Marital Conflict and Children’s Problem Behaviors: A Focus on the Mediating Effect of Children’s Pragmatic Language

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to identify the relationship between marital conflict, children’s problem behaviors, and children’s pragmatic language.Methods: This stuydy used data on 569 children and their parents from the 11th and 12th Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 23.0 with Cronbach’s α, Pearson’s partial correlation, frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, an independent samples t-test and multiple regression analysis. Path analysis was used to analyze the short-term longitudinal relations among marital conflict, children’s pragmatic language, and children’s problem behaviors. Bootstrapping was used to examine the mediating effect using AMOS 23.0.Results: The major results of this study are as follows. First, marital conflict (T1) was positively correlated with children’s internalizing problem behavior (T2) and externalizing problem behavior (T2), but was negatively correlated with children’s pragmatic language (T1). Second, children’s pragmatic language was negatively correlated with children’s problem behaviors. Third, marital conflict (T1) was found to exert an influence on children’s pragmatic language (T1) and children’s problem behaviors (T2). Finally, the relationship between marital conflict (T1) and children’s problem behaviors (T2) was mediated by children's pragmatic language (T1).Conclusion: According to this study, marital conflict and children’s pragmatic language in Time 1 need to be considered to explain the level of children’s problem behavior in Time 2. The results are discussed in terms of early interventions for children’s social and emotional development.