Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2011 Jul;109(3):336-52. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2011.02.007.
Marital conflict is a distressing context in which children must regulate their emotion and behavior; however, the associations between the multidimensionality of conflict and children's regulatory processes need to be examined. The current study examined differences in children's (N = 207, mean age = 8.02 years) emotions (mad, sad, scared, and happy) and behavioral strategies to regulate conflict exposure during resolved, unresolved, escalating, and child-rearing marital conflict vignettes. Children's cortisol levels were assessed in relation to child-rearing and resolved conflict vignettes. Anger and sadness were associated with escalating and child-rearing conflicts, fearfulness was related to escalating and unresolved conflicts, and happiness was associated with resolution. Anger was associated with children's strategies to stop conflict, whereas sadness was associated with monitoring and avoidant strategies. Cortisol recovery moderated the link between fearfulness and behavioral regulation. These results highlight the importance of children's emotions and regulatory processes in understanding the impact of marital conflict.
婚姻冲突是孩子必须调节情绪和行为的令人痛苦的情境;然而,需要研究冲突的多维性与孩子的调节过程之间的关联。本研究考察了儿童(N=207,平均年龄=8.02 岁)在解决、未解决、升级和育儿婚姻冲突小插曲中调节冲突暴露的情绪(生气、悲伤、害怕和快乐)和行为策略的差异。还评估了儿童的皮质醇水平与育儿和解决冲突小插曲的关系。愤怒和悲伤与升级和育儿冲突有关,恐惧与升级和未解决的冲突有关,而快乐与解决有关。愤怒与儿童停止冲突的策略有关,而悲伤与监控和回避策略有关。皮质醇恢复调节了恐惧与行为调节之间的联系。这些结果强调了儿童情绪和调节过程在理解婚姻冲突影响方面的重要性。