School of Nursing, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Japan.
Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
PLoS One. 2019 Sep 12;14(9):e0222021. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222021. eCollection 2019.
Marital conflict is integral to children's psychosocial well-being. Extant research has shown that the effects of marital conflict on children are likely to vary by gender, indicating that gender plays a significant and complex role in the relationship between marital conflict and child adjustment. Focusing on gender, this study investigates the link between specific marital conflict tactics and children's mental health symptoms in families in which the parents live together.
This study gathered data from 799 children and their parents in Japan by means of a questionnaire focusing on marital conflict and child behavioral problems. Marital conflict (verbal aggression, physical aggression, stonewalling, avoidance-capitulation, child involvement, and cooperation) was assessed using a Conflict and Problem-Solving Scale. Children's behavioral problems (externalizing and internalizing symptoms) were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
The findings highlight the significant impact of specific interparental conflict on children's behavioral problems, demonstrating that there are differences according to the child's gender. More specifically, multivariate analyses targeting boys revealed that cooperation was significantly inversely associated with externalizing problems and internalizing problems, while avoidance-capitulation and verbal aggression were significantly positively associated with externalizing problems. In contrast, multivariate analyses targeting girls revealed that cooperation was significantly inversely associated with externalizing problems and internalizing problems, while avoidance-capitulation and stonewalling were significantly positively associated with internalizing problems.
This study reveals that interparental conflict is associated with children's behavioral problems. Constructive marital conflict was significantly inversely associated with externalizing and internalizing problems in both boys and girls. Meanwhile, destructive marital conflict (i.e., avoidance-capitulation and verbal aggression) was significantly positively associated with externalizing problems in boys and significantly positively associated with internalizing problems in girls. These findings contribute to the substantial literature demonstrating the relationship between family processes and the development of disruptive behavior disorders in children.
婚姻冲突是儿童心理社会福祉的重要组成部分。现有研究表明，婚姻冲突对儿童的影响可能因性别而异，这表明性别在婚姻冲突与儿童适应之间的关系中起着重要而复杂的作用。本研究着眼于性别，探讨了在父母同住的家庭中，特定婚姻冲突策略与儿童心理健康症状之间的联系。
本研究通过问卷调查收集了日本 799 名儿童及其父母的数据，重点关注婚姻冲突和儿童行为问题。使用冲突和解决问题量表评估婚姻冲突（言语攻击、身体攻击、冷处理、回避-妥协、孩子卷入和合作）。使用长处和困难问卷评估儿童的行为问题（外化和内化症状）。
研究结果强调了特定的父母间冲突对儿童行为问题的重大影响，表明根据儿童的性别存在差异。更具体地说，针对男孩的多元分析表明，合作与外化问题和内化问题呈显著负相关，而回避-妥协和言语攻击与外化问题呈显著正相关。相比之下，针对女孩的多元分析表明，合作与外化问题和内化问题呈显著负相关，而回避-妥协和冷处理与内化问题呈显著正相关。
本研究表明，父母间冲突与儿童的行为问题有关。建设性的婚姻冲突与男孩和女孩的外化问题和内化问题呈显著负相关。与此同时，破坏性的婚姻冲突（即回避-妥协和言语攻击）与男孩的外化问题呈显著正相关，与女孩的内化问题呈显著正相关。这些发现丰富了大量文献，证明了家庭过程与儿童破坏性行为障碍发展之间的关系。
