Family Process, Emotional Security, and Child Adjustment

描述（由申请人提供）：美国家庭中父母之间的冲突、不和和暴力的普遍存在及其对儿童和社会的深远影响是无可争辩的。暴露于父母之间的不和和冲突与广泛的儿童精神病理学有关。然而，在理解遭受父母间困难的儿童如何、为什么以及何时对心理健康问题产生不成比例的脆弱性方面，特别是在建议在青春期早期形成的高度脆弱性时期，存在着巨大的科学差距。本研究将情绪安全理论（EST）置于发展精神病理学框架中，旨在通过阐明童年和青少年时期父母冲突与儿童适应不良之间的发展机制、途径和条件来解决这些差距。我们的具体目标是：(1)测试青春期早期的家庭EST模型，其中父母之间的冲突和伴随的养育过程通过破坏他们在父母之间和亲子关系中的安全感而增加儿童对心理健康问题的脆弱性；(2)确定发展时间和经历的过程，包括儿童和青少年的发展史，是否改变或修改家庭冲突、情感安全和青春期结局之间的联系。(3)绘制出高冲突家庭中青少年不安全感和心理健康问题加剧的生物学、神经心理学和发育过程序列；(4)确定家庭风险和保护因素如何改变父母间不和与儿童应对和适应不良之间的路径。该项目将对200多名母亲、父亲和13岁的孩子进行抽样调查，这些孩子之前从小学早期到青春期参加了三波数据收集，通过收集另外三波数据，每波数据间隔一年。利用多方法测量，这一前瞻性设计将捕捉青少年脆弱性的多个层面（如神经内分泌、神经心理学、阶段突出适应、精神病理学）和家庭逆境。我们的长期目标是将从这个项目中获得的科学知识转化为临床治疗和社会政策举措，旨在改善弱势儿童和家庭的福利。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The prevalence of interparental conflict, discord, and violence in the American family and its profound costs to children and society are indisputable. Exposure to interparental discord and conflict is specifically associated with a wide range of child psychopathology. However, large scientific gaps exist in understanding how, why, and when children exposed to interparental difficulties develop disproportionate vulnerability to mental health problems, particularly during period of heightened vulnerability that is proposed to develop during early adolescence. By situating the emotional security theory (EST) within a developmental psychopathology framework, this study is designed to address these gaps by elucidating the developmental mechanisms, pathways, and conditions underlying associations between interparental conflict and child maladjustment across childhood and adolescence. Our specific aims are to: (1) test a family-wide model of EST for early adolescence in which interparental conflict and accompanying parenting processes increase children's vulnerability to mental health problems by undermining their sense of security in interparental and parent-child relationships, (2) determine whether developmental timing and course of experiences, including child and adolescent developmental histories, alter or modify associations between family conflict, emotional security, and adolescent outcomes, (3) chart the sequence of biological, neuropsychological, and developmental processes that account for the heightened insecurity and mental health problems experienced by adolescents from high conflict homes, and (4) identify how family risk and protective factors may alter paths between interparental discord and child coping and maladjustment. This project will follow a sample of over 200 mothers, fathers, and 13-year-old children who previously participated in three waves of data collection during the early elementary school years into adolescence through the collection of three additional waves, each spaced one year apart. Utilizing a multi-method measurement battery, this prospective design will capture multiple levels of adolescent vulnerability (e.g., neuroendocrine, neuropsychological, stage-salient adaptation, psychopathology) and family adversity. Our long-term objective is to translate the scientific knowledge gained from this project into clinical treatment and social policy initiatives that are designed improve the welfare of vulnerable children and families.