The effect of water pipelines on the quality of drinking water

Examined whether marital discord over childrearing contributes to child behavior problems after taking into account general marital adjustment, and if child age moderates associations between child behavior problems and either general marital adjustment or marital discord over childrearing. Participants were 146 two-parent families seeking services for their child's (4 to 9 years of age) conduct problems. Data on marital functioning and child behavior problems were collected from both parents. Mothers' and fathers' reports of marital discord over childrearing related positively to child externalizing problems after accounting for general marital adjustment. Child age moderated associations between fathers' reports of general marital adjustment and both internalizing and externalizing child problems, with associations being stronger in families with younger children. The discussion highlights the role that developmental factors may play in understanding the link between marital and child behavior problems in clinic-referred families.     

Conflict in families and the psychological adjustment of preadolescent children.

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 related to family conflict and maladjustment in girls. Moreover, the association between a general climate of conflict at home and child maladjustment was independent of anger and discord in the marital or parent–child relationships. During the study of the effects of interpersonal conflict at home, it appears to be important to identify the locus of anger and aggression. Findings suggest that researchers should distinguish between a general climate of conflict in the family and interparental discord. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's influence in the marital relationship.

In a 3-wave longitudinal study, the authors tested hypotheses regarding children's influence on the marital relationship, examining relations between interparental discord and children's negative emotional reactivity, agentic behavior, dysregulated behavior, and psychosocial adjustment. Participants were 232 cohabiting mothers and fathers who completed questionnaires and a marital conflict resolution task. Consistent with theory, interparental discord related to children's negative emotional reactivity, which in turn related to children's agentic and dysregulated behavior. Agentic behavior related to decreases in interparental discord, whereas dysregulated behavior related to increases in discord and elevations in children's adjustment problems. Person-oriented analyses of agentic and dysregulated responses indicated distinct clusters of children linked with meaningful individual differences in marital and psychosocial functioning. Results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms of child effects, such as increased parental awareness of children's distress potentially leading to reduced marital conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious commitment, adult attachment, and marital adjustment in newly married couples.

Existing literature on the role of religiosity in marital functioning is often difficult to interpret due to the frequent use of convenience samples, statistical approaches inadequate for interdependent dyadic data, and the lack of a theoretical framework. The current study examined the effects of religious commitment and insecure attachment on marital adjustment. Newly married couples who did not have children (N = 92 couples, 184 individuals) completed measures of religious commitment, adult attachment, and marital functioning. There was a small positive association between religious commitment and marital adjustment. Religious commitment buffered the negative association between attachment avoidance and marital adjustment, but exacerbated the negative association between attachment anxiety and marital adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reciprocal influences between parents' marital problems and adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior.

The present study examines reciprocal associations between marital functioning and adolescent maladjustment using cross-lagged autoregressive models. The research involved 451 early adolescents and their families and used a prospective, longitudinal research design with multi-informant methods. Results indicate that parental conflicts over child rearing predicted adolescent depressive symptoms and delinquency. In turn, these adolescent problems exacerbated parental conflicts over child rearing. Furthermore, conflict over child rearing served as the nexus through which more generalized marital dissatisfaction and adolescent adjustment problems were reciprocally interrelated. This research replicates earlier observations that marital problems intensify adolescent maladjustment and extends the literature by demonstrating that adolescent problems also predict marital conflict and ultimately marital dissatisfaction. In sum, the present study demonstrates that marital dissatisfaction, conflict over child rearing, and early adolescent adjustment difficulties are interwoven in a dynamic family system marked by reciprocity along these dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The drinking partnership and marital satisfaction: The longitudinal influence of discrepant drinking.

The objective was to determine whether discrepancies between husbands' and wives' past-year heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time. Participants (N = 634) were recruited at the time they applied for their marriage licenses. Couples completed questionnaires about their alcohol use and marital satisfaction at the time of marriage and again at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Generalized estimating equation models were used to evaluate the association between discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking in the year prior to marriage and marital satisfaction at the 1st wedding anniversary and the association between discrepancies in heavy alcohol use in the 1st year of marriage and marital satisfaction at the 2nd wedding anniversary. In these prospective time-lagged analyses, discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time while controlling for heavy drinking. Over time, these couples may be at greater risk for decreased marital functioning that may lead to relationship dissolution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interspousal aggression, marital discord, and child problems.

The association between interspousal aggression and child problems was assessed after controlling for parent's general marital discord. Participants were 87 couples requesting marital therapy who had children between 5 and 12 years old. Spouses completed measures of marital aggression, marital discord, child problems, and family demographics. Marital aggression contributed unique variance to the prediction of conduct disorder, personality disorder, inadequacy-immaturity, and clinical levels of problematic child behavior after marital discord, child's age, child's sex, and Marital Discord?×?Child's Sex interaction were controlled. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The legacy of parents' marital discord: Consequences for children's marital quality.

Drawing on a national longitudinal study of 297 parents and their married offspring, the authors found that parents' marital discord was negatively related to offspring's marital harmony and positively related to offspring's marital discord. The transmission of marital quality was not mediated by parental divorce, life-course variables, socioeconomic attainment, retrospective measures of parent–child relationships, or psychological distress. Offspring's recollections of parental discord, however, mediated about half of the association between parents' reports of marital discord and offspring's reports of discord in their own marriages. Parental behaviors most likely to predict problematic marriages among offspring included jealousy, being domineering, getting angry easily, being critical, being moody, and not talking to the spouse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective associations between marital discord and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults.

Data from both spouses in a population-based sample of middle-aged and older adults (N = 1,869 couples) were used to evaluate the 2-year prospective association between marital discord and depressive symptoms. Nested path analyses indicated that (a) baseline marital discord predicted one's own depressive symptoms at follow-up, (b) baseline depressive symptoms predicted one's own marital discord at follow-up, (c) baseline depressive symptoms predicted partners' marital discord at follow-up, and (d) there were no gender differences in the magnitudes of the pathways between one's own baseline depressive symptoms and one's own marital discord at follow-up or between one's own baseline marital discord and one's own depressive symptoms at follow-up. These results suggest a bidirectional longitudinal association between marital discord and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggressive marital conflict, maternal harsh punishment, and child aggressive-disruptive behavior: Evidence for direct and mediated relations.

Direct associations between aggressive marital conflict and child aggressive-disruptive behavior at home and school were explored in this cross-sectional study of 360 kindergarten children. In addition, mediated pathways linking aggressive marital conflict to maternal harsh punishment to child aggressive-disruptive behavior were examined. Moderation analyses explored how the overall frequency of marital disagreement might buffer or exacerbate the impact of aggressive marital conflict on maternal harsh punishment and child aggressive-disruptive behavior. Hierarchical regressions revealed direct pathways linking aggressive marital conflict to child aggressive-disruptive behavior at home and school and a partially mediated pathway linking aggressive marital conflict to child aggressive-disruptive behavior at home. Further analyses revealed that rates of marital disagreement moderated the association between aggressive marital conflict and child aggressive-disruptive behavior at home, with an attenuated association at high rates of marital disagreement as compared with low rates of marital disagreement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict, maternal and paternal parenting, and child adjustment: A test of mediation and moderation.

Parenting was examined as a mediator of associations between marital and child adjustment, and parent gender was examined as a moderator of associations among marital, parental, and child functioning in 226 families with a school-age child (146 boys). Parenting fully mediated associations between marital conflict and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Parent gender did not moderate associations when data from the full sample or families with girls only were evaluated. Parent gender did moderate associations when families with boys were evaluated, with the association between marital conflict and parenting stronger for fathers than mothers. A trend suggested fathers' parenting may be more strongly related to internalizing behavior and mothers' parenting may be more strongly related to externalizing behavior in boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does marital conflict cause child maladjustment? Directions and challenges for longitudinal research.

Although the association between marital conflict and child adjustment problems has been well documented, there is no empirical evidence that conflict actually causes maladjustment. The investigation of causation requires theoretically and empirically informed longitudinal research. Two topics are addressed to facilitate such research. First, how marital conflict may lead to adjustment problems is outlined, with a focus on constructs that are likely to be critical to any theory on this topic. Second, several issues are identified that need to be addressed in longitudinal research on the mechanisms underlying the link between marital and child problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Taxometrics of Marriage: Is Marital Discord Categorical?

This study used taxometric methods to investigate the latent structure of the construct of marital adjustment as indexed by the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959). That is, the authors examined whether marital adjustment is best thought of as a "dimension" of adjustment only or whether there also are categorical differences between "discordant" and "nondiscordant" couples. Analyses of data provided by 447 couples married for approximately 2 years provided converging evidence for a latent category of marital discord, suggesting that marital discord can be viewed as a qualitatively distinct state experienced by approximately 20% of the couples in the current sample. Implications for marital assessment are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital adjustment and the efficacy of behavior therapy with children.

Parents of 62 children (from 49 intact and 13 one-parent families) referred to a behaviorally oriented child psychological clinic provided measures of marital adjustment (Short Marital Adjustment Test) and of their children's behavior (Behavior Problem Checklist) before and after treatment. Parents of 31 nonreferred children of the same age and socioeconomic status as the clinic sample provided the same self-report measures. Marital adjustment scores of clinic parents were significantly lower than those of the control sample, although there was considerable overlap between the distribution of scores. Further, there was a consistent negative correlation between marital adjustment and severity of children's behavior problems. However, pretreatment level of marital discord was not related to degree of positive behavior change observed at therapy termination or at a 5-mo follow-up. Difficulty in obtaining follow-up data from parents was correlated with a small degree of improvement in child behavior. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mom and dad are at it again: Adolescent perceptions of marital conflict and adolescent psychological distress.

In these two studies. the authors used children's perceptions of family relationships to examine simultaneously direct and indirect links between marital conflict and child adjustment. With data pertaining to 146 sixth and seventh graders, Study 1 supported direct and indirect effects of perceptions of marital conflict on internalizing behaviors, and indirect effects for externalizing behaviors. In Study 2, data analyzed from 451 families showed indirect effects of marital conflict and parent-to-child hostility, through adolescent perceptions of such behavior, on both current distress and distress 12 months later in 3 of 4 models estimated. Direct and indirect effects were found for boys' concurrent internalizing behavior. Implications and limitations of both studies are discussed to address the need for a more sophisticated theoretical approach to examine why an association exists between marital conflict and child adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital discord and well-being in older adults: Is the association confounded by personality?

The associations between marital discord and multiple measures of well-being (depression, anxiety, life satisfaction, and self-esteem) were evaluated in a population-based sample of 416 couples in which the husband was 65 years or older. Results indicated that greater marital discord was associated with greater depression and lower life satisfaction and self-esteem. Furthermore, the associations between marital discord and well-being remained significant when statistically controlling for the rival explanation of the Big Five personality traits. Finally, there was little evidence for gender differences in the magnitude of the associations between marital discord and well-being. Findings suggest that marital discord is an important correlate of multiple measures of well-being in older individuals and that this association is not confounded by the Big Five personality traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital satisfaction of parents of preadolescent boys and its relationship to family and child functioning.

Investigated the relationship between parents' marital satisfaction (MS) and family and child outcomes among 50 mothers and 43 fathers with 6th-grade sons. Outcomes in 3 domains of functioning were studied: within-family functioning, 2 aspects of sons' social-emotional (SEM) adjustment (distress and restraint), and sons' academic achievement. Two mediators by which MS might influence the outcomes were also assessed: individual parental characteristics (i.e., SEM functioning) and child-rearing practices. Quality of the marital relationship was signficantly related to outcomes in each domain of functioning. Mothers' MS was related to overall family functioning; fathers' MS was related to sons' school achievement and development of self-control. The relationship between fathers' MS and sons' self-restraint was accounted for by fathers' SEM functioning and child rearing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent Functioning in Families of Preadolescents With Spina Bifida: Longitudinal Implications for Child Adjustment.

The purpose of this study was to test a strength-of-association model regarding possible longitudinal and bidirectional associations between parent functioning and child adjustment in families of children with spina bifida (n = 68) and families of able-bodied children (n = 68). Parent functioning was assessed across 3 domains: parenting stress, individual psychosocial adjustment, and marital satisfaction. Child adjustment was indexed by teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms, self-reported depressive symptoms, and observed adaptive behavior. Findings revealed that all 3 parent functioning variables predicted child adjustment outcomes, and that such results were particularly strong for externalizing symptoms. Associations between parent functioning and child adjustment tended to be in the direction of parent to child and were similar across both groups. These findings have implications for potential interventions targeted at helping families manage the transition into early adolescence in families of children with spina bifida as well as families of healthy children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Husbands' and Wives' Marital Adjustment, Verbal Aggression, and Physical Aggression as Longitudinal Predictors of Physical Aggression in Early Marriage.

Marital adjustment, verbal aggression, and physical aggression have long been associated in the marital literature, but the nature of their associations remains unclear. In this study, the authors examined these 3 constructs as risk factors for physical aggression during the first 2 years of marriage in 634 couples recruited as they applied for marriage licenses. Couples completed assessments at the time of marriage and at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Results of path analyses suggest that prior verbal aggression and physical aggression by both partners are important longitudinal predictors of physical aggression but do not support the role of marital adjustment as a unique predictor of subsequent physical aggression. Contrary to prior research, results also failed to support physical aggression as a unique predictor of marital adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal associations between parents' hostility and siblings' externalizing behavior in the context of marital discord.

This study examined longitudinal associations between parents' hostility and siblings' externalizing behavior in the context of interparental discord. The sample included 116 families (mothers, fathers, 2 siblings) assessed in middle childhood, when siblings were, on average, 8 and 10 years old, and in adolescence, at average ages of 14 and 16 years. Parents reported on their hostility toward each child and on each child's externalizing problems. Raters observed interparental hostility, and parents rated their marital quality. Results indicated both within-family and between-families effects. Specifically, the child who received more parental hostility than his or her sibling showed greater increases in externalizing problems than his or her sibling; this association was moderated by marital discord. In addition, the child who exhibited more behavioral problems than his or her sibling received greater increases in hostile mothering than did his or her sibling. Between-families effects were evident, in that children's externalizing problems were associated with increases in mothers' hostility toward both children in the family. Results support transactional models of development and family systems theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)