Interparental Discord and Child Adjustment: Prospective Investigations of Emotional Security as an Explanatory Mechanism

Abstract

Advancing the process-oriented study of links between interparental discord and child adjustment, 2 multimethod prospective tests of emotional security as an explanatory mechanism are reported. On the basis of community samples, with waves spaced 2 years apart, Study 1 (113 boys and 113 girls, ages 9-18) identified emotional security as a mediator in a 2-wave test, whereas Study 2 (105 boys and 127 girls, ages 5-7) indicated emotional security as an intervening mechanism in a 3-wave test. Relations between discord and emotional security increased as children moved into adolescence in Study 1. Emotional security was identified as an explanatory mechanism for both internalizing and externalizing problems in children.

Marital psychological and physical aggression and children's mental and physical health: Direct, mediated, and moderated effects.

“…This replicates a consistent finding of past studies (e.g., Cummings et al, 2006;Davies, Harold, et al, 2002). Moreover, this finding emerged from children's reports of internalizing problems, parents' reports of the other parent's marital aggression, and both parents' and children's reports of emotional insecurity, further suggesting the robustness of this pathway.…”

“…It is notable that although this study focused on elementary-school children (i.e., second and third graders), the importance of regulatory processes related to emotional insecurity for children's adjustment may also be relevant to older children. For example, relations between marital conflict and emotional security are even stronger for adolescents compared to younger children (Cummings et al, 2006). Several limitations merit consideration.…”

Vinculação aos pais, divórcio e conflito interparental em adolescentes

“…Estes resultados parecem ser reveladores da importância do conflito interparental nas relações de vinculação aos pais e nas relações familiares, o que vai ao encontro da grande maioria das investigações neste domínio, que refere que o conflito interparental é uma variável mais importante que o divór-cio, para explicar as diferenças na qualidade das relações entre os filhos e os pais e na adaptação psicossocial dos sujeitos (Amato & Keith, 1991;Buchanan & Heiges, 2001;Cummings & Davies, 1994;Cummings, Schermerhorn, Davies, Goeke-Morey & Cummings, 2006;Emery, 1982Emery, , 1988Forehand et al, 1994;Grych et al, 2004;Woodward et al, 2000;Zill et al, 1993).…”

Interparental conflict and child adjustment: main concepts and research findings

“…In this concept elaborated by Cummings (1994, 1998) the role of child's confl ict perception is emphasized, too. Similarly to the attachment security concept (Ainsworth et al, 1978;Bowlby, 2007) emotional security in the marital confl ict context is a construct involving children's emotional security about interparental confl ict (Cummings, Schemerhorn, Davies, Goeke-Morey, & Cummings, 2006). The Emotional Security Hypothesis postulates that children's emotional security derives from the family systems, in particular from the marital system (Cummings, Goeke-Morey, Papp & Dukewich, 2002).…”

“…The Emotional Security Hypothesis postulates that children's emotional security derives from the family systems, in particular from the marital system (Cummings, Goeke-Morey, Papp & Dukewich, 2002). Emotional security is understood as an appraisal that family relationships remain positive and stable even if exposed to usual stressors like marital confl ict, and that family members can be expected to remain approachable and emotionally available for the child even in stressful conditions (Cummings, Schemerhorn, Davies, Goeke-Morey, & Cummings, 2006). The Emotional Security Hypothesis conceives children's emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions to interparental confl ict as indications that confl ict is comprehended as a threat to marriage stability 1998).…”