https://aub.ie/MilitaryREACH-Gong2023

Gong, Q., Kramer, K. Z., & Tu, K. M. (2023). Fathers’ marital conflict and children’s socioemotional skills: A moderated-mediation model of conflict resolution and parenting. Journal of Family Psychology, 37(7), 1048–1059. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001102

Informed by spillover theory, which recognizes the interrelatedness of individuals functioning in multiple family roles (e.g., partner/spouse, parent), this cross-sectional study examined whether marital conflict was linked to fathers’ parenting; and, in turn, to young children’s socioemotional skills and whether the fathers’ constructive conflict resolution (e.g., compromising) affected these associations. 3,955 married civilian fathers reported their frequency of marital conflict, along with parental involvement, parental warmth, parenting stress, and the frequency of their constructive conflict resolution behaviors. Mothers reported children’s socioemotional skills. Overall, marital conflict was related to fathers’ parenting and, in turn, children’s socioemotional skills. Some associations were stronger for fathers who used more constructive conflict resolution strategies.

https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001102

Parents
Children
Mental health

Civilian

Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)

Gong, Qiujie, Kramer, Karen Z., Tu, Kelly M.

Marital conflict is common in many families. The effects of marital conflict may often spill over to parent–child dyads and affect children’s development via their parenting practices. However, couples handle their marital conflict in different ways, and conflict resolution strategies may play a role in children’s outcomes. Although mother-reported marital conflict has been a primary focus in most prior studies, little is known about fathers’ perspectives. To that end, we examined the mediating effect of fathers’ parenting in the association between the frequency of marital conflict and mother-reported children’s socioemotional skills in preschool, as well as the moderating role of father constructive conflict resolution frequency in the association between father reports of the frequency of the marital conflict and parenting. Results indicate that father parenting warmth and parenting stress mediated the association between the frequency of marital conflict and children’s socioemotional skills. We also found that father reports of the frequency of the marital conflict was positively associated with involvement and negatively associated with warmth at higher levels of constructive conflict resolution frequency. Fathers who reported higher constructive conflict resolution frequency showed higher father involvement and warmth. Finally, the moderated-mediation analysis revealed that, after accounting for mothers’ parenting variables, father warmth was the moderated mediator, such that there was a negative indirect effect between the frequency of marital conflict and children’s socioemotional skills through father warmth at average and higher levels of constructive conflict resolution frequency. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Article
REACH Publication

ability, conflict resolution, marital conflict, parental involvement, parenting, socioemotional functioning, stress

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-74276-001

Research Summary

  January 2024