Guided by the emotional security hypothesis developed by Davies & Cummings (1994), studies were conducted to test a conceptual refinement of children's adjustment to parental conflict in relation to hypotheses of other prominent theories. Study 1 examined whether the pattern of child responses to simulations of adult conflict tactics and topics was consistent with the emotional security hypothe...

This study examined the interplay between interparental conflict and child cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict in predicting child maladjustment in a sample of 178 families and their kindergarten children. Consistent with the allostatic load hypothesis (McEwen & Stellar, 1993), results indicated that interparental conflict was indirectly related to child maladjustment through its asso...

We examined the cross-sectional association between conflict in families and child psychological adjustment in 72 4th-5th graders. Multiple informants (parents, children, and teachers) assessed conflict and anger in the social climate of the home, marital discord, negative emotional tone in the parent-child relationship, and child adjustment. As predicted, child adjustment was more strongly rel...

Parent-child attachment security and dyadic measures of parent-child positive and negative emotional reciprocity were examined as possible mediators and moderators of the connection between marital conflict and children's peer play behavior. Eighty parents were observed in a laboratory play session with their 15- to 18-month-old child. Subsequently, at 36 months children were observed interacti...

background: there is evidence that marital problems can contribute to child behavior problems. in fact, the way that parents solve their conflicts, such as aggression, physical violence, and poor communication skills, can eventually culminate in aggression and emotional problems in children. this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of conflict resolution training on children’s behavioral ...

While associations between exposure to marital conflict and child development have been documented extensively in middle childhood and adolescence, few studies have examined the developmental consequences of conflict exposure in infancy. Moreover, those that have examined marital conflict in infancy tended to focus on consequences of conflict exposure on infants’ attachment security, and variou...

We examined the association between marital conflict and child abuse potential in N = 86 Dutch families from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The percentage of parents who exceeded the upper 5 percent cut-off score on Milner’s Child Abuse Potential Inventory was 17%. It was found that lower socioeconomic status, relatively inadequate marital conflict strategies, and fewer marital conflicts predic...