Changes in marital conflict and youths' responses across childhood and adolescence: a test of sensitization

An intergenerational study of parental bonding on perceptions of parental and spousal criticism and marital relationship quality in Singapore

Criticism is a form of interpersonal social rejection and destructive conflict behavior which has been associated with poor relationship outcomes in both parent-child and marital relationships. However, the role of the individual's perceptions of parental and spousal criticism in influencing the perceptions of criticism of other members in the family unit has not been examined. This study investigated the associations between parental bonding and perceptions of parental and spousal criticism across generations in Singapore. In all, 134 Singaporean married parent dyads (G2) and one child (G3) of each dyad were recruited. G2 parent participants completed the Perceived Criticism measure for their parents (G1) and spouses, the Parental Bonding Instrument and the Quality of Marriage Index. G3 children participants completed the Perceived Criticism measure for their parents (G2). Path analysis found that G2 perceptions of parental bonding were significant predictors of G2's perceptions of G1 parental criticism, which significantly predicted both G2's perceptions of spousal criticism and G3's perceptions of G2 parental criticism. Perceptions of spousal criticism were also found to predict marital relationship quality in G2 participants. Findings highlight the intergenerational transmission of perceptions of criticism across relationships in the family unit, providing support that parenting practices and communication patterns in one generation can predict those in the next generation in the Singaporean context. Future studies can look to replicate the findings in other cultures and include further investigations into sibling relationships as well.

Long-term effects of a preventive intervention on multiple components of adolescents' emotional insecurity

A gap in research on family interventions is the understanding of long-term effects on hypothesized mechanisms of effect regarding children's processes of responding to family stressors. This study assessed the long-term effects of an intervention designed to improve interparental and family conflict resolution on adolescents' emotional insecurity about interparental conflict. Emotional insecurity about interparental conflict has long been linked with adolescents' risk for adjustment problems. These findings have motivated the development of several family-based preventive interventions, one of which is the focus of this study. A community sample of 225 adolescents and their parents participated in an RCT-based study of an intervention designed to reduce adolescent's emotional insecurity about interparental conflict. The intervention's effect on patterns of change in adolescents', mothers', and fathers' reports of the three components of adolescents' emotional insecurity (emotional reactivity, behavioral dysregulation, and cognitive representations) from posttest through the 3-year follow-up were examined using multilevel modeling. Results suggested that the intervention predicted immediate (pre to posttest) and long-term linear decreases in emotional reactivity, as well as long-term quadratic change in behavioral dysregulation. These findings support the beneficial effects of a brief intervention on multiple components of emotional security. The results also underscore the importance of considering the potential of long-term (including nonlinear) patterns of change that may occur as a function of family-based interventions, as well as that the impact of family-based interventions may vary as a function of reporter and component of emotional insecurity.

Interparental conflict and adolescent emotional security across family structures

This study investigated whether interparental conflict was differentially related to forms of emotional security (i.e., family, interparental, parent-child) and whether forms of emotional security were differentially associated with mental health problems for adolescents in married versus divorced/separated families. Participants were 1032 adolescents (ages 10-15; 51% male, 49% female; 82% non-Hispanic White, 9% Black/African American, 5% Hispanic, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander, 2% Native American) recruited from a public school in a middle-class suburb of a United States metropolitan area. We used multiple group multivariate path analysis to assess (1) associations between interparental conflict and multiple measures of emotional insecurity (i.e., family, interparental, and parent-child), (2) associations between measures of emotional insecurity and internalizing and externalizing problems, and (3) moderation effects of parent-child relationships. The patterns of association were similar across family structures. A high-quality parent-child relationship did not mitigate the harmful effects of interparental conflict on emotional insecurity or mental health problems. Findings suggest that regardless of family structure, emotional security across multiple family systems may be a critical target for intervention to prevent youth mental health problems, in addition to interventions that reduce conflict and improve parent-child relationships.

A call for early, effective, and scalable parent education programs for high-conflict separated/divorcing parents: A synthesized perspective from prevention science and family law

Conflict between parents is stressful and disruptive to children living in the midst of parental separation or divorce. Although some level of post-separation/divorce conflict is understandable in an emotionally-charged separation/divorce, it undermines the extent to which parents protect their children from short- and long-term problems. In this article, we weave together a synthesized perspective informed by our respective training and experience in prevention science and family law on the role of parent education programs for high-conflict separating/divorcing parents. To do so, we first describe the research on the effects of high interparental conflict on children's outcomes and then discuss current approaches and challenges to reducing these negative effects by offering parent education programs for high-conflict separating/divorcing parents. Then, we propose and describe a new model for early, effective, and scalable parent education programs with the ultimate goal of protecting children after separation/divorce.

Interparental conflict, family climate, and threat appraisals: Early adolescent exposure and young adult psychopathology risk

Long-term studies evaluating threat appraisals as an intervening variable linking interparental conflict (IPC) and internalizing problems are lacking, as are longitudinal studies evaluating the role of the broader family context in these models. Guided by the cognitive-contextual framework, this study followed 225 adolescents (53% females) and their families from age 11 into young adulthood (age 19.6) to evaluate the long-term implications of IPC and threat appraisals for young adult internalizing symptoms. First, a long-term mediation model revealed that increases in IPC from age 11 to 14 (but not initial levels) best accounted for adolescent threat appraisals at age 14. In turn, threat appraisals mediated the association between IPC and young adult (age 19.6) internalizing problems. Second, the family climate-defined as high levels of cohesion and organization-moderated the relation between IPC and threat appraisals. Adolescents in families that experienced declines in positive family climate and increasing IPC had the highest threat appraisals; however, families that maintained (or increased in) positive family climate were protective against increasing IPC. Interestingly, the combination of decreasing IPC and decreasing positive family climate corresponded with the lowest threat appraisals in the sample, contrary to expectations. This finding seems consistent with a family disengagement perspective which may be less threatening to adolescents but may confer risk for other problem outcomes. This study underscores the importance of IPC and threat appraisals during adolescence, and offers new insights into the role of the family climate in protecting against escalating IPC for young adult internalizing risk. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional Reactivity to Daily Family Conflicts: Testing the Within-Person Sensitization

Although the sensitization hypothesis posits that heightened reactivity to interparental conflict is linked to adolescent psychopathology, limited studies tested whether sensitization would emerge in parent-adolescent conflict and across ethnicity or culture. This study revisits the sensitization hypothesis by examining adolescent emotional reactivity to interparental and parent-adolescent conflicts on a daily timescale. The sample included 163 adolescents (55% girls; Mage  = 12.79) and their parents (78% females; Mage  = 45.46) who completed a 10-day reports in Taiwan. Multilevel modeling results showed that, instead of interparental conflict, adolescents with greater histories of parent-adolescent conflict exhibited higher emotional reactivity when parent-adolescent conflict was higher. The findings underscore the importance of parent-adolescent conflict in evaluating adolescent developmental risk.

Trajectories of interparental conflict and children's emotional-behavioural functioning at 10-11 years: an Australian population-based study

Interparental conflict (IPC) has the potential to adversely affect children's social, emotional, and behavioural functioning. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between both the severity and chronicity of IPC across early and middle childhood and children's emotional-behavioural functioning at 10-11 years. Specifically, we aimed to: (1) identify distinct trajectories of IPC spanning 10-11 years since birth of the study child as reported by mothers, and (2) examine the emotional-behavioural functioning of children exposed to the identified IPC trajectories. Drawing from a nationally representative longitudinal study of Australian families (N = 4875), four distinct trajectories of IPC were identified: (1) consistently low exposure to IPC over time, (2) persistently elevated exposure to IPC, (3) increasing IPC exposure over time, and (4) decreasing IPC exposure over time. Children exposed to trajectories with high IPC at any point during the study period were reported by their mothers to be experiencing more emotional-behavioural difficulties than children exposed to low IPC over time. Based on teacher report, there were no differences in emotional-behavioural functioning of children exposed to the different patterns of IPC. Our findings reinforce that high parental conflict at any point in a child's life is a form of adversity that can have adverse consequences for their mental health, and that early interventions for parents and caregivers experiencing high IPC are critical.

Exposure to intimate partner aggression during childhood is associated with blunted skin conductance recovery following stress in early adulthood

This study examines skin conductance level (SCL) trajectories and childhood exposure to intimate partner aggression (IPA) committed between parents in a sample of college students. Although IPA among parents does not directly involve children, children frequently see or are exposed to IPA first-hand when it occurs. This exposure to IPA increases risks for psychopathology and emotional or behavioral difficulties for children or adolescents later in life. However, research has not yet examined the stress response patterns of individuals exposed to IPA, nor how reactivity to stress may be altered based on this exposure. Participants included 161 college students who completed questionnaires assessing demographics, mental health, and exposure to IPA, and also reported on family functioning and parental drinking habits. Additionally, participants completed a three-minute mirror tracing task followed by a three-minute recovery period while SCL was monitored. Multilevel modeling was used to assess whether frequency or level of exposure to IPA was related to trajectories of SCL. Neither variable was related to SCL trajectories during the mirror-tracing task. However, both frequency and level of exposure were related to SCL trajectories during the recovery period, such that for participants reporting higher levels of either IPA exposure variable, SCL trajectories during recovery declined less rapidly and did not decline to as low of a level compared to participants reporting lower levels of IPA exposure. This blunted SCL recovery may be due to wear and tear from repeated innervation, or a calibrating of the SCL response to adapt to a volatile home environment.

The Vestiges of Childhood Interparental Conflict: Adolescent Sensitization to Recent Interparental Conflict

This study examined whether childhood interparental conflict moderated the mediational pathway involving adolescent exposure to interparental conflict, their negative emotional reactivity to family conflict, and their psychological problems in a sample of 235 children (M_age  = 6 years). Significant moderated-mediation findings indicated that the mediational path among Wave 4 interparental conflict during adolescence, change in youth negative reactivity (Waves 4-5), and their psychological problems (Waves 4-6) was significant for teens who experienced low, rather than high, levels of childhood interparental conflict (Waves 1-3). Supporting the stress sensitization model, analyses showed that adolescents exposed to high interparental conflict during childhood evidenced greater increases in negative reactivity than their peers when recent parental conflicts were mild.

Improvements in coparenting conflict and child adjustment following an online program for relationship distress

Many children never receive treatment for their mental health symptoms-and those that do often receive it only after years of delay. Given that relationship and parenting conflict is an identified mechanism of child mental health symptoms, reducing distress in the parents' romantic relationship may help reduce this unmet need. In the current study, 213 couples with 1 or more children between the ages of 3 and 17 (inclusive) were randomized to receive the web-based OurRelationship program or to a 2-month waitlist condition. Intervention couples were also assessed in the year following the program. Couples in the OurRelationship program experienced a significant decrease in coparenting conflict during the intervention (Cohen's d = -0.27) but also a significant increase in coparenting conflict in the following year, reducing the long-term effects of the intervention (within-group d = -0.20 at 1-year follow-up compared with baseline). Additionally, parent-reported children's externalizing (within-group d = -0.40) and internalizing (within-group d = -0.27) symptoms significantly decreased from baseline to the 1-year follow-up. As hypothesized, improvement in relationship satisfaction during the program was significantly associated with a decrease in coparenting conflict which, in turn, was associated with reduction in both externalizing and internalizing symptoms in the children. These results indicate that online relationship-focused interventions offer an important, adjunctive approach to meet society's need for reducing children's mental health symptoms. Furthermore, the improvements in child functioning strengthen the evidence suggesting the cost-effectiveness of these relationship-focused interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

A Bayesian Vector Autoregressive Model with Nonignorable Missingness in Dependent Variables and Covariates: Development, Evaluation, and Application to Family Processes

Intensive longitudinal designs involving repeated assessments of constructs often face the problems of nonignorable attrition and selected omission of responses on particular occasions. However, time series models, such as vector autoregressive (VAR) models, are often fit to these data without consideration of nonignorable missingness. We introduce a Bayesian model that simultaneously represents the over-time dependencies in multivariate, multiple-subject time series data via a VAR model, and possible ignorable and nonignorable missingness in the data. We provide software code for implementing this model with application to an empirical data set. Moreover, simulation results comparing the joint approach with two-step multiple imputation procedures are included to shed light on the relative strengths and weaknesses of these approaches in practical data analytic scenarios.

Children's emotional and behavioral reactions to interparental aggression: The role of exposure to within-incident, cross-dyad aggression spillover

Despite children's frequent exposure to psychological and physical intimate partner aggression (IPA) and associated long-term consequences, little is known about children's immediate, within-incident reactions to IPA. Additionally, differences in reactions to IPA based on exposure to within-incident "spillover" of aggression across interparental and parent-child dyads have previously remained unexamined. Parents of children age 2.5 years at study commencement (N = 203 from 111 families) reported on incidents of family aggression four times for 1 year. Among select IPA incidents with the child present (n = 163 incidents from 73 families), IPA severity and children's exposure to aggression spillover were uniquely associated with children's expression of greater fear. Moreover, children unexposed to spillover experienced high fear only during relatively severe IPA incidents, whereas spillover-exposed children experienced high fear regardless of IPA severity (supporting observations of fear reactivity in response to low-level threats). Additionally, IPA severity positively predicted, and spillover exposure negatively predicted, children's attempts to make peace or solve the problem for their parents. Further, spillover-exposed children were more likely to withdraw or attempt to make peace during relatively more severe incidents of IPA. Thus, spillover-exposed children may manage their fear during relatively severe IPA incidents by withdrawing and/or engaging in active peacemaking behaviors but not by using other methods that may increase risk of aggression turning toward them. These results extend existing research, illustrate the unique predictive value of within-incident aggression spillover, and provide a foundation for understanding mechanisms through which IPA affects children in a diversity of ways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A Within-Family Examination of Interparental Conflict, Cognitive Appraisals, and Adolescent Mood and Well-Being

Interparental conflict (IPC) is a well-established risk factor across child and adolescent development. This study disentangled situational (within-family) and global (between-family) appraisal processes to better map hypothesized processes to adolescents' experiences in the family. This 21-day daily dairy study sampled 151 caregivers and their adolescents (61.5% female). Using multilevel mediation analyses indicated that, on days when IPC was elevated, adolescents experienced more threat and self-blame. In turn, when adolescents experienced more threat appraisals, they experienced diminished positive well-being; whereas days when adolescents felt more self-blame, they experienced increased negative mood and diminished positive well-being. Statistically significant indirect effects were found for threat as a mediator of IPC and positive outcomes. Daily blame appraisals mediated IPC and adolescent angry mood.

Evaluating school and peer protective factors in the effects of interparental conflict on adolescent threat appraisals and self-efficacy

INTRODUCTION

Recent work has sought to understand how family-specific risk, such as exposure to interparental conflict, may generalize to developmentally-salient processes in adolescence. A cascade model has been identified in which conflict-specific threat appraisals may erode adolescents' self-efficacy over time, and in turn, undermine their psychological well-being. The goal of this study was to integrate success in the school and peer contexts as potential contextual protective factors that may mitigate the effects of interparental conflict on self-efficacy.

METHODS

We tested the additive and interactive effects of success in school and peer contexts on adolescent self-efficacy to better understand these ecological contextual factors for a family risk model. Analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling with a sample of 768 two-parent U.S. families across three measurement occasions. Interparental conflict, threat appraisals, self-efficacy, and school success and peer support were measured using multiple, established scales.

RESULTS

Results supported the additive effects model, in that school success and peer support significantly contributed to general self-efficacy above and beyond the effects of threat appraisals of interparental conflict, but did not moderate the association between threat appraisals and self-efficacy.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that strengths in school and peer contexts have potential to compensate for, but do not appear to buffer, the negative effects of threat appraisals of interparental conflict and underscore the importance of these contexts for understanding multifinality in outcomes of adolescents exposed to interparental conflict.

Marital Interactions, Family Intervention, and Disagreements: A Daily Diary Study in a Low-income Sample

Little research has examined associations between low-income married couples' daily interactions and severity of disagreements. Similarly, few researchers have considered how family-strengthening interventions for low-income couples may affect the quality of daily interactions and associations between interactions and conflict experiences. This study aims to fill these gaps in the literature by leveraging daily diary data from a random assignment study of a family-strengthening intervention with low-income husbands and wives 30 months postenrollment. Married couples randomly assigned to the intervention participated in 10 weeks of relationship education services. Control group couples received no services. Thirty months postrandom assignment, participants reported on the severity of daily marital disagreements over a 15-day period, as well as their positive and negative emotions during inter-spousal interactions. Multi-level models demonstrated associations between reports of emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements. In addition, wives assigned to the family strengthening program reported fewer negative emotions during interactions at follow-up than wives in the control condition. Finally, negative associations between positive emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements were stronger for wives assigned to the intervention, while positive associations between negative emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements were weaker for wives assigned to the intervention. Implications for future research and intervention development are discussed.

Does interparental conflict decrease following changes in observed parenting from a preventive intervention program?

Interparental conflict, which is common among families where a parent has a history of Major Depressive Disorder, is associated with deficits in parenting. Models of family functioning propose that interparental conflict and parenting behaviors are transactional in nature. Given the interdependent nature of family systems, increases in positive parenting practices may lead to subsequent decreases in interparental conflict. The current study was a secondary analysis of data from a preventive intervention to improve parenting, child coping skills, and child behavior in families with a history of parental depression. We hypothesized that increases in positive parenting strategies would be associated with decreases in interparental conflict 12 months later. Results supported the study hypothesis. Findings underscored the interdependent nature of parent-child and parent-parent subsystems.

Interparental conflict and children's social problems: Insecurity and friendship affiliation as cascading mediators

Although social difficulties have been identified as sequelae of children's experiences with interparental conflict and insecurity, little is known about the specific mechanisms underlying their vulnerability to social problems. Guided by emotional security theory, this study tested the hypothesis that children's emotional insecurity mediates associations between interparental conflict and their social difficulties by undermining their affiliative goals in best friendships. Participants included 235 families with the first of 5 measurement occasions over a 10-year period occurring when children were in kindergarten (mean age = 6 years). Findings from the lagged latent difference score analyses indicated that intensification of multi-method assessment of interparental conflict during the early school years predicted subsequent increases in children's emotional insecurity 5 years later in adolescence. In the latter part of the cascade, rises in emotional insecurity predicted decreases in adolescent friendship affiliation, which, in turn, were specifically associated with declines in social competence. The specificity of this cascade of changing processes in predicting social problems was supported by the robustness of the findings after the inclusion of static measures of each construct as predictors, parent-child relationship insecurity as a covariate, and increases in children's internalizing symptoms as an alternative outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Relationship Between Parents' Intimate Partner Victimization and Youths' Adolescent Relationship Abuse

Witnessing inter-parental intimate partner violence has been found to be associated with adolescents' own relationship abuse. This study investigates the relationship between patterns of inter-parental intimate partner verbal and physical violence victimization reported by parents and their children's reports of dating abuse experiences and behavior. Latent class analysis was performed on a sample of 610 parents (42% male and 67% white) and their dating adolescent children (ages 12-21 years; 52% male). Parents reported five types of victimization by their partners in the past year, while youth concurrently reported their own victimization and perpetration within their dating relationships. Three profiles of parents' intimate partner victimization were related to youth relationship abuse experiences and behaviors. Children of parents who experienced verbal abuse were more likely to experience similar patterns in their own relationships, whereas children of parents who report physical and verbal abuse were more likely to report psychological, physical and sexual abusive encounters in their partnerships. Findings indicate that parents' relationship quality and abusive behaviors may have a long lasting effect on their children as they enter mid and late adolescence. Parents should pay attention to their own relationship quality and behavior even as their teen-age children gain independence.

I. INTRODUCTION: UNDERSTANDING THE TRANSITION TO SIBLINGHOOD FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE

The birth of an infant sibling is a common occurrence in the lives of many toddler and preschool children. Early childhood is also a time for the emergence of disruptive behavior problems that may set the stage for later problem behaviors. The current study examined individual differences in young children’s behavioral and emotional adjustment after the birth of a sibling in an effort to uncover developmental trajectories reflecting sudden and persistent change (maladaptation), adjustment and adaptation (resilience), gradual linear increases, and no change (stability and continuity). Growth mixture modeling (GMM) was conducted with a sample of 241 families expecting their second child using a longitudinal research design across the first year after the sibling’s birth (prenatal, 1, 4 8 and 12 months) on seven syndrome scales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1.5–5:(Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000 ): aggression, attention problems, anxiety/depression, emotional reactivity, withdrawal, somatic complaints, and sleep problems. For all scales, multiple classes describing different trajectory patterns emerged that reflected predominantly intercept differences; children high on problem behavior after the birth were those high before the birth. There was no evidence of a sudden, persistent maladaptive response indicating children underwent a developmental crisis for any of the problem behaviors examined. Most children were low on all problem behaviors examined and showed little change or actually declined in problem behaviors over time, although some children did experience more pronounced changes in the borderline clinical or clinical range. Only in the case of aggressive behavior was there evidence of an Adjustment and Adaptation Response showing a sudden change (prenatal to 1 month) that subsided by 4 months, suggesting that some young children react to stressful life events but adapt quickly to these changing circumstances. Further, children’s withdrawal revealed a curvilinear, quadratic path, suggesting children both increased and decreased in their withdrawal over time. Guided by a developmental ecological systems framework, we employed data mining procedures to uncover the child, parent, and family variables that best discriminated the different trajectory classes and found that children’s temperament, coparenting, parental self-efficacy, and parent-child attachment relationships were prominent in predicting children’s adjustment after the birth of an infant sibling. Finally, when trajectory classes were used to predict sibling relationship quality at 12 months, children high on aggression, attention problems, and emotional reactivity in the year after the birth engaged in more conflict and less positive involvement with the infant sibling at the end of the first year.

Within- and Between-Family Associations of Marital Functioning and Child Well-being

This study clarifies within-family and between-family links between marital functioning and child wellbeing. Expanding on existing prospective research, this study tests whether changes in parents' marital functioning are associated with corresponding changes in their children's wellbeing, independent from associations that exist when comparing different families. Participants (N = 1033) were members of married, opposite-sex couples with children who participated in five waves of a larger study of marriage in the U.S. Army. Spouses' constructive communication, verbal conflict, and marital satisfaction each showed between-family associations with parent-reported child internalizing and externalizing problems. In contrast, within-family associations were significant only for parents' communication behaviors. That is, parents who reported lower levels of marital satisfaction also reported lower child wellbeing, whereas change in parents' communication was associated with change in child wellbeing over time. Isolating within-family effects is important for understanding marital and child functioning and for identifying potential targets for effective intervention.

Moderating Effects of Gender on Outcomes Associated with Stressful Life Events Among Elementary School-Age Youth

Stressful life events have been associated with child and adolescent maladjustment, including elevated levels of aggression and anxiety (Attar et al. in J Clin Child Psychol 23:391-400, 1994; Fox et al. in J Adolesc 33:43-54, 2010). However, gender specific outcomes associated with stressful life events among elementary school-age youth are less known. Accordingly, the current study examined the role of gender in the associations between stressful life events and anxiety and proactive and reactive aggression. Participants included 294 elementary school-age children (M = 8.71, SD = 1.17, 50.7 % male). Regression analyses indicated that stressful life events were positively associated with anxiety and reactive, but not proactive, aggression. There were no gender differences with regard to the associations with anxiety symptoms or proactive aggression. However, gender moderated the association between stressful life events and reactive aggression, such that stressful life events were only positively associated with reactive aggression for boys. Future directions and implications of this research are presented.

Coping responses moderate prospective associations between marital conflict and youth adjustment

Children's engaged coping responses to family conflict were examined as moderators of the prospective association between marital conflict in middle childhood and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence. Youth and their mothers participated in 4 waves of data collection (1-year intervals from Time 1 [T1] to Time 3 [T3]; 5-year interval between T3 and Time 4 [T4]). The final analytic sample included 304 participants (51% boys; 66% European American, 34% African American). Participants were approximately 8 and 16 years old at T1 and T4, respectively. A multi-informant, longitudinal design was used to address study aims. Mothers reported on marital conflict (T1 to T3) and externalizing problems (T1 to T4); youth reported on coping responses to family conflict (T3) and internalizing symptoms (T1 to T4). Primary (e.g., problem solving) and secondary (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) engaged coping were computed as proportion scores (out of all coping responses). Toward identifying unique effects, path models controlled for internalizing when predicting externalizing symptoms, and vice versa. Primary and secondary engaged coping emerged as moderators. In the context of marital conflict, higher levels of secondary engaged coping protected against, whereas lower levels of secondary engaged coping increased risk for, externalizing problems. Conversely, lower levels of primary and secondary engaged coping protected against, whereas higher levels of primary and secondary engaged coping increased risk for, internalizing symptoms in the context of marital conflict. Findings contribute to the small literature on the moderating role of coping in the context of marital conflict, providing further insight into the prediction of unique externalizing and internalizing symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record

Harsh Parenting As a Potential Mediator of the Association Between Intimate Partner Violence and Child Disruptive Behavior in Families With Young Children

Young children living with intimate partner violence (IPV) are often also exposed to harsh parenting. Both forms of violence increase children's risk for clinically significant disruptive behavior, which can place them on a developmental trajectory associated with serious psychological impairment later in life. Although it is hypothesized that IPV behaviors may spillover into harsh parenting, and thereby influence risk for disruptive behavior, relatively little is known about these processes in families with young children. The current study examines the overlap of the quality and frequency of psychological and physical forms of IPV and harsh parenting, and tests whether harsh parenting mediates the relationship between IPV and child disruptive behavior in a diverse cross-sectional sample of 81 children ages 4 to 6 years. Results suggest that mothers reporting a greater occurrence of psychologically aggressive IPV (e.g., yelling, name-calling) more often engage in psychological and physical aggression toward their children (odds ratios [ORs] = 4.6-9.9). Mothers reporting a greater occurrence of IPV in the form of physical assault more often engage in mild to more severe forms of physical punishment with potential harm to the child (ORs = 3.8-5.0). Psychological and physical forms of IPV and harsh parenting all significantly correlated with maternal reports of child disruptive behavior (r = .29-.40). Psychological harsh parenting partially mediated the association between psychological IPV and child disruptive behavior. However, a significant direct effect of psychological IPV on preschool children's disruptive behavior remained. Implications for child welfare policy and practice and intervention, including the need for increased awareness of the negative impact of psychological IPV on young children, are discussed.

Violent Victimization Among Disadvantaged Young Adults Exposed to Early Family Conflict and Abuse: A 24-Year Prospective Study of the Victimization Cycle Across Gender

Significant associations between childhood victimization and later revictimization have materialized in previous literature; yet, the victimization cycle has been primarily explored with indicators of sexual assault, although insight into linkages between other forms of victimization remains limited. This study examined connections from family conflict exposure and physical abuse in childhood to violent crime victimization in adulthood, assessing also gender differences and neighborhood influences. Results from logistic regression and hierarchical linear modeling with data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, a panel of 1,539 low-income, ethnic/racial minority children, unearthed a significant relation between family conflict exposure and later revictimization. Moderated by gender, these analyses showed girls exposed to frequent family conflict are particularly vulnerable to revictimization in adulthood. Exploratory analyses unveiled a potential linkage between childhood physical abuse and later revictimization for men. Neighborhood effects marginally influenced results in one instance. Public health implications are discussed.

The Significance of Interparental Conflict for Children

Abstract. This review summarizes research and theory on the impact of interparental conflict for child well-being. Drawing from this literature the primary focus of many family programs on parenting seems unconvincing. Contemporary approaches increasingly acknowledge the importance of addressing the interparental relationship to reduce and/or prevent behavior problems in children. However, studies examining the impact of enhancing the parents’ relationship for children are still in their infancy. Yet, this emerging line of research indicates that couple-focused interventions alone or adjunct to parenting programs may be a potent means of increasing child adjustment. The potential of couple-focused interventions to support children’s adjustment and practical implications of such approaches are discussed. Future directions are suggested that urgently need to be addressed to advance this promising area of family psychology.

Identifying the temperamental roots of children's patterns of security in the interparental relationship

Guided by emotional security theory, this study examined the temperamental precursors of distinctive profiles of children's responses to interparental conflict. Participants included 243 children (M = 4.6 years) and their parents across two annual measurement occasions. Temperamental constructs of frustration proneness, approach, positive affect, activity level, and effortful control were assessed through multiple methods, informants, and contexts. Behavioral observations of children's responses to interparental conflict at each wave yielded four profiles: secure (i.e., efficiently address direct threat), mobilizing (i.e., vigilance to potential threat and social opportunities), dominant (i.e., directly defeat threat), and demobilizing (i.e., reduce salience as a target of hostility). Results supported hypotheses on the distinct constellations of temperament in predicting subsequent change in the four security profiles.

Longitudinal relations between sectarian and nonsectarian community violence and child adjustment in Northern Ireland

Although relations between political violence and child adjustment are well documented, longitudinal research is needed to adequately address the many questions remaining about the contexts and developmental trajectories underlying the effects on children in areas of political violence. The study examined the relations between sectarian and nonsectarian community violence and adolescent adjustment problems over 4 consecutive years. Participants included 999 mother-child dyads (482 boys, 517 girls), M ages = 12.18 (SD = 1.82), 13.24 (SD = 1.83), 13.61 (SD = 1.99), and 14.66 (SD = 1.96) years, respectively, living in socially deprived neighborhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a context of historical and ongoing political violence. In examining trajectories of adjustment problems, including youth experience with both sectarian and nonsectarian antisocial behaviors, sectarian antisocial behavior significantly predicted more adjustment problems across the 4 years of the study. Experiencing sectarian antisocial behavior was related to increased adolescent adjustment problems, and this relationship was accentuated in neighborhoods characterized by higher crime rates. The discussion considers the implications for further validating the distinction between sectarian and nonsectarian violence, including consideration of neighborhood crime levels, from the child's perspective in a setting of political violence.