Marital Conflict Trajectories and Associations With Children's Disruptive Behavior

We seek to identify heterogeneous trajectories of marital conflict during the early childhood period, identify predictors associated with these trajectories, and examine associations between trajectory group membership and children's disruptive behavior. Participants were 469 families examined 4 times when the children were 2 to 54 months of age. Maternal reports of marital conflict, adverse childhood experiences, depressive symptoms, and sociodemographic characteristics were collected, and averaged maternal and paternal reports of child disruptive problems were used. Using growth mixture modeling, 3 trajectories of marital conflict were identified: high increasing (21.8%), high decreasing (7%), and low stable (71.2%). Maternal adverse childhood experiences predicted increased risk of belonging in the high‐increasing group, whereas depressive symptoms predicted increased risk of belonging in the high‐decreasing group. Importantly, children of mothers in the high‐increasing group exhibited higher levels of disruptive behavior at 54 months when compared with children of mothers in the high‐decreasing and low‐stable groups.     

Adolescent Conflict Appraisals Moderate the Link Between Marital Conflict and Physiological Stress Reactivity

The goal of this study was to advance understanding of how adolescent conflict appraisals contribute uniquely, and in combination with interparental conflict behavior, to individual differences in adolescent physiological reactivity. Saliva samples were collected from 153 adolescents (52% female; ages 10–17 years) before and after the Trier Social Stress Test. Saliva was assayed for cortisol and alpha‐amylase. Results revealed interactive effects between marital conflict and conflict appraisals. For youth who appraised parental conflict negatively (particularly as threatening), negative marital conflict predicted dampened reactivity; for youth who appraised parental conflict less negatively, negative marital conflict predicted heightened reactivity. These findings support the notion that the family context and youth appraisals of family relationships are linked with individual differences in biological sensitivity to context.     

Marital Conflict and Emotional Insecurity Among Chinese Adolescents: Cultural Value Moderation

Emotional security theory has received substantial empirical support in the literature. However, the applicability of this theory in diverse cultures is still unclear. This study examined emotional insecurity among Chinese adolescents (N = 315) and how social harmony values moderated the association between parental conflict tactics (233 mothers; 224 fathers) and adolescents' emotional insecurity. Results showed that emotional insecurity could be reliably measured among Chinese adolescents. Furthermore, a significant moderation showed that paternal conflict tactics were associated with adolescents' emotional insecurity only when they endorsed higher social harmony. In the maternal model, an overall association between maternal conflict tactics and adolescents' emotional insecurity was observed. The current findings enrich the literature on emotional security in diverse ecological contexts.     

Life Stress and Marital Conflict A Pilot Study*

The pilot study presented in this paper focuses on the relationship of life event stress (as measured by the Holmes Social Readjustment Rating Scale) and the incidence of marital dysfunction. It was found that those couples in which one or both partners were receiving marital counseling had experienced a significantly greater amount of life stress events during the previous 12-month period than had couples who were not experiencing marital dysfunction. The discussion includes a theoretical examination of the life stress event/marital dysfunction relationship, as well as implications regarding the use of this scale by the counselor for preventative and intervention purposes.     

Marital Harmony and Conflict: Links to Infants' Emotional Regulation and Cardiac Vagal Tone

This study is an investigation of linkages between marital quality (conflict and harmony) and infants' emotional and physiological regulation: It was hypothesized that infants exposed to greater levels of marital conflict would demonstrate lower levels of emotional and physiological regulation. Fifty‐six low‐risk infants and their mothers attended a laboratory session when infants were 6 months of age. A baseline EKG was gathered to assess infants' cardiac vagal tone and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and Behavior Rating Scales were administered. Mothers also completed Braiker and Kelley's (1979) marital quality questionnaire. Consistent with past research with preschoolers, marital conflict was found to be linked to lower levels of emotion regulation in infants. However, unlike past research (Gottman & Katz, 1989), results indicated that marital conflict was associated with lower levels of cardiac vagal tone in infants as opposed to higher levels of vagal tone among preschoolers. These findings are explained in terms of a possible developmental alteration in the link between marital conflict and vagal tone from early infancy to later childhood. Findings also have important implications for understanding the potential impact of the early marital relational context for infants emerging regulatory abilities.     

Marital Conflict and Children's Emotional Security in the Context of Parental Depression

Evidence has emerged for emotional security as an explanatory variable linking marital conflict to children's adjustment. Further evidence suggests parental psychopathology is a key factor in child development. To advance understanding of the pathways by which these family risk factors impact children's development, the mediational role of emotional security for children with parents who have potentially clinical levels of depression compared to children whose parents have lower levels of symptomatology was examined (i.e., moderated mediation). Participants included 297 families assessed annually for 3 years. Paternal depression moderated pathways, such that marital conflict was associated with greater child emotional insecurity 2 years later in the context of paternal depression. Testing alternative pathways, emotional insecurity mediated relations between maternal depression and externalizing problems.     

Infants' Behavioral Strategies for Emotion Regulation With Fathers and Mothers: Associations With Emotional Expressions and Attachment Quality

This study examined 12‐ and 13‐month‐old infants' behavioral strategies for emotion regulation, emotional expressions, regulatory styles, and attachment quality with fathers and mothers. Eighty‐five infants participated in the Strange Situation procedure to assess attachment quality with mothers and fathers. Infants' behavioral strategies for emotion regulation were examined with each parent during a competing demands task. Emotion regulation styles were meaningfully related to infant‐father attachment quality. Although expressions of distress and positive affect were not consistent across mothers and fathers, there was consistency in infant strategy use, emotion regulation style, and attachment quality with mothers and fathers. Furthermore, infants who were securely attached to both parents showed greater consistency in parent‐oriented strategies than infants who were insecurely attached to one or both parents. Limitations of this study include the constrained laboratory setting, potential carryover effects, and a homogeneous, middle‐class sample.     

Coming to Terms With Parental Divorce: Associations With Marital Outcomes and the Role of Gender and Religiosity

In this article we examine the current marriage relationship outcomes for children of divorce compared to children from intact families. The sample is 997 matched married couples. Those from families with married parents were more likely to come to terms with issues in their family of origin, and had higher religiosity, less negative communication, and more positive relationship satisfaction than those with divorced parents. Religiosity was effective in helping those with married parents come to terms with family of origin. The variable coming to terms with family of origin predicted positive marital outcomes to some extent for all couples, although for couples where both partners' parents had divorced coming to terms predicted fewer positive outcomes. Coming to terms for females was associated more profoundly with decreases in negative communication for both males and the females, and also predicted satisfaction and stability in more cases than did coming to terms for males.     

Emotional and Physical Satisfaction in Noncohabiting,Cohabiting, and Marital Relationships: The Importance of Jealous Conflict

This article examines whether associations between marital status and emotional and physical satisfaction depend on jealous conflict associated with expectations about sexual exclusivity. Using data from a representative sample of 681 women and men drawn from the city of Chicago and its inner suburbs, this study estimated logistic regression models of jealous conflict and ordered logistic regression models of adults' reported emotional and physical satisfaction of their relationships. The results show that marriages are less exposed to jealous conflict than cohabiting and noncohabiting relationships. Regarding emotional and physical satisfaction, their associations with marital status were contingent upon whether individuals reported jealous conflict in their relationships. Specifically, in relationships without jealous conflict, married couples were more emotionally satisfied than noncohabiting couples. Married couples, but not cohabiting and noncohabiting couples, had significantly lower emotional and physical satisfaction when jealous conflict occurred. Cohabitors were not less emotionally or physically satisfied than married respondents. Overall, this research supports the argument that sexual exclusivity expectations are important for understanding the link between marital status and relationship quality.     

Stress Hormone Changes and Marital Conflict: Spouses’ Relative Power Makes a Difference

We investigated the impact of relative marital power on 72 newlywed couples’ endocrinological responses to marital conflict. Marital power was determined by comparing spouses’ reports of dependent love for one another. Less powerful spouses displayed elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) responses to a conflict discussion. Shared power appeared to have a beneficial effect on wives’ but not husbands’ ACTH responses. Spouses’ cortisol levels declined over time, except for wives who were less powerful and for husbands who shared power with their wives. Conflict behaviors did not differ as a function of this marital power index. These data suggest that relative levels of general emotional power in relationships may play an important role in spouses’ physiological responses to marital conflict.     

Group Therapy for Emotional Dysregulation: Treatment for Adolescents and Their Parents

A dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) group has been conducted for a number of years at a public outpatient clinic for adolescents suffering with emotional regulation difficulties and their families. A detailed account of the rationale, design, and content of both the adolescent and parent groups are provided. Data from these groups adds to the limited evidence regarding the efficacy of such groups. A retrospective analysis of changes in the adolescent participants’ emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety and stress, following their participation in the group (N?=?12) was conducted. Several substantial improvements were noted across the measures of psychopathology, following the completion of the group. These findings support the teaching of DBT skills to adolescents and their families, with some modifications being appropriate for their application to this population. Future avenues for research stemming from the group program are also discussed.     

Stress and Marital Satisfaction of Parents to Children Diagnosed With Autism

This investigation expanded on previous research conducted among parents caring for a child who is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An online web survey was used to collect data from 253 parents caring for a child with a diagnosis of ASD. Both parents reported elevated levels of parental stress associated with caring for the child on the spectrum. Lower levels of marital satisfaction were found in both parents. About 13% of the parents met the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder, and about 15% of the parents met the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder. Although the majority of the sample was female (94%), significant differences were found between males and females in relation to meeting the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder and for generalized anxiety disorder. Higher levels of stress were associated with higher number of generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder symptoms. Findings from this study indicate how vulnerable parents, especially mothers, are in relation to caring to a child diagnosed with ASD.     

Parents' Marital Status, Conflict, and Role Modeling: Links With Adult Romantic Relationship Quality

This study investigated three parental marital statuses and relationship quality among unmarried, but dating adults ages 18 to 35 (N = 1153). Those whose parents never married one another tended to report the lowest relationship quality (in terms of relationship adjustment, negative communication, commitment, and physical aggression) compared to those with divorced or married biological parents. In addition, those with divorced parents reported lower relationship adjustment and more negative communication than those with married parents. Parental conflict and the degree to which participants rated their parents' relationship as a healthy model for their own relationships partially explained the associations between parental marital status and relationship outcomes. We suggest that this particular family type (i.e., having parents who never marry one another) needs greater attention in this field in terms of research and intervention.     

Marital Conflict Resolution and Marital Affection in Chinese Marriage: Integrating Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Approaches

Abstract

To examine how couple interactions shape changes in marital affection during the early years of marriage, we used two-wave, dyadic data from 268 Chinese couples and integrated variable-centered (i.e., the actor-partner interdependence model; APIM) and person-centered analytic approaches (i.e., the latent profile analysis; LPA). Employing variable-centered analyses, we found that husbands’ stalemate and verbal aggression as well as wives’ collaboration and avoidance were particularly predictive of changes in marital affection. Using person-centered analyses, we found that (1) three groups of couples can be identified based on husbands’ and wives’ marital conflict resolution strategies (i.e., Collaborative Couples, Aggressive Wife-Defensive Husband Couples, and Defensive Couples); and (2) the changes of marital affection varied systematically across these groups. Variable-centered and person-centered approaches each generate unique insights above and beyond each other when considering marital phenomena. Integrating the two approaches can depict a more complete and nuanced picture of the association between marital conflict resolution and marital affection.     

Longitudinal Patterns in Parent and Friend Emotion Socialization: Associations With Adolescent Emotion Regulation

Adolescents learn about emotions through interacting with parents and friends, though there is limited longitudinal research on this topic. This study examined longitudinal patterns in parent and friend emotion socialization and adolescent emotion regulation. Eighty‐seven adolescents reported on parent and friend emotion socialization. Parents reported on adolescent emotion regulation. Parents’ responses were stable over time and across gender. Friends of girls reciprocated negative emotions more and were less punitive over time, whereas friends of boys increased in comforting and decreased in neglect of negative emotions. Parents and friends evidenced unique effects on adolescent emotion regulation, and the effect of friend socialization responses differed for girls and boys. Future research should examine combinatory influences of multiple socializers on adolescent adjustment.     

Linking Financial Strain to Marital Instability: Examining the Roles of Emotional Distress and Marital Interaction

Using a sample consisting of 4,997 married couples from the National Survey of Families and Households, individual emotional distress, the occurrence of couple disagreements, couple fighting, and couple quality time together mediated the relationship between financial strain and personal assessments of marital instability. The overall results suggest that financial strain influences both positive and negative forms of couple interaction which are stronger mediators than personal emotional distress of the relationship between financial strain and marital instability. The results further suggest that there were no gender differences among these linkages.     

Marital Conflict Behaviors and Implications for Divorce Over 16 Years

This study examined self‐reported marital conflict behaviors and their implications for divorce. Husbands and wives (N = 373 couples; 47% White American, 53% Black American) reported conflict behaviors in Years 1, 3, 7, and 16 of their marriages. Individual behaviors (e.g., destructive behaviors) and patterns of behaviors between partners (e.g., withdrawal‐constructive) in Year 1 predicted higher divorce rates. Wives' destructive and withdrawal behaviors decreased over time, whereas husbands' conflict behaviors remained stable. Husbands reported more constructive and less destructive behaviors than wives, and Black American couples reported more withdrawal than White American couples. Findings support behavioral theories of marriage demonstrating that conflict behaviors predict divorce and accommodation theories indicating that conflict behaviors become less negative over time.     

Peer Stress in Preadolescence: Linking Physiological and Coping Responses With Social Competence

This study examined associations between real‐time physiological and coping responses in the context of salient peer stress experiences in preadolescence, as well as independent and interactive associations linking physiological and coping responses with social competence. Physiological responses included respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSAR) and skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) during laboratory‐based peer‐evaluative stress experiences. Engaged and disengaged coping strategies were assessed with real‐time responses to peer‐evaluative stress (assessed immediately following peer‐evaluative stress experiences in the laboratory) and with questionnaire‐based responses to peer victimization. Analyses consistently revealed associations between lower RSAR (lower vagal withdrawal) and lower teacher‐reported social competence among preadolescents with disengaged (and low engaged) coping responses to peer‐evaluative stress in the laboratory, as well as disengaged coping responses to peer victimization.     

Marital Conflict and Children's Emotions: The Development of an Anger Organization

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between anger‐based marital conflict and the development of an anger organization in children between the ages of 4 and 8 years old. Anger organization was defined as an adversarial approach to relationships demonstrated through (a) short‐term anger expressions during social interaction and (b) aggression in relationships. Seventy‐one children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, their mothers, and their teachers participated in the study. Mothers completed questionnaires on anger‐based marital conflict and on children's aggression. Sociometric ratings of anger and aggression were obtained from peers. Teachers supplied reports of children's aggression. Children's short‐term emotional expression and the circumstances that elicited emotions were observed during peer interaction. Anger‐based marital conflict was found to be strongly associated with peer, maternal, and teacher reports of aggression, but not with reports of internalizing symptomatology. Anger‐based marital conflict was also associated with short‐term anger expressions, but not with short‐term expressions of sadness. I argue that children develop an emotional organization in which anger predominates when they are exposed to high levels of anger‐based marital conflict.