Interparental conflict as a quadratic predictor of children's reactivity to interparental conflict and school adjustment: Steeling effects or risk saturation?

This study examined interparental conflict as a curvilinear predictor of children's reactivity to interparental conflict and, in turn, their school problems across three annual measurements. Participants included 243 preschool children (Mage  = 4.60 years; 56% girls) and their parents from racially (e.g., 48% Black; 16% Latinx) diverse backgrounds. Interparental conflict was a significant quadratic predictor of children's emotional reactivity (ß = .23) and behavioral dysregulation (ß = .27) to conflict over a 1-year period. The robust association between interparental conflict and behavioral dysregulation weakened at high levels of interparental conflict. In contrast, interparental conflict more strongly predicted children's emotional reactivity as conflict exposure increased. Children's emotional reactivity, in turn, predicted their greater school problems 1 year later (ß = .25).

Children's dove temperament as a differential susceptibility factor in child rearing contexts.

This multistudy article examines whether children's susceptibility to their socialization experiences varies as a function of their dove temperament dispositions, an evolutionarily informed pattern of traits marked by a low threshold of environmental stimulation and greater behavioral flexibility across environmental contexts. Participants in Study 1 consisted of 70 mothers and their 4- to 6-year-old children: M age = 4.79 years; 57% girls; 33% Black or multiracial; 14% Latinx; median annual income range = $55,000 - $74,999. For Study 2, participants were 243 families, including mothers, fathers, and preschool children: M age = 4.60 years; 56% girls; 54% Black or multiracial, 16% Latinx; median annual income = $36,000). The studies used multimethod, multiinformant measurement batteries within a cross-sectional design (i.e., Study 1) or longitudinal design with three annual measurement occasions (i.e., Study 2). Study 1 findings indicated that associations among maternal parenting quality and psychological problems were only significant for children who were high in dove temperament. Consistent with these findings, Study 2 latent growth curve analyses showed that children experiencing high family adversity (i.e., maternal and paternal parenting difficulties, interparental conflict) were more susceptible to subsequent internalizing and social problems only when they were high in dove temperament. Supporting its role as a susceptibility factor, findings revealed that children with dove temperaments evidenced lower levels of psychological problems under supportive family conditions and higher psychological difficulties in adverse family contexts. Analyses further showed that the composition and moderating effects of dove temperament were distinct from other temperamental susceptibility candidates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Interparental conflict as a curvilinear risk factor of youth emotional and cortisol reactivity.

This study examined interparental conflict as a linear and curvilinear predictor of subsequent changes in adolescents' negative emotional reactivity and cortisol functioning during family conflict and, in turn, their psychological difficulties. In addition, adolescents' negative emotional reactivity and cortisol functioning during family conflict were examined as subsequent predictors of their psychological difficulties. Participants included 258 adolescents (52% girls) and their parents and teachers who participated in 3 annual measurement occasions. Adolescents were 13 years old on average (standard deviation [SD] = .57) at the first measurement occasion, were generally from middle- and working-class backgrounds, and identified mostly as White (e.g., 74%). The results of latent-difference score analyses indicated that a multimethod and multiinformant assessment of interparental conflict linearly predicted subsequent changes in observational ratings of adolescent emotional reactivity and their overall cortisol output in response to family conflict over a 1-year period. These changes, in turn, predicted increases in multiinformant reports of adolescent psychological problems over a 2-year period. However, the linear association in the first link in the cascade was qualified by the quadratic effects of interparental conflict as a predictor. Consistent with risk-saturation models, the relatively strong associations among interparental conflict and youth emotional reactivity and cortisol output at mild and moderate exposure to conflict weakened as exposure to conflict reached higher levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The interparental relationship: Meta-analytic associations with children's maladjustment and responses to interparental conflict.

The aim of the current meta-analysis was to aggregate concurrent and longitudinal empirical research on associations between the interparental relationship and both children's maladjustment (i.e., externalizing and internalizing symptoms) and children's responses to interparental conflict (i.e., emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physiological). Based on major theoretical frameworks, we distinguished between six dimensions of the interparental relationship: relationship quality, conflict frequency, hostile, disengaged, and unconstructive forms of conflict, and child-related conflict. A final selection of 169 studies for child maladjustment and 61 studies for child responses to conflict were included. The findings revealed by the expansive and fine-grained approach of this meta-analysis support and challenge theoretical hypotheses about the relative predictive value of dimensions of the interparental relationship for children's functioning. Although hostility was specifically more strongly associated with children's externalizing behavior and emotional responses to conflict, disengaged and unconstructive conflict behavior posed similar risks for the other domains of child functioning. In addition, relationship quality, conflict frequency, and child-related conflict warrant more attention in theoretical frameworks, as these dimensions posed similar risks to child functioning as the different forms of conflict. Moreover, most associations between the interparental relationship and child functioning endured over time. Also, developmental and gender differences appeared to depend on the specific forms of interparental conflict and the domain of child functioning. In sum, the results support the growing consensus that prevention and intervention programs aimed at children's mental health could benefit from an alternative or additional focus on the interparental relationship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding how and why effortful control moderates children's vulnerability to interparental conflict.

This study examined the moderating role of effortful control in the association between interparental conflict and externalizing problems in a diverse sample of preschool children (N = 243; M age = 4.60 years). Using a multimethod, multi-informant, prospective design, findings indicated that the relation between interparental conflict and externalizing problems was only significant among children with poor effortful control. Children with high effortful control appeared to be protected against the negative effects of interparental conflict exhibiting low levels of externalizing problems despite increasing levels of interparental conflict. Toward identifying the mechanisms underlying the protective effects of effortful control, mediated moderation analyses indicated that children's effortful control protects children against interparental conflict by reducing their angry reactivity to interparental conflict. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Coparental discord and children's behavior problems: Children's negative family representations as an explanatory mechanism.

This study examined children's insecure representations of the family as a mechanism accounting for the association between coparental discord and children's externalizing problems in a diverse sample of 243 preschool children (mean [M] age = 4.60 years). The results from a multimethod, multi-informant, prospective design indicated that coparental discord was indirectly related to children's externalizing behaviors through their insecure representations of the family. Higher levels of coparental discord were specifically linked with more insecure representations of the family, which in turn predicted higher levels of externalizing behaviors 2 years later. These pathways remained robust even after considering the roles of general family adversity, child gender, and family income per capita as predictors in the analyses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Children's Vulnerability to Interparental Conflict: The Protective Role of Sibling Relationship Quality.

This study tested whether the strength of the mediational pathway involving interparental conflict, adolescent emotional insecurity, and their psychological problems depended on the quality of their sibling relationships. Using a multimethod approach, 236 adolescents (Mage  = 12.6 years) and their parents participated in three annual measurement occasions. Tests of moderated mediation revealed that indirect paths among interparental conflict, insecurity, and psychological problems were significant for teens with low, but not high, quality bonds with siblings. High-quality (i.e., strong) sibling relationships conferred protection by neutralizing interparental conflict as a precursor of increases in adolescent insecurity. Results did not vary as a function of the valence of sibling relationship properties, adolescent sex, or gender and age compositions of the dyad.