E. Mark Cummings

Marital conflict and child adjustment: an emotional security hypothesis.

An emotional security hypothesis that builds on attachment theory is proposed to account for recent empirical findings on the impact of marital conflict on children and to provide directions for future research. Childrens concerns about emotional security play a role in their regulation of emotional arousal and organization and in their motivation to respond in the face of marital conflict. Over time these response processes and internalized representations of parental relations that develop have implications for childrens long-term adjustment. Emotional security is seen as a product of past experiences with marital conflict and as a primary influence on future responding. The impact and interaction of other experiential histories within the family that affect childrens emotional security are also examined, with a focus on parent-child relations.

Effects of marital conflict on children: recent advances and emerging themes in process-oriented research.

BACKGROUND The effects of marital conflict on childrens adjustment are well documented. For the past decade research has increasingly focused on advancing a process-level understanding of these effects, that is, accounting for the particular responses and patterns embedded within specific contexts, histories, and developmental periods that account for childrens outcomes over time. METHODS As a vehicle for presenting an update, this review follows the framework for process-oriented research initially proposed by Cummings and Cummings (1988), concentrating on recent research developments, and also considering new and emerging themes in this area of research. RESULTS In this regard, areas of advancement include (a) greater articulation of the effects of specific context/stimulus characteristics of marital conflict, (b) progress in identifying the psychological response processes in children (e.g., cognitive, emotional, social, physiological) that are affected and their possible role in accounting for relations between marital conflict and child outcomes, (c) greater understanding of the role of child characteristics, family history, and other contextual factors, including effects on children due to interrelations between marital conflict and parenting, and (d) advances in the conceptualization of childrens outcomes, including that effects may be more productively viewed as dynamic processes of functioning rather than simply clinical diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS Understanding of the impact of marital conflict on children as a function of time-related processes remains a gap in a process-oriented conceptualization of effects. Based on this review, a revised model for a process-oriented approach on the effects of marital discord on children is proposed and suggestions are made for future research directions.

Children and Marital Conflict: The Impact of Family Dispute and Resolution

Marital Conflict and Child Development. Conflict in the Marital Dyad. Childrens Reactions to Marital Conflict. Effects of Specific Aspects of Marital Conflict on Children. Interparental Conflict and the Family. Methodology and Message. Conclusions, Implications, and Guidelines.

A Secure Base from Which to Explore Close Relationships

The theory of attachment as a secure-base relationship integrates insights about affect, cognition, and behavior in close relationships across age and culture. Empirical successes based on this theory include important discoveries about the nature of infant-caregiver and adult-adult close relationships, the importance of early experience, and about stability and change in individual differences. The task now is to preserve these insights and successes and build on them. To accomplish this, we need to continually examine the logic and coherence of attachment theory and redress errors of emphasis and analysis. Views on attachment development, attachment representation, and attachment in family and cross-cultural perspective need to be updated in light of empirical research and advances in developmental theory, behavioral biology, and cognitive psychology. We also need to challenge the theory by formulating and testing hypotheses which, if not confirmed, would require significant changes to the theory. If we can accomplish these tasks, prospects for important developments in attachment theory and research are greater than ever, as are the prospects for integration with other disciplines.

Emotional security as a regulatory process in normal development and the development of psychopathology

Emotional security is a central concept in many accounts of normal development and the development of psychopathology. However, the construct has rarely been subject to precise explication, and the conceptualization of emotional security as deriving from qualities of family functioning as a whole requires development. Emotional security as a regulatory system is defined and related to current approaches to emotions as regulatory processes. Although our model is built upon attachment theory, the emphasis is shifted from the evolutionary/ethological origins of attachment theory to the regulation of emotional well being and security as a goal in itself. Emotional security is conceptualized from a contextualistic perspective, emphasizing the interplay between socioemotional and biological processes. Felt-security as a goal is defined from an organizational perspective, reflecting the entire pattern of the individuals reactions to events in relation to emotional security as a goal, as opposed to simply those reactions that are “conscious” or reported as “feelings.” Component regulatory systems are specified (e.g., processes of emotion regulation, regulation of exposure to family affect), with illustrations centering on the impact of marital and parent-child relations on childrens security.

Antecedents of problem behaviors in children of depressed mothers

Aggression observed in 2-year-old children of well and depressed mothers was examined in relation to problem behaviors at ages 5–6. Both normative (e.g., object struggles, rough play) and maladaptive (e.g., dysregulated, out-of-control behavior) forms of toddler aggression were identified. Dysregulated aggression predicted (a) externalizing problems reported by mothers when children were 5 years old, and (b) childrens reports of difficulties during a structured psychiatric interview at age 6. Problems were more frequent and continuity patterns more evident in children of depressed, than well, mothers. Early maladaptive aggression was a better predictor of later externalizing, than internalizing problems. Childrearing practices of mothers of toddlers also appeared to contribute to later outcomes: negative influences were evident but protective patterns were present as well. Depressed mothers who used proactive childrearing approaches (e.g., anticipating the childs point of view; exerting modulated, respectful control; providing structure and organization during play environment) had children who showed fewer externalizing problems 3 years later.

Children's responses to different forms of expression of anger between adults.

Anger is not a homogeneous stimulus, but can vary on a variety of dimensions and domains. This study examined childrens responses to anger as a function of: (a) the mode of expression of anger (nonverbal, verbal, verbal-physical), and (b) whether or not anger between others was resolved. Children were presented with videotaped segments of angry and friendly interactions and asked questions concerning their responses. All angry interactions, including non-verbal anger, were perceived as negative events and elicited negative emotions. Unresolved anger was perceived as a far more negative event than resolved anger and induced greater feelings of anger and distress in children. Verbal-physical anger was perceived as the most negative form of expression of anger. Boys reported more angry feelings in response to anger than girls. Distress responding was greater in children from homes in which there was interparent physical aggression and in children with behavior problems. Finally, the utility of this methodology is supported by relatively high test-retest reliability and limited evidence of context effects.

Pathways between profiles of family functioning, child security in the interparental subsystem, and child psychological problems

This study was designed to delineate pathways between systems profiles of family functioning, childrens emotional insecurity in the interparental relationship, and their psychological adjustment in a sample of 221 children and their parents. Consistent with family systems theory, cluster analyses conducted with assessments of marital, coparental, and parent-child functioning indicated that families fit into one of four profiles: (a) cohesive families, characterized by warmth, affection, and flexible well-defined boundaries in family relationships; (b) disengaged families, reflected in high levels of adversity and low levels of support across family subsystems; (c) enmeshed families, evidenced by high levels of discord and weak maintenance of relationship boundaries in the family unit; and (d) adequate families, defined by elevated parental psychological control within a larger family context of low discord and high warmth. In comparison to children in cohesive families, children in enmeshed and disengaged families exhibited greater signs of insecurity in the interparental relationship concurrently and internalizing and externalizing symptoms both concurrently and 1 year later. Structural equation models revealed that a latent, multimethod measure of insecurity in the interparental relationship partially mediated associations between family enmeshment and disengagement and childrens psychological symptoms 1 year later. Results are discussed in relation to how they inform and refine a family-wide model of the emotional security hypothesis.

A process-oriented approach to children's coping with adults' angry behavior

Abstract In todays society substantial numbers of children are exposed to angry home environments. This paper focuses on the effects of anger between adults on children, reviewing findings within the context of a framework for organizing and integrating results within a process model. This framework also serves as a guide for future research. Developmental level or age, sex, and family background and family history emerge as important influences on coping processes. More study is needed on the role of stimulus characteristics and context of anger in responding, stress and coping processes, and the identification of adaptive and maladaptive patterns of responding. Implications of research on this issue to a developmental psychopathology of angry environments are considered.

The role of child adrenocortical functioning in pathways between interparental conflict and child maladjustment.

This study examined the interplay between interparental conflict and child cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict in predicting child maladjustment in a sample of 178 families and their kindergarten children. Consistent with the allostatic load hypothesis (McEwen & Stellar, 1993), results indicated that interparental conflict was indirectly related to child maladjustment through its association with individual differences in child cortisol reactivity. Analyses indicated that the multimethod assessment of interparental conflict was associated with lower levels of child cortisol reactivity to a simulated phone conflict between parents. Diminished cortisol reactivity, in turn, predicted increases in parental reports of child externalizing symptoms over a 2-year period. Associations between interparental conflict, child cortisol reactivity, and child externalizing symptoms remained robust even after demographic factors and other family processes were taken into account.