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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
07:56
Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Interparental conflict in context: exploring relations between parenting processes and children's conflict appraisals
Renee L DeBoard-Lucas1, Gregory M Fosco, Sarah R Raynor
1Department of Psychology, Marquette University. renee.deboard@marquette.edu
Summary
Parenting styles significantly impact how children cope with parental conflict. Supportive parenting can buffer children from negative effects like self-blame, promoting better adjustment.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Family Studies
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Parental discord is linked to child maladjustment.
- Children's appraisals of conflict mediate this relationship.
- The role of parent-child relationships in shaping these appraisals is understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how parenting influences children's conflict appraisals.
- To examine the link between conflict appraisals, parenting, and child adjustment.
- To test the cognitive-contextual framework's propositions empirically.
Main Methods:
- Multi-informant, multimethod design with 150 children (8-12 years old).
- Assessed children's conflict appraisals, parenting behaviors, and adjustment.
- Utilized parent and child reports, and observational data.
Main Results:
- Mothers' coercive/controlling and unsupportive parenting amplified children's self-blame for conflict.
- Emotionally supportive parenting by mothers reduced this self-blame association.
- Secure attachment with fathers correlated with lower threat and self-blame appraisals.
Conclusions:
- Supportive and responsive parenting acts as a buffer against interparental conflict's negative impact.
- Parenting influences children's attributions of blame for parental discord.
- Interventions promoting positive parenting may mitigate child maladjustment stemming from family conflict.
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