The mediating role of coping self‐efficacy beliefs on the relationship between parental conflict and child psychological adjustment

Abstract

The effect of parental conflict on children's psychological adjustment is variable. Coping self-efficacy refers to a person's perceived ability to self-motivate and access the required cognitive resources to take control of, or exert their coping efforts in a stressful situation. This study investigated the mediating role of children's coping self-efficacy beliefs between parental conflict and children's psychological adjustment (internalizing, externalizing, anxiety, and prosocial behavior). The participants were 663 school students in grade 5 (M 5 10.17 years, SD 5 .53) and grade 7 (M 5 12.11 years, SD 5 .52). The ethnic composition of the sample was approximately 72% White, 20% Asian, 4% Middle Eastern, and 4% from other ethnic groups. Coping selfefficacy for avoiding maladaptive cognitions mediated the effect of parental conflict on children's internalizing symptoms longitudinally.

Relationship between post-traumatic disorder and posttraumatic growth in COVID-19 home-confined adolescents: The moderating role of self-efficacy

“…Psychological resources, such as self-efficacy, have been found to affect individual responses to traumatic events. Self-efficacy has been found to be associated with positive psychological adjustments that protect adolescents from the negative impacts of parental conflict (Brummert Lennings & Bussey, 2017), community violence (Darawshy & Haj-Yahia, 2018), earthquakes (Ho et al, 2017), and terrorist attacks (Benight et al, 2000). Social posttraumatic recovery cognitive theory claims that a strong sense of self efficacy strengthens a person's resilience to adversity (Benight & Bandura, 2004).…”

Effects of Inter-Parental Conflict on Children’s Social Well-Being and the Mediation Role of Parenting Behavior

“…First, most of the previous literature is strongly characterized by studies based on data from the United States (e.g., Kouros et al, 2010;McCoy et al, 2013;Miga et al, 2012). Only few studies have documented the detrimental effects of family conflict in non-US contexts that range from various mental problems in adolescents in Hong Kong, Turkey and Egypt (Elemary et al, 2016;Koçak et al, 2017;Low, 2021), and lower self-control skills in Japanese children (Hosokawa & Katsura, 2017) to more internalizing and externalizing problems in children from Australia (Brummert Lennings & Bussey, 2017) and poorer academic performance in children from the UK (Harold et al, 2007), for example.…”

“…Arguments and conflicts are an inevitable part of family life, and inter-parental conflicts are one of the most prominent, parent-driven factors that negatively influence the home environments of children and adolescents (e.g., Brock & Kochanska, 2016;Brummert Lennings & Bussey, 2017;Hosokawa & Katsura, 2017;Troxel & Matthews, 2004;Vandewater & Lansford, 1998). Conflicts between parents have been identified repeatedly in the literature as crucial risk factors for children's mental health, behavioral and emotional problems, and social behavior (e.g., Auersperg et al, 2019;Davies et al, 2016;McCoy et al, 2009;O'Hara et al, 2019).…”

Help Needs among Parents and Families in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Germany

“…Ample research before the COVID-19 pandemic identified risk factors for family dysfunction. Those general factors associated with family dysfunction include high family conflict [ 11 ], poor parenting practices [ 12 , 13 ] and poor parent–child relationships. Deprived families, for example those living in poor neighborhoods [ 14 ] or experiencing economic pressure [ 15 ], are often among those with heightened levels of dysfunction.…”