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

描述(申请人提供)：这项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和儿童心理健康之间潜在的联系过程，并特别强调兄弟姐妹关系在理解儿童适应和适应不良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造成重大风险(见Davies&Cummings，1994)，并对社会产生重大影响。此外，兄弟姐妹关系可能会加剧儿童的困难，或者促进积极的儿童适应(综述见Brody，1998)。因此，理解兄弟姐妹关系在婚姻冲突和子女结果之间的关联中的作用受到高度的社会重视。为了这一努力，拟议的研究有四个主要目标。首先，这项研究解决了该领域的理论和方法空白。兄弟姐妹关系文献深受社会学习理论的影响(见Dunn&Davies，2001；Jenkins，1992；Stacker&Young gBlade，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建设。为了弥补这一差距，该提案的第一个目的是根据家庭系统理论开发和测试半结构化面谈评估的有效性(即预测性、歧视性、趋同性)。接下来，我们将探讨婚姻冲突与儿童精神病的关系。将家庭系统与兄弟姐妹关系和儿童心理病理学结合起来，将在三个模型中检验儿童兄弟姐妹关系的质量：相加(目标2)、调解(目标3)和调节(目标4)，以阐明婚姻冲突和儿童适应不良之间的联系。为了测试提出的路径，将完成一项多方法的纵向研究，对象是儿童、他们的主要照顾者和他们的老师。这项研究通过以下方式补充和推进现有知识：(A)阐明父母间不和对儿童心理健康的影响；(B)将儿童的兄弟姐妹关系作为突出婚姻冲突和儿童适应不良之间联系的潜在过程进行检查；(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、多信息者和纵向设计将对研究的主要结构产生严格的评估。结果将被分发和讨论，因为它们与加强儿童心理健康的未来研究和预防/干预努力有关。

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.