Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T18:42:44.290Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The role of parental marital discord in the etiology of externalizing problems during childhood and adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2016

Amber M. Jarnecke ,
Susan C. South ,
Irene J. Elkins ,
Robert F. Krueger ,
Erin C. Tully  and
William G. Iacono
Amber M. Jarnecke*
Affiliation:
Purdue University
Susan C. South
Affiliation:
Purdue University
Irene J. Elkins
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Robert F. Krueger
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Erin C. Tully
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
William G. Iacono
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Amber M. Jarnecke, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907; E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Previous research has established that parental marital discord is associated with higher levels of offspring externalizing behaviors, but it is unclear how parental relationship functioning is associated with the genetic and environmental variance on a factor of externalizing problems. Thus, the current study assessed how parental marital discord moderates genetic and environmental variance on offspring externalizing problems at two different ages: childhood and late adolescence. That is, the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on offspring externalizing at ages 11 and 17 was examined as a function of parental marital discord. Consistent with a diathesis–stress model of psychopathology, it was hypothesized that with increasing marital discord, genetic influences on externalizing would be more pronounced. Rather, results indicated that for the 11-year-old sample, nonshared environmental influences were greater when parental marital discord was low, and comparatively, shared environmental influences contributed more to the variance in externalizing problems when parental marital discord was high. No moderation was found for the 17-year-old cohort. In contrast to studies that do not find an effect of the shared environment, these results provide evidence that the common rearing environment has an impact on externalizing problems in preadolescent children.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 2017 , pp. 1177 - 1188
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This research was supported by Grant R01 AA009367 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and Grants R01 DA038065 and R37 DA005147 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

References

Ablow, J. C., Measelle, J. R., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (2009). Linking marital conflict and children's adjustment: The role of young children's perceptions. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 485–499.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M. (1966). The classification of children's psychiatric symptoms: A factor-analytic study. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80, 1–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for ASEBA school-age forms and profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.Google Scholar
Akaike, H. (1987). Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika, 52, 317–332.Google Scholar
Amato, P. R., & Booth, A. (2001). The legacy of parents’ marital discord: Consequences for children's marital quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 627–638.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Armstrong, T. D., & Costello, E. (2002). Community studies on adolescent substance use, abuse, or dependence and psychiatric comorbidity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 1224–1239.Google Scholar
Bonham, V. L., Warshauer-Baker, E., & Collins, F. S. (2005). Race and ethnicity in the genome era: The complexity of the constructs. American Psychologist, 60, 9–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burt, S. A., Wildey, M. N., & Klump, K. L. (2015). The quality of the interparental relationship does not moderate the etiology of child conduct problems. Psychological Medicine, 45, 319–332.Google Scholar
Button, T. M., Lau, J. F., Maughan, B. B., & Eley, T. C. (2008). Parental punitive discipline, negative life events and gene-environment interplay in the development of externalizing behavior. Psychological Medicine, 38, 29–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Button, T. M., Stallings, M. C., Rhee, S., Corley, R. P., Boardman, J. D., & Hewitt, J. K. (2009). Perceived peer delinquency and the genetic predisposition for substance dependence vulnerability. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 100, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cadoret, R. J., Cain, C. A., & Crowe, R. R. (1983). Evidence for gene-environment interaction in the development of adolescent antisocial behavior. Behavior Genetics, 13, 301–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, T. T., Doyle, O., & Clincy, A. (2013). Age of first cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use among U.S. Biracial/ethnic youth: A population-based study. Addictive Behaviors, 38, 2450–2454.Google Scholar
Conners, C. K. (1969). Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Depner, C. E., Leino, E. V., & Chun, A. (1992). Interparental conflict and child adjustment: A decade review and meta-analysis. Family & Conciliation Courts Review, 30, 323–341.Google Scholar
Dick, D. M., Aliev, F., Wang, J. C., Grucza, R. A., Schuckit, M., Kuperman, S., … Goate, A. (2008). Using dimensional models of externalizing psychopathology to aid in gene identification. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 310–318.Google Scholar
Dick, D. M., Viken, R., Purcell, S., Kaprio, J., Pulkkinen, L., & Rose, R. J. (2007). Parental monitoring moderates the importance of genetic and environmental influences on adolescent smoking. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 213–218.Google Scholar
Dodge, K. A., Bierman, K. L., Coie, J. D., Greenberg, M. T., Lochman, J. E., McMahon, R. J., & Pinderhughes, E. E. (2015). Impact of early intervention on psychopathology, crime, and well-being at age 25. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 59–70.Google Scholar
D'Onofrio, B. M., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., Slutske, W. S., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A., & Martin, N. G. (2005). A genetically informed study of marital instability and its association with offspring psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 570–586.Google Scholar
Fauber, R., Forehand, R., Thomas, A. M., & Wierson, M. (1990). A mediational model of the impact of marital conflict on adolescent adjustment in intact and divorced families: The role of disrupted parenting. Child Development, 61, 1112–1123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerard, J. M., Krishnakumar, A., & Buehler, C. (2006). Marital conflict, parent-child relations, and youth maladjustment: A longitudinal investigation of spillover effects. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 951–975.Google Scholar
Gibson, H. B. (1967). Self-reported delinquency among schoolboys, and their attitudes to the police. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 6, 168–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grych, J. H., Seid, M., & Fincham, F. D. (1992). Assessing marital conflict from the child's perspective: The children's perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. Child Development, 63, 558–572.Google Scholar
Hanscombe, K. B., Trzaskowski, M., Haworth, C. M. A., Davis, O. S. P., Dale, P. S., & Plomin, R. (2012). Socioeconomic status (SES) and children's intelligence (IQ): In a UK-representative sample SES moderates the environmental, not genetic, effect on IQ. PLOS ONE, 7, 1–16.Google Scholar
Harden, K., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., Slutske, W. S., D'Onofrio, B. M., Heath, A. C., & Martin, N. G. (2007). Marital conflict and conduct problems in children of twins. Child Development, 78, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hicks, B. M., Blonigen, D. M., Kramer, M. D., Krueger, R. F., Patrick, C. J., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2007). Gender differences and developmental change in externalizing disorders from late adolescence to early adulthood: A longitudinal twin study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 433–447.Google Scholar
Hicks, B. M., DiRago, A. C., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2009). Gene-environment interplay in internalizing disorders: Consistent findings across six environmental risk factors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 1309–1317.Google Scholar
Hicks, B. M., Foster, K. T., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2013). Genetic and environmental influences on the familial transmission of externalizing disorders in adoptive and twin offspring. JAMA Psychiatry, 70, 1076–1083.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hicks, B. M., Krueger, R. F., lacono, W. G., McGue, M., & Patrick, C. J. (2004). Family transmission and heritability of externalizing disorders: A twin-family study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 922–928.Google Scholar
Hicks, B. M., South, S. C., DiRago, A. C., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2009). Environmental adversity and increasing genetic risk for externalizing disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 640–648.Google Scholar
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.Google Scholar
Iacono, W. G., Carlson, S. R., Taylor, J., Elkins, I. J., & McGue, M. (1999). Behavioral disinhibition and the development of substance-use disorders: Findings from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 869–900.Google Scholar
Jacobson, N. S., & Christensen, A. (1998). Acceptance and change in couple therapy: A therapist's guide to transforming relationships. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Jacobson, N. S., & Margolin, G. (1979). Marital therapy: Strategies based on social learning and behavioral exchange principles. New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Jarnecke, A. M., & South, S. C. (2014). Genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use problems: Moderation by romantic partner support, but not family or friend support. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 38, 367–375.Google Scholar
Katz, L. F., & Gottman, J. M. (1993). Patterns of marital conflict predict children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 29, 940–950.Google Scholar
Kouros, C. D., Cummings, E., & Davies, P. T. (2010). Early trajectories of interparental conflict and externalizing problems as predictors of social competence in preadolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 527–537.Google Scholar
Krueger, R. F. (1999). The structure of common mental disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 921–926.Google Scholar
Krueger, R. F., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Silva, P. A. (1998). The structure and stability of common mental disorders (DSM-III-R): A longitudinal-epidemiological study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 216–227.Google Scholar
Krueger, R. F., Hicks, B. M., Patrick, C. J., Carlson, S. R., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2002). Etiological connections among substance dependence, antisocial behavior, and personality: Modeling the externalizing spectrum. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 411–424.Google Scholar
Krueger, R. F., South, S. C. Johnson, W., & Iacono, W. (2008). The heritability of personality is not always 50%: Gene-environment interactions and correlations between personality and parenting. Journal of Personality, 76, 1485–1522.Google Scholar
Lam, C. B., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2012). Parent-child shared time from middle childhood to late adolescence: Developmental course and adjustment correlates. Child Development, 83, 2089–2103.Google Scholar
Mahoney, A., Jouriles, E. N., & Scavone, J. (1997). Marital adjustment, marital discord over childrearing, and child behavior problems: Moderating effects of child age. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 26, 415–423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mason, W. A., Hitch, J. E., Kosterman, R., McCarty, C. A., Herrenkohl, T. I., & Hawkins, J. D. (2010). Growth in adolescent delinquency and alcohol use in relation to young adult crime, alcohol use disorders, and risky sex: A comparison of youth from low- versus middle-income backgrounds. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 1377–1385.Google Scholar
Mason, W. A., & Windle, M. (2001). Family, religious, school and peer influences on adolescent alcohol use: A longitudinal study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 44–53.Google Scholar
McGue, M., & Bouchard, T. J. (1984). Quality of twin data for the effects of age and sex. Behavior Genetics, 14, 325–343.Google Scholar
McHale, S. M., Freitag, M. K., Crouter, A. C., & Bartko, W. (1991). Connections between dimensions of marital quality and school-age children's adjustment. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 12, 1–17.Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2012). Mplus users guide. Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
Neale, M. C., Boker, S. M., Xie, G., & Maes, H. H. (2003). Mx: Statistical modeling (6th ed.) [Computer software]. Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University.Google Scholar
Purcell, S. (2002). Variance components models for gene-environment interaction in twin analysis. Twin Research, 5, 554–571.Google Scholar
Raine, A. (2002). Biosocial studies of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults: A review. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 311–326.Google Scholar
Reich, W., & Welner, Z. (1988). Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents—Revised: DSM-III-R version (DICA-R). St. Louis, MO: Washington University.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. A. (1967). Children's behavior questionnaire for completion by teachers: Preliminary findings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 1–11.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. A., Kim-Cohen, J., & Maughan, B. (2006). Continuities and discontinuities in psychopathology between childhood and adult life. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 276–295.Google Scholar
Salvatore, J. E., Aliev, F., Bucholz, K., Agrawal, A., Hesselbrock, V., Hesselbrock, M., … Dick, D. M. (2015). Polygenic risk for externalizing disorders: Gene-by-development and gene-by-environment effects in adolescents and young adults. Clinical Psychological Science, 3, 189–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, A. R., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2013). Impact of socio-emotional context, brain development, and pubertal maturation on adolescent risk-taking. Hormones and Behavior, 64, 323–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
South, S. C., Krueger, R. F., & Iacono, W. G. (2009). Factorial invariance of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale across gender. Psychological Assessment, 21, 622–628.Google Scholar
Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15–28.Google Scholar
Sturge-Apple, M. L., Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. (2006). Impact of hostility and withdrawal in interparental conflict on parental emotional unavailability and children's adjustment difficulties. Child Development, 77, 1623–1641.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). London: Pearson.Google Scholar
Trucco, E. M., Colder, C. R., Bowker, J. C., & Wieczorek, W. F. (2011). Interpersonal goals and susceptibility to peer influence: Risk factors for intentions to initiate substance use during early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 31, 526–547.Google Scholar
Turkheimer, E. (2000). Three laws of behavior genetics and what they mean. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 160–164.Google Scholar
Tuvblad, C., Grann, M., & Lichtenstein, P. (2006). Heritability for adolescent antisocial behavior differs with socioeconomic status: Gene-environment interaction. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 734–743.Google Scholar
van der Valk, J. C., van den Oord, E. G., Verhulst, F. C., & Boomsma, D. I. (2003). Genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change in children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 1212–1220.Google Scholar
Vollebergh, W. M., Iedema, J., Bijl, R. V., de Graaf, R., Smit, F., & Ormel, J. (2001). The structure and stability of common mental disorders: The NEMESIS Study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 597–603.Google Scholar
Wymbs, B. T., Pelham, W. E., Gnagy, E. M., & Molina, B. S. G. (2008). Mother and adolescent reports of interparental discord among parents of adolescents with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 16, 29–41.Google Scholar
Young, S. E., Stallings, M. C., Corley, R. P., Krauter, K. S., & Hewitt, J. K. (2000). Genetic and environmental influences on behavioral disinhibition. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 96, 684–695.Google Scholar
Zografos, K. N., & Pérez, M. A. (2014). Health disparities and social determinants of health: Implications for health education. In Pérez, M. A. & Luquis, R. R. (Eds.), Cultural competence in health education and health promotion (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar