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Published on: September 19, 2019
Couple power dynamics, systemic family functioning, and child adjustment: a test of a mediational model in a
Kristin M Lindahl1, Neena M Malik, Karen Kaczynski
1Department of Psychology, Psychology Annex, P.O. Box 249229, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA. klindahl@miami.edu
Abstract:
Power dynamics in the marital dyad and systemic elements of whole-family functioning (cohesion, subsystem boundary formations) were examined in relation to each other and also in relation to child adjustment in a multiethnic sample of families. Support was found for a mediational model, such that family functioning was found to mediate the relationship between marital power dynamics and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior. Some support also was found for ethnicity as a moderator of the association between systemic family processes and children's adjustment. Disturbances in family cohesion and subsystem boundaries were more strongly related to internalizing symptomatology for children in European American families compared to children in Hispanic American families.
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