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Marital adjustment, child-rearing disagreements, and overreactive parenting: predicting child behavior problems
Susan G O'Leary1, Hilary B Vidair
1Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500, USA. susan.oleary@sunysb.edu
Abstract:
Using structural equation modeling, the authors evaluated the hypothesis that the relation between marital adjustment and children's behavior problems is mediated by child-rearing disagreements, whose effects are mediated by parents' overreactive discipline. In a community sample, fully or partially mediated models of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems of 3- to 7-year-old boys (N = 99) and girls (N = 104) were supported for mothers and fathers in 7 of 8 cases. Child-rearing disagreements always mediated the relation of marital adjustment and child behavior problems, and overreactive discipline was a final mediator in 3 cases. More variance was accounted for in mothers' than fathers' ratings. For mothers' ratings, the most variance was accounted for in boys' externalizing and girls' internalizing behavior problems.
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