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Child emotional security and interparental conflict.
Patrick T Davies1, Gordon T Harold, Marcie C Goeke-Morey
1Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA. davies@psych.rochester.edu
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
|January 17, 2003
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Parental conflict significantly impacts child adjustment.
- Existing theories offer differing explanations for this impact.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the emotional security hypothesis regarding children's adjustment to parental conflict.
- To compare the emotional security hypothesis with social learning theory.
Main Methods:
- Four studies involving children and parents in Wales.
- Utilized child self-reports, parent reports, and conflict simulations.
- Employed statistical analyses to examine mediation and moderation.
Main Results:
- Child emotional insecurity consistently mediated the link between parental conflict and maladjustment.
- Destructive conflict tactics elicited fear, avoidance, and involvement in children.
- Family instability and parenting difficulties exacerbated negative effects, while family cohesion acted as a protective factor.
Conclusions:
- The emotional security hypothesis provides a robust framework for understanding children's adjustment to parental conflict.
- Child emotional insecurity is a key mechanism linking parental conflict to psychological symptoms.
- Family context and parenting quality significantly moderate these pathways.