Longitudinal relations between marital conflict and child adjustment: vagal regulation as a protective factor

Although associations between marital conflict and children's adjustment problems are established, less is known about child individual differences that can have an impact on these relations. The authors examined longitudinal relations between marital conflict and children's adjustment using a community sample of elementary school-age children and young adolescents and assessed the role of children's vagal regulation in moderating the conflict-child problems link. Elevated marital conflict was predictive of negative child outcomes, and greater vagal suppression to a simulated argument was protective against internalizing problems associated with marital conflict. Findings are supportive of the value of a biopsychosocial perspective and illustrate that child vagal regulation can contribute to the aggregation or amelioration of risk for maladjustment in the context of exposure to marital conflict.