Marital Psychological and Physical Aggression and Children's Mental and Physical Health: Direct, Mediated, and Moderated Effects

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Volumn 76, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 138-148

  El Sheikh, Mona ^a   Cummings, E Mark ^b   Kouros, Chrystyna D ^b   Elmore Staton, Lori ^a   Buckhalt, Joseph ^a  

^a AUBURN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME   (United States)

Author keywords

child adjustment; child health; emotional security theory; marital aggression; PTSD

Indexed keywords

AFRICAN AMERICAN; AGGRESSION; ARTICLE; CHILD BEHAVIOR; CHILD HEALTH; CHILD PSYCHIATRY; COMMUNITY CARE; ETHNICITY; EUROPEAN AMERICAN; FATHER; FEMALE; HUMAN; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; MARRIAGE; MENTAL DISEASE; MENTAL HEALTH; MENTAL INSTABILITY; MOTHER; PARENT; POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER; SCHOOL CHILD; SEX DIFFERENCE; SOCIOECONOMICS;

ADAPTATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL; AFFECTIVE SYMPTOMS; AGGRESSION; CHILD; CHILD BEHAVIOR DISORDERS; CHILD REACTIVE DISORDERS; FEMALE; HUMANS; INTERNAL-EXTERNAL CONTROL; MALE; MANIFEST ANXIETY SCALE; OBJECT ATTACHMENT; PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT; RISK FACTORS; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; SPOUSE ABUSE; STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC; VIOLENCE;

EID: 38949115970     PISSN: 0022006X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.76.1.138     Document Type: Article

References (70)

1. Adler N.E., Boyce T., Chesney M.A., Cohen S., Folkman S., and Kahn R.L. Socioeconomic status and health: The challenge of the gradient. American Psychologist 49 (1994) 15-21
2. Arbuckle J., and Wothke W. AMOS 4 user's reference guide (1999), Smallwaters Corporation, Chicago
3. Baron R.M., and Kenny D.A. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51 (1986) 1173-1182
4. Bentler P.M. Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin 107 (1990) 238-246
5. Bentler P.M., and Bonnet D.G. Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin 88 (1980) 588-606
6. Bollen K.A. Structural equations with latent variables (1989), Wiley, New York
7. Bradley R.H., and Corwyn R.F. Moderating effects of perceived amount of family conflict on the relation between home environmental processes and the well-being of adolescents. Journal of Family Psychology 14 (2000) 349-364
8. Briere J. Psychometric review of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children. In: Stamm B.H. (Ed). Measurement of stress, trauma, and adaptation (1996), Sidran Press, Lutherville, MD 381-383
9. Browne M.W., and Cudeck R. Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In: Bollen K.A., and Long J.S. (Eds). Testing structural equation models (1993), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA 136-262
10. Carter-Pokras O., and Baquet C. What is a "health disparity"?. Public Health Reports 17 (2002) 426-434
11. Chan D. The conceptualization and analysis of change over time: An integrative approach incorporating longitudinal mean and covariance structure analysis (LMACS) and multiple indicator latent growth modeling (MLGM). Organizational Research Methods 1 (1998) 421-483
12. Cummings E.M. Children exposed to marital conflict and violence: Conceptual and theoretical directions. In: Holden G.W., Geffner R., and Jouriles E.N. (Eds). Children exposed to marital violence: Theory, research, and applied issues (1998), American Psychological Association, Washington, DC 55-93
13. Cummings E.M., and Davies P. Effects of marital conflict on children: Recent advances and emerging themes in process-oriented research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 43 (2002) 31-63
14. Cummings E.M., Schermerhorn A.C., Davies P.T., Goeke-Morey M.C., and Cummings J.S. Interparental discord and child adjustment: Prospective investigations of emotional security as an explanatory mechanism. Child Development 77 (2006) 132-152
15. Davies P.T., and Cummings E.M. Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin 116 (1994) 387-411
16. Davies P.T., Forman E.M., Rasi J.A., and Stevens K.I. Assessing children's emotional security in the interparental relationship: The security in the interparental subsystem scales. Child Development 73 (2002) 544-562
17. Davies P.T., Harold G.T., Goeke-Morey M.C., and Cummings E.M. Child emotional security and interparental conflict. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 67 Serial No. 270 (2002)
18. Davies P.T., and Lindsay L. Does gender moderate the effects of conflict on children?. In: Grych J., and Fincham F. (Eds). Child development and interparental conflict (2001), Cambridge University Press, New York 64-97
19. Deater-Deckard K., Dodge K.A., Bates J.E., and Pettit G.S. Physical discipline among African American and European American mothers: Links to children's externalizing behaviors. Developmental Psychology 32 (1996) 1065-1072
20. Efron B., and Tibshirani R.J. An introduction to the bootstrap (1998), Chapman & Hall, New York
21. Ehrensaft M.K., and Vivian D. Spouses' reasons for not reporting existing marital aggression as a marital problem. Journal of Family Psychology 10 (1996) 443-453
22. El-Sheikh M. The role of emotional responses and physiological reactivity in the marital conflict-child functioning link. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 46 (2005) 1191-1199
23. El-Sheikh M., Buckhalt J.A., Cummings E.M., and Keller P. Sleep disruptions and emotional insecurity are pathways of risk for children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 48 (2007) 88-96
24. El-Sheikh M., and Harger J. Appraisals of marital conflict and children's adjustment, health, and physiological reactivity. Developmental Psychology 37 (2001) 875-885
25. El-Sheikh M., Harger J., and Whitson S. Exposure to parental conflict and children's adjustment and physical health: The moderating role of vagal tone. Child Development 72 (2001) 1617-1636
26. Emery R.E., Fincham F.D., and Cummings E.M. Parenting in context: Systemic thinking about parental conflict and its influence on children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 60 (1992) 909-912
27. Fincham F.D., and Bradbury T.N. The assessment of marital quality: A reevaluation. Journal of Marriage and the Family 49 (1987) 797-809
28. Gelles R.J. Through a sociological lens: Social structure and family violence. In: Gelles R.J., and Loseke D.R. (Eds). Current controversies on family violence (1993), Sage, Newbury Park, CA 31-46
29. Goeke-Morey M.C., Cummings E.M., Harold G.T., and Shelton K.H. Categories and continua of destructive and constructive marital conflict tactics from the perspective of U.S. and Welsh children. Journal of Family Psychology 17 (2003) 327-338
30. Grych J.H., Harold G.T., and Miles C.J. A prospective investigation of appraisals as mediators of the link between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Child Development 74 (2003) 1176-1193
31. Healthy People 2010. (2006). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved January 7, 2006, from http://www.healthypeople.gov
32. Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript.
33. Hughes H.M., and Luke D.A. Heterogeneity in adjustment among children of battered women. In: Holden G.W., Geffner R., and Jouriles E.N. (Eds). Children exposed to marital violence: Theory, research, and applied issues (1998), American Psychological Association, Washington, DC 185-221
34. Jenkins J.M., Simpson A., Dunn J., Rasbash J., and O'Connor T.G. Mutual influence of marital conflict and children's behavior problems: Shared and non-shared family risks. Child Development 76 (2005) 24-39
35. Jones S., Davidson W.S., Bogat G.A., Levendosky A., and von Eye A. Validation of the subtle and overt psychological abuse scale: An examination of construct validity. Violence and Victims 20 4 (2005) 407-416
36. Jouriles E.N., Bourg W.J., and Farris A.M. Marital adjustment and child conduct problems: A comparison of the correlation across subsamples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 59 (1991) 354-357
37. Jouriles E.N., McDonald R., Stephens N., Norwood W., Spiller L.C., and Ware H.S. Breaking the cycle of violence: Helping families departing from battered women's shelters. In: Holden G.W., Geffner R., and Jouriles E.N. (Eds). Children exposed to marital violence: Theory, research, and applied issues (1998), American Psychological Association, Washington, DC 337-369
38. Jouriles E.N., Murphy C.M., and O'Leary K.D. Interspousal aggression, marital discord, and child problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 57 (1989) 453-455
39. Jouriles E.N., Norwood W.D., and McDonald R. Physical violence and other forms of marital aggression: Links with children's behavior problems. Journal of Family Psychology 10 (1996) 223-234
40. Karney B.R., and Bradbury T.N. The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: A review of method, theory, and research. Psychological Bulletin 118 (1995) 3-34
41. Kerig P.K. Moderators and mediators of the effects of interparental conflict on children's adjustment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 26 (1998) 199-212
42. Kilpatrick K.L., and Williams L.M. Post-traumatic stress disorder in child witnesses to domestic violence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 50 (1997) 686-696
43. Kovacs M. The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacology Bulletin 21 (1985) 995-998
44. Lachar D., and Gruber C.P. Personality Inventory for Children. 2nd ed. (2001), Western Psychological Services, Los Angeles
45. Landgraf J.M., Abetz L., and Ware J.E. The CHQ User Manual. 2nd ed. (1999), Health Act, Boston
46. Lanktree C.B., and Briere J. Outcome of therapy for sexually abused children: A repeated measures study. Child Abuse & Neglect 19 (1995) 1145-1155
47. Lieberman A.F., Van Horn P., and Ozer E. Preschooler witness of marital violence: Predictors and mediators of child behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology 17 (2005) 385-396
48. MacKinnon D.P., Lockwood C.M., Hoffman J.M., West S.G., and Sheets V. A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods 7 1 (2002) 83-104
49. Marks C.R., Glaser B.A., Glass J.B., and Horne A.M. Effects of witnessing severe marital discord on children's social competence and behavioral problems. The Family Journal 9 2 (2001) 94-101
50. Marshall L. Development of the Severity of Violence Against Women Scales. Journal of Family Violence 7 (1992) 103-121
51. Marshall L.L. Effects of men's subtle and overt psychological abuse on low-income women. In: O'Leary K.D., and Maiuro R.D. (Eds). Psychological abuse in violent domestic relations (2001), Springer, New York 153-175
52. McCartney K., Burchinal M.R., and Bub K.L. Best practices in quantitative methods for developmentalists. Monographs for the Society for Research in Child Development 71 3, Serial No. 285 (2006)
53. McCloskey L.A. Socioeconomic and coercive power within the family. Gender & Society 10 (1996) 449-463
54. McCloskey L.A., Figueredo A.J., and Koss M.P. The effects of systemic family violence on children's mental health. Child Development 66 (1995) 1239-1261
55. McLoyd V.C., Harper C.I., and Copeland N.L. Ethnic minority status, interparental conflict, and child adjustment: Theory, research, and application. In: Grych J.H., and Fincham F.D. (Eds). Interparental conflict and child development (2001), Cambridge University Press, New York 98-125
56. Montgomery S.M., Bartley M.J., and Wilkinson R.G. Family conflict and slow growth. Archives of Disease in Childhood 77 (1997) 326-330
57. Muller D., Judd C.M., and Yzerbyt V.Y. When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 89 (2005) 852-863
58. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Workshop on Children Exposed to Violence (2002). http://www.nichd.nih.gov/crmc/cdb/Workshop_on_ChildrenViolence.pdf Retrieved July 5, 2002, from www.nichd.nih.gov/crmc/cdb/Workshop_on_ChildrenViolence.pdf
59. National Institutes of Health. (2003). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved on April 22, 2003, from http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-03-096.html
60. O'Leary K.D., Malone J., and Tyree A. Physical aggression in early marriage: Prerelationship and relationship effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62 3 (1994) 594-602
61. Papp L.M., Cummings E.M., and Goeke-Morey M.C. Marital conflicts in the home when children are present versus absent. Developmental Psychology 38 (2002) 774-783
62. Pungello E.P., Kupersmidt J.B., Burchinal M.R., and Patterson C.J. Environmental risk factors and children's achievement from middle childhood to early adolescence. Developmental Psychology 32 (1996) 755-767
63. Reynolds C.R., and Richmond B.O. What I think and feel: A revised measure of children's manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 6 (1978) 271-280
64. Rogers M.J., and Holmbeck G.N. Effects of interparental aggression on children's adjustment: The moderating role of cognitive appraisal and coping. Journal of Family Psychology 11 (1997) 125-130
65. Schermerhorn, A. C., Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (in press). Children's representations of multiple family relationships: Organizational structure and development in early childhood. Journal of Family Psychology
66. Shrout P.E., and Bolger N. Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods 7 (2002) 422-445
67. Stets J.E. Verbal and physical aggression in marriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family 52 (1990) 501-514
68. Stiles M.M. Witnessing domestic violence: The effect on children. American Family Physician 66 (2002) 2052-2066
69. Straus M.A., Hamby S.L., Boney-McCoy M.S., and Sugarman D.B. The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues 17 (1996) 283-316
70. Vogel L.C.M., and Marshall L.L. PTSD symptoms and partner abuse: Low income women at risk. Journal of Traumatic Stress 14 3 (2001) 569-584