coparenting:
A link between marital conflict and parenting in two-parent families.
Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 3-21.
Coparenting is examined as an explanatory link between marital conflict
and parent-child relations in 2-parent families. Data were collected
from 3 samples (pilot sample, n = 220 mothers; preadolescent sample,
n = 75 couples; preschool sample, n = 172 couples) by using the Coparenting
Questionnaire (G. Margolin, 1992b) to assess parents' perceptions
of one another on 3 dimensions—cooperation, triangulation, and
conflict. Main effects for child's age and for parents' gender were
found for cooperation, and an interaction between parent and child
gender was found for triangulation. Regression analyses were consistent
with a model of coparenting mediating the relationship between marital
conflict and parenting. Discussion addresses the theoretical and clinical
importance of viewing coparenting as conceptually separate from other
family processes.
McHale, J. P., Kazali, C., Rotman, T., Talbot, J., Carleton,
M., & Lieberson, R. (2004). The transition to coparenthood: Parents'
prebirth expectations and early coparental adjustment at 3 months
postpartum. Development & Psychopathology, 16, 711-733.
In the decade since the first observationally based empirical studies
of coparenting process in nuclear families made their mark, most investigations
of early coparenting dynamics have examined whether and how such dynamics
drive child development trajectories, rather than identifying factors
that may contribute to the differential development of such dynamics
in the first place. In this prospective study, we examined both individual-representational
and dyadic-interpersonal predictors of early coparental process. Fifty
married couples expecting their first child portrayed their expectations
and concerns about family life after the baby's arrival, and took
part in a set of problem-solving tasks used to help evaluate marital
quality. Both mothers' and fathers' prebaby expectations about the
future family, and prenatal marital quality, predicted observed coparenting
cohesion at 3 months postpartum. Maternal- and marriage-coparenting
trajectories differed as a function of infant characteristics, with
pathways most pronounced when infants were rated high in negative
reactivity. Results reveal how the prenatal environment can come to
shape early coparenting process, and indicate that family models must
take into account the role that child characteristics can play in
altering prebirth-postpartum pathways.
McHale, J., Khazan, I., Erera, P., Rotman, T., DeCourcey,
W., McConnell, M. (2002). Coparenting in diverse family systems. In
M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 3: Being and becoming
a parent (2nd ed., pp. 75-107). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) This review of the coparenting field begins with
a brief discussion of families and coparenting research in a historical
context. The authors outline central conceptual issues in thinking
about coparenting and summarize the essential tenets of structural
family theory. This is followed by a review of coparenting research,
emphasizing issues such as insider and outsider views of coparental
and family dynamics, as well as linkages between coparental functioning
and child adjustment. The authors then provide a section on practical
issues in coparenting of interest to both scientists and professionals
working with families, and close with a section summarizing future
directions in coparenting theory and research. Among the topics considered
in this concluding section are the limits of the coparenting construct,
and the applicability of coparenting theory to diverse family systems
and to the coparenting of multiple children in the same family.
McHale, J. P., Kuersten-Hogan, R., Lauretti, A., Rasmussen,
J. L. (2000). Parental reports of coparenting and observed coparenting
behavior during the toddler period. Journal of Family Psychology,
14, 220-236.
Fifty-two married partners played with their 30-month-olds in both
dyadic (parent-child) and whole family contexts and reported on their
own coparenting activities (family integrity-promoting behavior, conflict,
disparagement, and reprimand). Coparenting behavior observed in the
whole family context was evaluated for antagonism, warmth and cooperation,
child-adult centeredness, balance of positive involvement, and management
of toddler behavior. Parallel balance and management scores were also
formed using dyadic session data. Men's reported family integrity-promoting
activities and women's reported conflict and reprimand activities
were reliable correlates of family group process in both bivariate
and discriminant analyses, with links enduring even after controlling
for marital quality. Whole family- and dyad-based estimates of coparenting
were altogether unrelated, and reported coparenting was tied only
to behavior in family context, not to family measures created from
dyad-based data.
McHale, J. P., Lauretti, A., Talbot, J., & Pouquette,
C. (2002). Retrospect and prospect in the psychological study of coparenting
and family group process. In J. P. McHale & W. S. Grolnick, (Eds.),
Retrospect and prospect in the psychological study of families (pp.
127-165). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) Provides an overview of family group dynamics.
First, the authors draw on the work of the anthropologist S. Harrell
to describe 4 basic family system formations. The authors then consider
more specifically family groups in the US and the roots of American
psychologists' current belief system about "optimal" family
functioning. Next, the authors spotlight recent research on coparenting
and family group process in the nuclear family group and discuss studies
linking these dynamics to important indicators of young children's
development and adaptation. The authors emphasize the need to extend
this fledging knowledge base on how coparental and family group processes
affect children's development to include family systems beyond the
2-parent nuclear family, and the authors conclude with some thoughts
about clinical practice, public policy, and future coparenting and
family group research.
Parke, R. D. (2002). Fathers and families. In M. H. Bornstein
(Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 3: Being and becoming a parent
(2nd ed., pp. 27-73). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
(from the chapter) This chapter begins with a discussion of the nature
of the father-child relationship and how this relationship shifts
across the development of the child. Next, the chapter moves to an
examination of the determinants of father involvement to examine the
impact of the marital relationship on the parent-child relationship.
The author reviews the effect of historical changes, namely shifts
in work patterns of family members and changes in the timing of the
onset of parenthood, on father-child relationships. Finally, the implications
of fathering for men themselves, their wives, and their children are
examined.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Mangelsdorf, S. C., Frosch, C. A.,
& McHale, J. L. (2004). Associations between coparenting and marital
behavior from infancy to the preschool years. Journal of Family Psychology,
18, 194-207.
This study examined the associations between coparenting and marital
behavior from infancy to the preschool years. Coparenting and marital
behavior were assessed in 46 families during observations of family
play and marital discussions at 6 months and 3 years. Both coparenting
and marital behavior showed moderate stability from 6 months to 3
years. In addition, coparenting and marital behavior were more consistently
associated at 3 years than at 6 months. When the predictive capabilities
of early coparenting and marital behavior for later coparenting and
marital behavior were considered, early coparenting predicted later
marital behavior but not vice versa. This study highlights the importance
of early coparenting behavior, especially undermining coparenting
behavior, for understanding both subsequent coparenting behavior and
subsequent marital behavior.
Talbot, J. A., & McHale, J. P. (2004). Individual parental
adjustment moderates the relationship between marital and coparenting
quality. Journal of Adult Development, 11, 191-205.
Contemporary family research studies have devoted surprisingly little
effort to elucidating the interplay between adults' individual adjustment
and the dynamics of their coparental relationship. In this study,
we assessed two particularly relevant "trait" variables,
parental flexibility and self-control, and traced links between these
characteristics and the nature of the coparents' interactions together
with their infants. It was hypothesized that parental flexibility
and self-control would not only explain significant variance in coparenting
quality, but also act as moderators attenuating anticipated relationships
between marital functioning and coparental process. Participants were
50 heterosexual, married couples and their 12-month-old infants. Multiple
regression analyses indicated that even after controlling for marital
quality, paternal flexibility and maternal self-control continued
to make independent contributions to coparenting harmony. As anticipated,
paternal flexibility attenuated the association between marital quality
and coparenting negativity. Contrary to predictions, maternal flexibility
and self-control did not dampen, but actually heightened the extent
to which coparenting harmony declined in the face of lower marital
quality.