Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-v2bm5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-13T14:28:05.601Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Links between marital and parent–child interactions: Moderating role of husband-to-wife aggression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2004

GAYLA MARGOLIN ,
ELANA B. GORDIS  and
PAMELLA H. OLIVER
GAYLA MARGOLIN
Affiliation:
University of Southern California,
ELANA B. GORDIS
Affiliation:
University of Southern California,
PAMELLA H. OLIVER
Affiliation:
California State University, Fullerton
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present study examined how marital conflict may compromise parenting by identifying interdependencies across marital and parent–child subsystems in a sample of 86 two-parent families with a child aged 9–13. The study used direct observation of three family discussions to examine interdependencies across family subsystems. The study also assessed whether a history of husband-to-wife aggression strengthened interdependencies. Overall, families with husband-to-wife aggression showed a negative tone that pervaded throughout the family. Consistent with theories about physically aggressive men tending to withdraw from conflict, fathers who had engaged in husband-to-wife aggression showed an association between marital hostilities and lower levels of empathy toward their children. Consistent with stress theories, women who had been exposed to husband-to-wife aggression showed a link between marital hostilities and negative affect when interacting with their children. These findings illustrate how a history of exposure to marital aggression can create a family environment of multiple risks for children. For children in families with prior marital aggression, ongoing marital hostilities can be linked to the additional risk of erosions in parental support.This study was partially supported by a grant from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, NIMH Grants R01MH36595 and F31MH10947, NICHD Grant K23HD041428, and a California State University, Fullerton, Junior Faculty Research Grant. We are grateful to our USC Family Studies Center colleagues who helped collect these data, to the dedicated groups of coders, and to the families who participated in the study.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 753 - 771
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aiken, L., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Almeida, D. M., Wethington, E., & Chandler, A. L. (1999). Daily transmission of tensions between marital dyads and parent–child dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family 61, 49–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appel, A. E., & Holden, G. W. (1998). The co-occurrence of spouse and physical child abuse: A review and appraisal. Journal of Family Psychology 12, 578–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bank, L., Dishion, T., Skinner, M., & Patterson, G. R. (1990). Method variance in structural equation modeling: Living with “glop.” In G. R. Patterson (Ed.), Depression and aggression in family interaction (pp. 247–279). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development 55, 83–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., Youngblade, L., Rovine, M., & Volling, B. (1991). Patterns of marital change and parent–child interaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family 53, 487–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brody, G. H., Pillegrini, A. D., & Sigel, I. E. (1986). Marital quality and mother–child and father–child interactions with school-aged children. Developmental Psychology 22, 291–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buehler, C., Anthony, C., Krishnakumar, A., Stone, G., Gerard, J., & Pemberton, S. (1997). Interparental conflict and youth problem behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies 6, 233–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burman, B., Margolin, G., & John, R. S. (1993). America's angriest home videos: Behavioral contingencies observed in home reenactments of marital conflict. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 61, 28–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrere, S., & Gottman, J. M. (1999). Predicting the future of marriages. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), Coping with divorce, single parenting, and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (pp. 3–22). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Caspi, A. (1993) Why maladaptive behaviors persist: Sources of continuity and change across the life course. In D. C. Funder, R. D. Parke, C. Tomlinson–Keasey, & K. Widaman (Eds.), Studying lives through time: Personality and development (pp. 343–762). Washington, DC: APA.
Christensen, A., & Heavey, C. L. (1990). Gender and social structure in the demand/withdraw pattern of marital conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 59, 73–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1995). A developmental psychopathology perspective on child abuse and neglect. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 34, 541–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coiro, M. J., & Emery, R. E. (1998). Do marriage problems affect fathering more than mothering? A quantitative and qualitative review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 1, 23–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (2002). Interventions as tests of family systems theories: Marital and family relationships in children's development and psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology 14, 731–759.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, M. J., Brooks–Gunn, J., & Paley, B. (1999). Perspectives on conflict and cohesion in families. In M. J. Cox & J. Brooks–Gunn (Eds.), Conflict and cohesion in families: Causes and consequences (pp. 321–344). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (1997). Families as systems. Annual Review of Psychology 48, 243–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crockenberg, S., & Covey, S. L. (1991). Marital conflict and externalizing behavior in children. In D. Cicchetti & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 3. Models and integration (pp. 235–260). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1995). The impact of parents on their children: An emotional security hypothesis. Annals of Child Development 10, 167–208.Google Scholar
Davies, P. T., & Lindsay, L. L. (2001). Does gender moderate the effects of marital conflict on children. In J. H. Grych & F. D. Fincham (Eds.), Interparental conflict and child development: Theory, research, and application (pp. 64–97). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Davis, B. T., Hops, H., Alpert, A., & Sheeber, L. (1998). Child responses to parental conflict and their effect on adjustment: A study of triadic relations. Journal of Family Psychology 12, 163–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delsol, C. (2003). Emotion regulation as a mediator between family-of-origin aggression and marital aggression. Unpublished dissertation, University of Southern California.
Dishion, T. J., French, G. R., & Patterson, G. R. (1995). The development and ecology of antisocial behavior. In D. Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, disorder, and adaptation (Vol. 2, pp. 421–471). New York: Wiley.
Emery, R. E. (1982). Interparental conflict and the children of discord and divorce. Psychological Bulletin 92, 310–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engfer, A. (1988). The interrelatedness of marriage and the mother–child relationship. In R. A. Hinde & J. Stevenson–Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 104–118). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Erel, O., & Burman, B. (1995). Interrelatedness of marital relations and parent–child relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin 118, 108–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fauber, R., Forehand, R., Thomas, A. M., & Wierson, M. (1990). A mediational model of the impact of marital conflict on adolescent adjustment in intact and divorced families: The role of disrupted parenting. Child Development 61, 1112–1123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fauchier, A., & Margolin, G. (2004). Affection and conflict in marital and parent–child relationships. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 30, 197–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelhor, D., & Dziuba–Leatherman, J. (1994). Victimization of children. American Psychologist 49, 173–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganley, A. L. (1989). Integrating feminist and social learning analyses of aggression: Creating multiple models for intervention with men who batter. In P. L. Caesar & L. K. Hamberger (Eds.), Treating men who batter: Theory, practice and program (pp. 196–235). New York: Springer.
Gordis, E. B., Margolin, G., & Garcia, H. (1996). Marital coding system. Unpublished manuscript, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Gordis, E. B., Margolin, G., & John, J. (1997). Marital aggression, observed parental hostility, and child behavior during triadic family interaction. Journal of Family Psychology 11, 76–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordis, E. B., Margolin, G., & John, R. S. (2001). Parents' hostility in dyadic marital and triadic family setting and children's behavior problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 69, 727–734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottman, J. M.,, Jacobson, N. S., Rushe, R. H., & Shortt, J. W. (1995). The relationship between heart rate reactivity, emotionally aggressive behavior, and general violence in batterers. Journal of Family Psychology 9, 227–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottman, J. M., & Katz, L. F. (1989). Effects of marital discord on young children's peer interaction and health. Developmental Psychology 25, 73–381.Google Scholar
Grych, J. H., & Fincham, F. D. (1990). Marital conflict and children's adjustment: A cognitive–contextual framework. Psychological Bulletin 108, 267–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haley, J. (1976). Problem-solving therapy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey–Bass.
Harold, G. T., & Conger, R. D. (1997). Marital conflict and adolescent distress: The role of adolescent awareness. Child Development 68, 333–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinde, R. A., & Stevenson–Hinde, J. (Eds.). (1988). Relationships within families: Mutual influences. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Jacobson, N. S., Gottman, J. M., Waltz, J., Rushe, R., Babcock, J., & Holtzworth–Munroe, A. (1994). Affect, verbal content and psychophysiology in the arguments of couples with a violent husband. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62, 982–988.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jouriles, E. N., & Farris, A. M. (1992). Effects of marital conflict on subsequent parent–son interactions. Behavior Therapy 23, 355–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, L. F., & Gottman, J. M. (1996). Spillover effects of marital conflict: In search of parenting and coparenting mechanisms. In J. P. McHale & P. A. Cowan (Eds.), Understanding how family-level dynamics affect children's development: Studies of two-parent families (pp. 57–76) San Francisco, CA: Jossey–Bass.
Kerig, P. K., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (1993). Marital quality and gender differences in parent–child interaction. Developmental Psychology 29, 931–939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitzmann, K. M. (2000). Effects of marital conflict on subsequent triadic family interactions and parenting. Developmental Psychology 36, 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, R. W., & Almeida, D. M. (1999). Emotional transmission in the daily lives of families: A new paradigm for studying family process. Journal of Marriage and the Family 61, 5–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levendosky, A. A., & Graham–Bermann, S. A. (2000). Behavioral observations of parenting in battered women. Journal of Family Psychology 14, 80–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levendosky, A. A., Huth–Bocks, A. C., Shapiro, D. L., & Semel, M. A. (2003). The impact of domestic violence on the maternal–child relationship and preschool-age children's functioning. Journal of Family Psychology 17, 275–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levendosky, A. A., Lynch, S. M., & Graham–Bermann, S. A. (2000). Mothers' perceptions of the impact of woman abuse on their parenting. Violence against Women 6, 248–272.Google Scholar
Lindahl, K. M., & Malik, N. M. (1999). Observations of marital conflict and power: Relationship with parenting in the triad. Journal of Marriage and the Family 61, 320–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahoney, A., Boggio, R. M., & Jouriles, E. N. (1996). Effects of marital conflict on subsequent mother–son interactions in a clinical sample. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 25, 22–271.Google Scholar
Mahoney, A., Donnelly, W. O., Boxer, P., & Lewis, T. (2003). Marital and severe parent-to-adolescent physical aggression in clinic-referred families: Mother and adolescent reports on co-occurrence and links to child behavior problems. Journal of Family Psychology 17, 3–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, B. J., & MacKenzie, E. P. (1996). Pathways among marital functioning, parental behaviors, and child behavior problems in school-age boys. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 25, 183–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolin, G. (1981). The reciprocal relationship between marital and child problems. In J. P. Vincent (Ed.), Advances in family intervention, assessment and theory (Vol. 2, pp. 131–182). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Margolin, G. (1988). Interpersonal and intrapersonal factors associated with marital violence. In G. T. Hotaling, D. Finkelhor, J. T. Kirkpatrick, & M. A. Straus (Eds.), Family abuse and its consequences: New directions in research (pp. 203–217). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Margolin, G. (1998). Effects of domestic violence on children. In P. K. Trickett & C. J. Schellenbach (Eds.), Violence against children in the family and the community (pp. 57–101). Washington, DC: APA.
Margolin, G., Burman, B., John, R. S., & O'Brien, M. (1990). The Domestic Conflict Index. Unpublished manuscript, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Margolin, G., Christensen, A., & John, R. S. (1996). The continuance and spillover of everyday tensions in distressed and nondistressed families. Journal of Family Psychology 10, 304–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolin, G., & Gordis, E. B. (2000). The effects of family and community violence on children. Annual Review of Psychology 51, 445–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolin, G., & Gordis, E. B. (2003). Co-occurrence between marital aggression and parents' child abuse potential: The impact of cumulative stress. Violence and Victims 18, 243–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolin, G., John, R. S., Ghosh, C. M., & Gordis, E. B. (1996). Family interaction process: An essential tool for exploring abusive relations. In D. D. Cahn & S. A. Lloyd (Eds.), Family violence from a communication perspective (pp. 37–58). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Margolin, G., John, R. S., & Gleberman, L. (1988). Affective responses to conflictual discussions in violent and nonviolent couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 56, 24–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolin, G., Oliver, P. H., Gordis, E. B., O'Hearn, H. G., Medina, A. M., Ghosh, C. M., & Moreland, L. (1998). The nuts and bolts of behavioral observation of marital and family interaction. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 1, 195–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolin, G., Oliver, P. H., & Medina, A. M. (2001). Conceptual issues in understanding the relation between interparental conflict and child adjustment: Integrating developmental psychopathology and risk/resilience perspectives. In J. H. Grych & F. D. Fincham (Eds.), Interparental conflict and child development: Theory, research, and application (pp. 9–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McHale, J. P., Kuersten, R., & Lauretti (1996). New directions in the study of family level dynamics during infancy and early childhood. In J. P. McHale & P. Cowan (Eds.), Understanding how family-level dynamics affect children's development studies of two-parent families (pp. 5–26). San Francisco, CA: Jossey–Bass.
Minuchin, P. (1985). Families and individual development: Provocations from the field of family therapy. Child Development 56, 289–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosteller, F., & Tukey, J. W. (1977). Data analysis and regression: A second course in statistics. Menlo Park, CA: Addison–Wesley.
Osborne, L. N., & Fincham, F. D. (1996). Marital conflict, parent–child relationships, and child adjustment: Does gender matter? Merrill–Palmer Quarterly 42, 48–75.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family processes. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Patterson, G. R., & Dishion, T. J. (1988). Multilevel family process models: Traits, interactions and relationships. In R. A. Hinde & J. Stevenson–Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 283–310). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Patterson, G. R., & Forgatch, M. (1987). Parents and adolescents living together: Part 1. The basics. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Pynoos, R. S., & Eth, S. (1985). Children traumatized by witnessing acts of personal violence: Homicide, rape, or suicide behavior. In S. Eth & R. S. Pynoos (Eds.), Post-traumatic stress disorder in children (pp. 17–44). Washington, DC: APA.
Reis, H. T., Collins, W. A., & Berscheid, E. (2000). The relationship context of human behavior and development. Psychological Bulletin 126, 844–872.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Repetti, R. L. (1987). Links between work and family role. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Family processes and problems: Social psychological aspects (pp. 98–127). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Repetti, R. L. (1989). Effects of daily workload on subsequent behavior during marital interaction: The roles of social withdrawal and spouse support. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 57, 651–659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Repetti, R. L. (1994). Short-term and long-term-processes linking job stressors to father–child interaction. Social Development 3, 1–15.Google Scholar
Repetti, R. L., & Wood, J. (1997). Effects of daily stress at work on mothers' interactions with preschoolers. Journal of Family Psychology 11, 900–1008.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, A., & Maiuro, R. D. (1989). Eclectic approaches in working with men who batter. In P. L. Caesar & L. K. Hamberger (Eds.), Treating men who batter: Theory, practice and program (pp. 165–195). New York: Springer.
Rutter, M. (1988). Functions and consequences of relationships: Some psychopathological considerations. In R. A. Hinde & J. Stevenson–Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 332–353). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Rutter, M., & Sroufe, A. (2000). Developmental psychopathology: Concepts and challenges. Development and Psychopathology 12, 265–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shrout, P. E., & Fleiss, J. L. (1979). Intraclass correlations: Uses in assessing rater reliability. Psychological Bulletin 86, 420–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simons, R. L., Wu, C., Johnson, C., & Conger, R. D. (1995). A test of various perspectives on the intergenerational transmission of domestic violence. Criminology 33, 141–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., Carlson,, E., & Shulman, S. (1993). Individuals in relationships: Development from infancy through adolescence. In D. C. Funder, R. D. Parke, C. Tomlinson–Keasey, & K. Widaman (Eds.), Studying lives through time: Personality and development (pp. 315–342). Washington, DC: APA.
White, L. (1999). Contagion in family affection: Mothers, fathers, and young adult children. Journal of Marriage and the Family 61, 284–294.Google Scholar
Wolfe, D. A., Crooks, C. V., Lee, V., McIntyre–Smith, A., & Jaffe, P. G. (2003). The effects of children's exposure to domestic violence: A meta-analysis and critique. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 6, 171–187.Google Scholar