Marital Conflict, the Role of Sibling Relationships, and Child Adjustment

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的总体目标是整合家庭系统和发展精神病理学理论和研究，以了解破坏性婚姻冲突与儿童心理健康之间关系的潜在过程，并特别强调兄弟姐妹关系在理解儿童适应和不适应模式方面所起的作用。破坏性的婚姻冲突对儿童的心理健康和适应构成重大风险（关于审查，见Davies & Cummings， 1994），对社会有重大影响。此外，兄弟姐妹关系要么会加剧儿童的困难，要么会促进儿童的积极适应（见Brody， 1998）。因此，了解兄弟姐妹关系在婚姻冲突和儿童结局之间的关系中的作用具有很高的社会重要性。为了实现这一目标，本研究有四个主要目的。首先，本研究解决了该领域在理论和方法上的空白。关于兄弟姐妹关系的文献在很大程度上受到社会学习理论的影响（见Dunn & Davies, 2001; Jenkins, 1992; Stacker & Youngblade, 1999）。因此，该地区的调查措施通常侧重于温暖和冲突措施，而没有考虑家庭制度结构。为了解决这一差距，该提案的第一个目标是开发和测试基于家庭系统理论的兄弟姐妹关系半结构化访谈评估的有效性（即预测性，歧视性，收敛性）。接下来，将探讨婚姻冲突与儿童精神病理学相关的过程。结合兄弟姐妹关系中的家庭系统和儿童精神病理学，儿童兄弟姐妹关系的质量将在三个模型中进行检验：添加剂（目的2），中介（目的3）和调节（目的4），以阐明婚姻冲突和儿童适应不良之间的联系。为了测试所提出的途径，将对儿童、他们的主要照顾者和他们的老师进行一项多方法的纵向研究。本研究补充和推进了现有的知识(a)阐明了父母间不和对儿童心理健康的影响；(b)审查儿童的兄弟姐妹关系，作为强调婚姻冲突与儿童适应不良之间联系的潜在过程；(c)纳入对儿童兄弟姐妹关系的创新评估，旨在查明未被发现的兄弟姐妹关系模式。公共卫生相关性：多方法、多信息和纵向设计将对研究的主要结构产生严格的评估。结果将分发和讨论，因为它们与未来的研究和预防/干预工作有关，以加强儿童的心理健康。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching goal of this research is to integrate family systems and developmental psychopathology theory and research to understand the processes underlying the association between destructive marital conflict and children's mental health with a specific emphasis on the role that sibling relationships play for understanding patterns of child adjustment and maladjustment. Destructive marital conflict poses significant risk to children's mental health and adjustment (for a review see Davies & Cummings, 1994) with significant implications for society. Moreover, sibling relations can either exacerbate child difficulties, or alternatively, promote positive child adjustment (for a review see Brody, 1998). Thus, high social importance is attached to understanding the role of sibling relations in the association between marital conflict and child outcomes. Toward this endeavor, there are four main aims of the proposed research. First, this research addresses theoretical and methodological gaps in the field. The sibling relationship literature has been heavily influenced by social learning theory (see Dunn & Davies, 2001; Jenkins, 1992; Stacker & Youngblade, 1999). As a result, the survey measures in the area commonly focus on warmth and conflict measures without consideration of family systems constructs. To address this gap, the first aim of the proposal is to develop and test the validity (i.e., predictive, discriminate, convergent) of a semi-structured interview assessment of sibling relationships based on family systems theory. Next, the processes by which marital conflict is associated with child psychopathology will be explored. Integrating family systems within sibling relationships and child psychopathology, the quality of children's sibling relationships will be examined in three models: additive (Aim 2), mediational (Aim 3), and moderator (Aim 4) to illuminate the link between marital conflict and child maladjustment. To test the proposed pathways, a multi-method, longitudinal study will be completed with children, their primary caregivers, and their teachers. This research complements and advances existing knowledge by (a) elucidating the impact of inter-parental discord on children's mental health; (b) examining children's sibling relations as potential processes that highlight the link between marital conflict and child maladjustment and; (c) incorporating an innovative assessment of children's sibling relationships designed to identify undetected patterns of sibling relations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The multiple-method, multi- informant, and longitudinal design will yield a rigorous assessment of the study's main constructs. Results will be distributed and discussed as they pertain to future research and prevention/intervention efforts to enhance children's mental health.