TY - JOUR
T1 - FAMILY CONFLICT MODERATES EARLY PARENT–CHILD BEHAVIORAL TRANSACTIONS
AU - Paschall, Katherine W.
AU - Barnett, Melissa A.
AU - Mastergeorge, Ann M.
AU - Mortensen, Jennifer A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Findings are based on research conducted as part of the National EHS Research and Evaluation Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, under Contract 105-95-1936 to Mathematic Policy Research, Princeton, NJ and Columbia University’s National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, in conjunction with the EHS Research Consortium. Inter-University Consortium distributed data for political and social research in Ann Arbor, MI.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - The reciprocal transactions that shape early parent–child relationships are influenced by contextual stress, such as family conflict. Although family conflict is a salient stressor to the family system, few studies have considered how parent–child transactions vary according to exposure to family conflict. The present study examined how family conflict alters early parent–child behavioral transactions. We utilized three waves of data from a multisite longitudinal study of low-income families (N = 2, 876), child age 14 months, 24 months, and 36 months, to identify behavioral transactions of positive and negative maternal (supportiveness, negative regard) and child (engagement, negativity) behaviors. Results indicated that family conflict at 14 months diminished the positive association between maternal supportiveness and child engagement, and amplified the inverse association between maternal negativity and child engagement. Family conflict at 14 months also was associated with increased stability of child negativity and subsequent increased maternal negative regard at 36 months, in part via increases in 24-month child negativity. In sum, family conflict occurring early in childhood predicted and moderated behavioral transactions between young children and their mothers.
AB - The reciprocal transactions that shape early parent–child relationships are influenced by contextual stress, such as family conflict. Although family conflict is a salient stressor to the family system, few studies have considered how parent–child transactions vary according to exposure to family conflict. The present study examined how family conflict alters early parent–child behavioral transactions. We utilized three waves of data from a multisite longitudinal study of low-income families (N = 2, 876), child age 14 months, 24 months, and 36 months, to identify behavioral transactions of positive and negative maternal (supportiveness, negative regard) and child (engagement, negativity) behaviors. Results indicated that family conflict at 14 months diminished the positive association between maternal supportiveness and child engagement, and amplified the inverse association between maternal negativity and child engagement. Family conflict at 14 months also was associated with increased stability of child negativity and subsequent increased maternal negative regard at 36 months, in part via increases in 24-month child negativity. In sum, family conflict occurring early in childhood predicted and moderated behavioral transactions between young children and their mothers.
KW - bidirectional
KW - conflict
KW - mother–child relations
KW - toddlers
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U2 - 10.1002/imhj.21660
DO - 10.1002/imhj.21660
M3 - Article
C2 - 28842913
AN - SCOPUS:85028295692
SN - 0163-9641
VL - 38
SP - 588
EP - 601
JO - Infant Mental Health Journal
JF - Infant Mental Health Journal
IS - 5
ER -