Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Parental Dysphoria and Children’s Adjustment: Marital Conflict Styles, Children’s Emotional Security, and Parenting as Mediators of Risk

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Dimensions of martial conflict, children's emotional security regarding interparental conflict, and parenting style were examined as mediators between parental dysphoria and child adjustment. A community sample of 262 children, ages 8–16, participated with their parents. Behavioral observations were made of parents’ interactions during marital conflict resolution tasks, which children later observed to assess their emotional security. Questionnaires assessed parents’ dysphoria, parenting, and children's adjustment. Structural equation modeling indicated that parental dysphoria was linked with child adjustment through specific and distinct mediating family processes, including marital conflict and parenting. Children's emotional security in the context of particular marital conflict styles also mediated relations between parental dysphoria and child adjustment problems, with similar pathways found for mothers and fathers. These pathways remained significant even after significant parenting contributions were considered.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the child behavior checklist 4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arbuckle, J. L., & Wothke, W. (1999). Amos 4.0 users guide. Chicago: SmallWaters Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakeman, R., & Gottman, J. M. (1987). Applying observational methods: A systematic view. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (2nd ed.). Wiley series on personality processes (pp. 818–854). Oxford, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beach, S. R. H., Smith, D. A., & Fincham, F. D. (1994). Marital interventions for depression: Empirical foundation and future prospects. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 3, 233–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broidy, L. M., Nagin, D. S., Tremblay, R. E., Bates, J. E., Brame, B., Dodge, K., et al. (2003). Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: A six-site, cross-national study. Developmental Psychology. Special Issue: Violent children 39(2), 222–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browne, M. W., & Cudek, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 445–455). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buehler, C., & Gerard, J. M. (2002). Marital conflict, ineffective parenting, and children's and adolescents’ maladjustment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 78–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, H., Cogill, S., Alexandra, H., Robson, K., Katz, R., & Kumar, R. (1989). Maternal depression and the emotional development of the child. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 818–823.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, M. J., & Owen, M. T. (1997). Marital conflict and conflict negotiation: Effects on infant-mother and infant-father relationships. New Orleans, LA: Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (1997). Families as systems. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 243–267.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, M. J., Paley, B., Burchinal, P., & Payne, C. C. (1999). Marital perceptions and interactions across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 911–625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crockenberg, S. B., & Forgays, D. (1996). The role of emotion in children's understanding and emotional reactions to marital conflict. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 42, 22–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1994). Children and marital conflict: The impact of family dispute and resolution. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (2002). Effects of marital conflict on children: Recent advances and emerging themes in process-oriented research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 31–63.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, E. M., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Papp, L. M., & Dukewich, T. (2002). Children's responses to mothers’ and fathers’ emotionality and tactics in marital conflict in the home. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 478–492.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, E. M., Schermerhorn, A. C., Davies, P. T., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Cummings, J. S. (2006). Interparental discord and child adjustment: Prospective investigations of emotional security as an explanatory mechanism. Child Development, 77, 132–152.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 387–411.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., Cummings, E. M., & Winter, M. A. (2004). Pathways between profiles of family functioning, child security in the interparental system, and child psychological problems. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 525–550.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., Forman, E. M., Rasi, J. A., & Stevens, K. I. (2002). Assessing children's emotional security in the interparental relationship: The security in the interparental subscales. Child Development, 73, 544–562.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., Harold, G. T., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Cummings, E. M. (2002). Child emotional security and interparental conflict. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 67(3, Serial No. 270).

  • Davies, P. T., Sturge-Apple, M. L., & Cummings, E. M. (2004). Interdependencies among interparental discord and parenting practices: The role of adult vulnerability and relationship perturbations. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 773–797.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., & Windle, M. (1997). Gender-specific pathways between maternal depressive symptoms, family discord, and adolescent adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 33, 657–668.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, B., Sheeber, L., Hops, H., & Tildesley, E. (2000). Adolescent responses to depressive parental behaviors in problems-solving interactions: Implications for depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 451–465.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R. (1994). SCL-90-R: Administration, scoring and procedures manual. Minneapolis, MN: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R., Rickels, K., & Rock, A. F. (1976). The SCL-90 and the MMPI: A step in the validation of a new self-report scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 280–289.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du Rocher Schudlich, T. D., & Cummings, E. M. (2003). Parental Dysphoria and Children's Internalizing Symptoms: Marital Conflict Styles as Mediators of Risk. Child Development, 74, 1663–1681.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du Rocher Schudlich, T. D., Papp, L. M., & Cummings, E. M. (2004). Relations of Husbands’ and Wives’ Dysphoria to Marital Conflict Resolution Strategies. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 171–183.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Easterbrooks, M. A., Cummings, E. M., & Emde, R. N. (1994). Young children's responses to constructive marital disputes. Journal of Family Psychology, 8, 160–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ensel, W. M. (1982). The role of age in the relationship of gender and marital status to depression. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 170, 536–543.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Erel, O., & Burman, B. (1995). Interrelatedness of marital relations and parent-child relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 108–132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner, R. A., Davey, M., & Davey, A. (2005). Gender-Related Predictors of Change in Marital Satisfaction and Marital Conflict. American Journal of Family Therapy, 33, 61–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson, D., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. (1995). Maternal depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 1161–1178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frosch, C. A., & Mangelsdorf, S. C. (2001). Marital behavior, parenting behavior, and multiple reports of preschoolers’ behavior problems: Mediation or moderation? Developmental Psychology, 37, 502–519.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gelfand, D. M., & Teti, D. M. (1990). The effects of maternal depression on children. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 329–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goeke-Morey, M. C., Cummings, E. M., Harold, G. T., & Shelton, K. H. (2003). Categories and continua of destructive and constructive marital conflict tactics from the perspective of Welsh and US children. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 327–338.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. H., & Brumley, H. E. (1990). Schizophrenic and depressed mothers: relational deficits in parenting. Schizophrenic and depressed mothers: relational deficits in parenting. Developmental Psychology, 26, 31–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. H., & Gotlib, I. H. (1999). Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed mothers: A developmental model for understanding mechanisms of transmission. Psychological Review, 106, 458–490.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gotlib, I. H., & Lee, C. M. (1996). Impact of parental depression on young children and infants. In C. Mundt, M. J. Goldstein, K. Hahlweg, P. Fiedler et al. (Eds.), Interpersonal factors in the origin and course of affective disorders. London, UK: Gaskell/Royal College of Psychiatrists.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotlib, I. H., & Whiffen, V. E. (1989). Depression and marital functioning: An examination of specificity and gender differences. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98, 23–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grych, J. H. (2001). On the origins of fathering: Implications of an evolutionary perspective for understanding links among marriage, divorce, and men's parenting. Parenting: Science and Practice, 1, 67–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammen, C. (2002). Context of stress in families of children with depressed parents. In S. H. Goodman & I. H. Gotlib (Eds.), Children of depressed parents: Mechanisms of risk and implications for treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammen, C., Burge, D., & Adrian, C. (1991). Timing of mother and child depression in a longitudinal study of children at risk. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 341–345.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harold, G. T., & Conger, R. D. (1997). Marital conflict and adolescent distress: The role of adolescent awareness. Child Development, 68, 333–350.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harold, G. T., Osborne, L. N., & Conger, R. D. (1997). Mom and dad are at it again: Adolescent perceptions of marital conflict and adolescent psychological distress. Developmental Psychology, 33, 333–350.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huffman, D. G., & Cummings, E. M. (2002). Children's reactions to marital conflict simulations featuring mutual hostility and parental depression. Unpublished manuscript.

  • Jenkins, J., Simpson, A., Dunn, J., Rasbash, J., & O’Connor, T. G. (2005). Mutual Influence of Marital Conflict and Children's Behavior Problems: Shared and Nonshared Family Risks. Child Development, 76, 24–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaczynski, K. J., Lindahl, K. M., Malik, N. M., & Laurenceau, J. P. (2006). Marital Conflict, Maternal and Paternal Parenting, and Child Adjustment: A Test of Mediation and Moderation. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 199–208.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, L. F., & Gottman, J. M. (1996). Spillover effects of marital conflict: In search of parenting and coparenting mechanisms. In J. McHale & P. Cowan (Eds.), Understanding how family-level dynamics affect children's development: Studies of two-parent families (pp. 57–76). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kazdin, A. E., Colbus, D., & Rodgers, A. (1986). Assessment of depression and diagnosis of disorder among psychiatrically disturbed children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 14, 499–515.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnakumar, A., & Buehler, C. (2000). Interparental conflict and parenting behaviors: A meta-analytic review. Family Relations, 49, 25–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M. (1980). Rating scales to assess depression in school-aged children. Acta Paedopsychiatrica, 46, 305–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindahl, K. M. (1998). Family process variables and children's disruptive behavior problems. Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 420–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macallum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Sugawara, H. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1, 130–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods, 7, 83–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., & Williams, J. (2004). Confidence Limits for the Indirect Effect: Distribution of the Product and Resampling Methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 99–128.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, A., Boggio, R., & Jouriles, E. (1996). Effects of verbal marital conflict on subsequent mother-son interactions in a child clinical sample. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 25, 262–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Margolies, P. J., & Weintraub, S. (1977). The revised 56-item CRPBI as a research instrument: Reliability and factor structure. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33, 472–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, L., Sinclair, D., Cooper, P., Ducournau, P., & Turner, P. (1999). The socioemotional development of 5 year old children of postnatally depressed mothers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 1259–1271.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, J. F., & Weissman, M. M. (1980). Use of a self-report symptom scale to detect depression in a community sample. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1081–1084.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Papp, L. M., Cummings, E. M., & Goeke-Morey, M. C. (2005). Parental Psychological Distress, Parent-Child Relationship Qualities, and Child Adjustment: Direct, Mediating, and Reciprocal Pathways. Parenting: Science and Practice, 5, 259–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, J. L., & Zill, N. (1986). Marital disruption, parent-child relationships, and behavior problems in children. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 295–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phares, V., Duhig, A. M., & Watkins, M. M. (2002). Family context: Fathers and other supports. In S. H. Goodman & I. H. Gotlib (Eds.), Children of depressed parents: Mechanisms of risk and implications for treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radke-Yarrow, M., Martinez, P., Mayfield, A., & Ronsaville, D. (1998). Children of depressed mothers: From early childhood to maturity. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, C. R. (1980). Concurrent validity of What I Think and Feel: The Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 774–775.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, C. R., & Richmond, B. O. (1978). What I think and feel: A revised measure of children's manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6, 271–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, C. R., & Richmond, B. O. (1979). Factor structure and construct validity of “What I think and feel”: The Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 43, 281–283.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schermerhorn, A. C., Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (2005). Children's perceived agency in the context of marital conflict: relations with marital conflict over time. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 51, 121–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrout, P. E., & Fleiss, J. L. (1979). Intraclass correlations: Uses in assessing rater reliability. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 420–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sturge-Apple, M. L., Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (2006). Hostility and withdrawal in marital conflict: Effects on parental emotional unavailability and inconsistent discipline. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 227–238.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). United States Census 2000 [Data File]. Available from U.S. Census Bureau Web site, http://www.census.gov/.

  • Zahn-Waxler, C., Iannotti, R. J., Cummings, E. M., & Denham, S. (1990). Antecedents of problem behaviors in children of depressed mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 271–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Western Washington University, Washington, WA, USA

    Tina D. Du Rocher Schudlich

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, 118 Haggar Hall, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA

    E. Mark Cummings

Authors
  1. Tina D. Du Rocher Schudlich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. Mark Cummings
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Mark Cummings.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Du Rocher Schudlich, T.D., Cummings, E.M. Parental Dysphoria and Children’s Adjustment: Marital Conflict Styles, Children’s Emotional Security, and Parenting as Mediators of Risk. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35, 627–639 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9118-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9118-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation