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9 - Regulatory Processes in Children's Coping with Exposure to Marital Conflict

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2009

By
E. Mark Cummings ,
Lauren M. Papp  and
Chrystyna D. Kouros
Edited by
Sheryl L. Olson  and
Arnold J. Sameroff
Sheryl L. Olson
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Arnold J. Sameroff
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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Summary

Associations between predictors of family risk (e.g., interparental conflict) and children's emotional and behavioral dysregulation are well documented (Cummings & Davies, 1994; Emery, 1982; Grych & Fincham, 1990). A central aim of the developmental psychopathology framework is to articulate the processes underlying such associations and how these relations over time are related to the development of psychopathology (Cummings, Davies, & Campbell, 2000). Developmental psychopathology emphasizes process-oriented research concerned with identifying specific responses and patterns of behaviors underlying development, paying particular attention to how these responses and patterns change in different contexts over time. Working from a developmental psychopathology perspective, this chapter examines children's regulatory processes in response to exposure to different forms of marital conflict, as well as the relations of these regulatory responses to their broader adjustment. Specifically, this chapter integrates social (i.e., marital conflict) and regulatory (i.e., children's emotional and behavioral responses to marital conflict) processes to advance understanding of the relationships between children's regulatory expressions in these contexts and their overall adjustment.

INTERPARENTAL CONFLICT AS A FAMILY RISK FACTOR

Exposure to marital conflict is stressful for children (Emery, Fincham, & Cummings, 1992). Children exposed to angry adult interactions display increased arousal and dysregulated behavior (e.g., Cummings, Iannotti, & Zahn-Waxler, 1985; Cummings, Zahn-Waxler, & Radke-Yarrow, 1981). In this context, children report feelings of negative emotions, such as anger and fear (e.g., Goeke-Morey, Cummings, Harold, & Shelton, 2003).

Type
Chapter
Information
Biopsychosocial Regulatory Processes in the Development of Childhood Behavioral Problems , pp. 212 - 237
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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