Appraisals of marital conflict and children's adjustment, health, and physiological reactivity

Bibliographic Data

ID9789744
AuthorsMona El-Sheikh (0000-0001-5784-8318, Auburn University, corresponding author), JoAnn Harger
Year2001
Volume37
Issue6
Pages875-885
Publication date2001-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopmental Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0012-1649.37.6.875
PMID11699760
OpenAlexW2026837938
LanguageEN
Citations received36
References cited41

Children's appraisals of marital conflict were examined as moderators and mediators of conflict and children's adjustment, physical health, and physiological reactivity. Mothers completed measures of marital conflict and children's adjustment and physical health, and elementary school children provided information on their parents' marital conflict, appraisals of perceived threat and self-blame in relation to parents' conflicts, and their internalizing symptomatology. Children's heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and skin conductance response and level were examined during both a baseline and an interadult argument. Higher levels of both self-blame and perceived threat functioned as robust vulnerability factors for children exposed to higher levels of marital conflict in relation to internalizing behaviors, health problems, and higher levels of cardiovascular reactivity to the argument. Further, a higher level of perceived threat was a vulnerability factor for externalizing problems associated with exposure to marital conflict

Argument (complex analysis · Blame · Developmental psychology · Reactivity (psychology · Vulnerability (computing · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Family Support in Illness · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology