Previous research suggests that undermining of attention performance might be one decisive underlying mechanism in the link between marital conflict and children's academic maladjustment, but little is known about specific risk patterns in this regard. This study examines, in an experimental approach, the role of children's history of interparental discord and skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) as moderators in the link between analogue marital conflict exposure and children's attention. The attention performance of 57 children, aged 11 to 13 years, was assessed prior to and immediately after a 1-min video exposure to either (a) a couple conflict or (b) a neutral condition. SCLR was measured continuously throughout the stimulus presentation. Results indicated that children's family background of interparental conflict and their physiological reactivity moderated the influence of the experimental stimulus on children's short-term attention performance. Lower SCLR served as a protective factor in children from high-conflict homes exposed to the couple conflict. The current study advances the body of knowledge in this field by identifying risk patterns for the development of attention problems in children in relation to marital conflict exposure. DOI: https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.jecp.2013.09.007 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-85968 Accepted Version Originally published at: Zemp, Martina; Bodenmann, Guy; Cummings, E Mark (2014). The role of skin conductance level reactivity in the impact of children's exposure to interparental conflict on their attention performance.
INTERPARENTAL CONFLICT, SCLR, AND CHILD'S ATTENTION
AbstractObjective: Previous research suggests that undermining of attention performance might be one decisive underlying mechanism in the link between marital conflict and children's academic maladjustment but little is known about specific risk patterns in this regard. This study examines in an experimental approach the role of child's history of interparental discord and skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) as moderators in the link between analogue marital conflict exposure and child's attention. Method: Attention performance of fifty-seven children, aged 11 -13 years, was assessed prior to and immediately after a 1-min video exposure to either (1) a couple conflict or (2) a neutral condition. SCLR was measured continuously throughout the stimulus presentation. Results:Results indicated that the children's family background of interparental conflict and their physiological reactivity moderated the influence of the experimental stimulus on child's shortterm attention performance. Lower SCLR served as protective factor in children from highconflict homes exposed to the couple conflict. Conclusion: The current study advances the body of knowledge in this field by identifying risk patterns for the development of attention problems in children in relation to marital conflict exposure.Keywords: marital con...