Family Process, Emotional Security, and Child Adjustment

描述（由申请人提供）：在美国家庭中，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造成的巨大代价是无可争议的。暴露于父母间的不和谐和冲突是特别与广泛的儿童精神病理学。然而，在理解如何，为什么以及何时暴露于父母间的困难的儿童发展不成比例的脆弱性，心理健康问题，特别是在高度脆弱性期间，建议在青春期早期发展方面存在很大的科学差距。通过将情绪安全理论（EST）置于发展心理病理学框架内，本研究旨在通过阐明儿童期和青少年期父母间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EST的家庭模型，其中父母间冲突和伴随的养育过程通过破坏儿童在父母间和亲子关系中的安全感而增加了儿童对心理健康问题的脆弱性，（2）确定发展时间和经历过程，包括儿童和青少年发展史，是否改变或修改家庭冲突，情绪安全，和青少年的结果，（3）图表的生物，神经心理学和发展过程的顺序，占高度不安全和心理健康问题的青少年经历了高冲突的家庭，和（4）确定家庭风险和保护因素如何可能改变父母之间的不和和儿童应对和适应不良之间的路径。该项目将跟踪200多名母亲、父亲和13岁儿童的样本，这些儿童以前在小学早期到青春期期间参加过三次数据收集，现在又收集了三次，每次间隔一年。利用多方法测量电池，这种前瞻性设计将捕获多个层次的青少年脆弱性（例如，神经内分泌、神经心理学、阶段显著适应、精神病理学）和家庭逆境。我们的长期目标是将从该项目中获得的科学知识转化为旨在改善弱势儿童和家庭福利的临床治疗和社会政策举措。

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.