Interparental Relationships, Parental Psychological Distress, & Child Development

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The two-fold aim of this research is to elucidate the developmental course of intimate relationship functioning and psychological distress among fathers and mothers, and to examine the pathways through which parents' relationship functioning and psychological distress predict young children's socio-emotional and behavioral adjustment. The association between relationship dysfunction and depression is robust; however, less is known about within-couple fluctuations over time and interpersonal correlates of hostility and anxiety. Furthermore, although direct linkages of both interparental relationship distress and parental psychopathology with child adjustment have been documented, studies that include both parental risk factors have been rare. To address these gaps, the following specific aims are proposed: (1) To explore linkages between interparental relationships (i.e., status, adjustment) and fathers' and mothers' psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, hostility); (2) To first test dynamic within-person relations between relationship functioning (i.e., quality, conflict) and psychological distress for fathers and mothers, and to then test the interplay of these processes between partners; and (3) To investigate the nature of longitudinal pathways among interparental relationship quality, parental psychological distress, and children's developmental outcomes. This proposal seeks to conduct these aims through secondary analysis of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). In addition to being cost-effective, the SECCYD is uniquely suited to accomplish the proposed research for several reasons. First, the present investigation seeks to replicate and extend existing findings on interpersonal relationships and mental health by studying relationship functioning (both quality and conflict) and broadly-defined psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and hostility) using a sample of longer-term couples (fathers and mothers) who have at least one child. Second, the SECCYD dataset permits sophisticated modeling techniques to clarify dynamic, longitudinal pathways among fathers' and mothers' relationship functioning and psychological distress. Furthermore, the dataset includes individual- and couple-level contextual variables that are expected to moderate these pathways. Third, an extensive array of family data was assessed longitudinally, from birth of the focal child through age 11. Thus, relationship dysfunction and psychological distress of parents will be examined in relation to important youth socio-emotional and behavioral indicators, illuminating how these interrelated parental risk variables serve as a critical context for the development of children. PROJECT NARRATIVE: Elevated psychological symptoms, which are distressing themselves and highly predictive of subsequent mental disorders, pose overwhelming challenges to afflicted individuals and their family members. Partner and parent-child relationship quality is likely to suffer. Findings from this research have the potential to benefit public health by elucidating characteristics that place parents and children at risk for experiencing a negative cycle between interpersonal processes and mental health, thereby advancing our efforts to prevent and treat the longitudinal interplay between poor partner functioning and psychopathology for parents, couples, and children.