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 ϭ Ϫ0.29). Group comparison studies showed that witnesses had significantly worse outcomes relative to nonwitnesses (d ϭ Ϫ0.40) and children from verbally aggressive homes (d ϭ Ϫ0.28), but witnesses' outcomes were not significantly different from those of physically abused children (d ϭ 0.15) or physically abused witnesses (d ϭ 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.In the past several decades, researchers, clinicians, and policymakers have expressed increasing concern that children who witness marital violence may suffer negative consequences even when they are not themselves the target of violence (Osofsky, 1995). However, research on children who witness marital violence is much less extensive than research on children who are the direct victims of physical abuse (Fantuzzo, Boruch, Beriama, Atkins, & Marcus, 1997). Case studies of child witnesses first appeared in the 1970s, with the first empirical studies conducted in the 1980s. Because witnessing domestic violence can terrorize children and significantly disrupt child socialization, many researchers have begun to consider exposure to domestic violence to be a form of psychological maltreatment (McGee & Wolfe, 1991;Peled & Davis, 1995;Somer & Braunstein, 1999).The focus on child witnesses is important because, relative to the general population, families with documented incidents of domestic violence have a significantly higher number of children in the home, especially children younger than age 5 (Fantuzzo et al., 1997). Other research suggests that physical violence is highest early in the marital relationship, when children are likely to be young . Although many parents report trying to shelter their children from marital violence, research suggests that children in violent homes commonly see, hear, and intervene in episodes of marital violence (Fantuzzo et al., 1997;Holden & Ritchie, 1991;Rosenberg, 1987).The past 20 years have seen a flurry of research on child witnesses to domestic violence, and numerous qualitative reviews of this research have concluded that children's exposure to marital violence is associated with a wide range of psychological, emotional, behavioral, social, and academic problems (e.g., Fantuzzo & Lindquist, 1989;Jaffe, Wolfe, & Wilson, 1990;Kolbo, Blakely, & Engleman, 1996;Margolin & Gordis, 2000;Wolak & Finkelhor, 1998). At this point, there are several benefits to integrating these results using quantitative, meta-analytic procedures. First, although two influential meta-analyses have been conducted on the effects of interparental conflict (Buehler et al., 1997) and marital di...

Family-based interventions for pediatric obesity are defined by active parent involvement in treatment. In the current review the authors examine 31 family-based interventions with published outcome data and distinguish 4 categories of family-based interventions: (a) Target a narrow range of parent behaviors related to eating/exercise and assess change only in terms of child eating, exercise, or weight; (b) target a similarly narrow range of parent behaviors but nevertheless assess program-related changes in general parenting skills or family functioning; (c) target a broad range of parent behaviors related to general parenting and family functioning but do not assess program-related changes in these areas; and (d) target general parenting or family functioning and also assess program-related changes in these areas. The authors highlight methodological and conceptual challenges facing researchers in this area and argue for an even broader family focus in family-based interventions for pediatric obesity.

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.

SYNOPSISObjective. We examined correspondence in parents' and children's perceptions of parenting and associations between these perceptions and children's social adjustment in the classroom. Design. The sample included 214 children (M age = 9) from third to fifth grades and their parents. Children and parents reported on parenting behavior. Results. Parents' self-reports and children's reports about parents showed systematic differences, with parents perceiving themselves as more supportive than children perceived them to be. Direction of discrepancy between child and parent reports appeared to be more important than size of discrepancy in predicting child outcomes. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that parents' self-perceptions of parenting and children's perceptions of parenting were predictive of different measures of child psychosocial adjustment. Conclusions. The results of this study support the assumption that parents' self-perceptions and children's perceptions of parenting provide unique views of the family and unique relations to children's psychosocial adjustment.

The results suggest that lifestyle interventions can be effective under a wide range of conditions not limited to the highly controlled conditions of efficacy studies. Parent involvement is associated with significantly better results.