This review examines theoretical and empirical literature on children's reactions to three types of violence--child maltreatment, community violence, and interparental violence. In addition to describing internalizing and externalizing problems associated with exposure to violence, this review identifies ways that violence can disrupt typical developmental trajectories through psychobiological effects, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cognitive consequences, and peer problems. Methodological challenges in this literature include high rates of co-occurrence among types of violence exposure, co-occurrence of violence with other serious life adversities, heterogeneity in the frequency, severity, age of onset, and chronicity of exposure, and difficulties in making causal inferences. A developmental psychopathology perspective focuses attention on how violence may have different effects at different ages and may compromise children's abilities to face normal developmental challenges. Emphasis is placed on the variability of children's reactions to violence, on outcomes that go beyond diagnosable disorders, and on variables that mediate and moderate children's reactions to violence.

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.

This article reviews the evidence for a relationship between 3 types of marital variables (marital status, marital adjustment, and marital interaction) and health problems (etiology, course/outcome/treatment) as well as the effect that health problems have on marriage. The mechanisms responsible for these associations also are evaluated. The evidence suggest that marital variables affect health status but that the effect is indirect and nonspecific. The major explanatory model, the stress/social support hypothesis, has provided a broad conceptual framework rather than testable hypotheses. The results of the review suggest, however, that sufficient evidence exists for researchers to focus on exploring specific explanations. A hypothetical model is presented that includes interpersonal, intrapersonal, psychological, and physiological variables. This model is intended as a blueprint for exploration as well as a summary of available evidence.

This study tested whether partners can be relied on to provide congruent reports about abuse in their relationship. The authors examined whether interpartner agreement (IA) varies as a function of whether the perpetrator is the man or the woman, and by whether the abusive behavior being reported is physical or psychological. Guided by psychometric test theory, the authors examined whether weak IA about specific behaviors can be improved by aggregating behavior items into scales and by controlling for random measurement error. A representative sample of 360 young couples was studied.IA did not vary with the perpetrator's gender or with the nature of the abusive behaviors, but victims (both men and women) reported somewhat more abuse than did their perpetrators. IA about specific abusive behaviors was only poor to fair, but it became very good when items were aggregated into scales and even better when measurement errors were removed from the reports. The findings suggest that reports of abuse can be aggregated to form internally consistent scales that show strong IA, thereby fulfilling criteria for reliability. Moreover, under research conditions that guarantee confidentiality, either abuser reports or victim reports are suitable methods for use in research on partner abuse.Partner abuse-whether between married, cohabiting, or dating couples-is a serious social problem. The consequences of partner abuse have been recognized by mental health professionals to be sufficiently severe to warrant its inclusion as a focus of clinical attention in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American

Do partners’ levels of physiological arousal become linked in close relationships? The term “physiological linkage” describes covariation between people in their moment-to-moment physiological states. The current review presents a conceptual framework to guide research on linkage in romantic relationships and discusses the potential implications of being “linked.” Evidence of linkage was found across a broad range of physiological indices and in a variety of contexts, including during laboratory-based conflict and in daily life. Four hypotheses regarding how linkage relates to individual and interpersonal functioning are evaluated: (1) co-activation of the sympathetic nervous system or hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis is “bad,” (2) moderate physiological linkage is “just right,” (3) physiological linkage is problematic if the individual or couple is overloaded, and (4) the implications of physiological linkage depend on the emotional context. We found partial support for the first hypothesis and determined that more research is needed to evaluate the remaining hypotheses. Linkage in cortisol was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction; but at the same time, linkage in multiple systems was positively associated with indices of relationship connectedness, such as the amount of time spent together and the ability to identify the emotions of one’s partner. These results suggest that linkage may confer benefits but also may put couples at risk if they become entrenched in patterns of conflict or stress. With research in this area burgeoning in recent years, this review indicates that linkage is a promising construct with applications for interventions targeting individual health and couple functioning.