Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-mzp66 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-30T13:31:47.561Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - The Influence of Conflict, Marital Problem Solving and Parenting on Children's Adjustment in Nondivorced, Divorced and Remarried Families

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
E. Mavis Hetherington
Edited by
Alison Clarke-Stewart  and
Judy Dunn
E. Mavis Hetherington
Affiliation:
University of Virginia, U.S.
Alison Clarke-Stewart
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Judy Dunn
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
Get access

Summary

In this chapter, I examine how marital conflict, divorce, and remarriage affect parenting, parent-child and sibling relationships, and the adjustment of children as they move from early to mid-adolescence.

The association between marital and family discord, marital transitions and child adjustment is well established. Children and adolescents living in contentious homes or divorced or remarried families in comparison; with those in harmonious nondivorced families are higher in externalizing behavior problems (antisocial behavior, aggression, noncompliance) and internalizing behavior problems (inhibited, withdrawn behavior, anxiety, depression) and lower in social responsibility, self-esteem, and social and cognitive competence (see Amato, 2001; Amato & Keith, 1991a; Cummings, Goeke-Morey, & Rapp, 2001; Hetherington, Bridges, & Insabella, 1998; Hetherington & Stanley-Hagan, 2000; 2002; McLanahan, 1999, for reviews).

Although conduct disorders decline in young adulthood, substance abuse, alcoholism and troubles with the law remain higher in youths from conflicted, divorced and remarried families. Youths who have experienced their parent's marital transitions also are more likely to be single parents, to experience lower socioeconomic and educational attainment and to be on welfare. In addition, they have more problems with family members, in intimate relations, in marriage and in the workplace. Their divorce rate is higher and their reports of general well-being and life satisfaction are lower (Amato, 1999; 2001; see Chapter 8, in this book); Amato & Booth, 1996; Amato & Keith, 1991b; Hetherington, 1999a; 2003; Hetherington & Kelly, 2002).

Type
Chapter
Information
Families Count
Effects on Child and Adolescent Development
 , pp. 203 - 237
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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.)

References

Achenbach, T., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1983). Manual for the child behavior checklist and revised child behavior Profile. New York: Queen City Printers.Google Scholar
Amato, P. R. (1999). Children of divorced parents as young adults. In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.), Coping with divorce, single parenting and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (pp. 147–164). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Amato, P. R. (2001). The consequences of divorce for adults and children. In Milardo, R. M. (Ed.), Understanding families into the new millennium: A decade in review (pp. 488–506). Minneapolis, MN: National Council on Family Relations.Google Scholar
Amato, P. R., & Booth, A. (1996). A prospective study of divorce and parent-child relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 356–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amato, P. R., & Keith, B. (1991a). Parental divorce and the well-being of children: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 26–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amato, P. R., & Keith, B. (1991b). Parental divorce and adult well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, E. R., Greene, S. M., Hetherington, E. M., & Clingempeel, W. G. (1999). The dynamics of parental remarriage: Adolescent, parent and sibling influences. In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.), Coping with divorce, single parenting and remarriage (pp. 293–322). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Aseltine, R. H. (1996). Pathways linking parental divorce with adolescent depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 133–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Block, J., Block, J. H., & Gjerde, P. E. (1988). Parental functioning and the home environment in families of divorce: Prospective and concurrent analyses. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 207–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradbury, T. N., & Fincham, F. D. (1990). Attributions in marriage: Review and critique. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 3–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bray, J. H. (1999). From marriage to remarriage and beyond: Findings from the Developmental Issues in Stepfamilies Research Project. In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.), Coping with divorce, single parenting and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (pp. 253–271). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bray, J. H., & Berger, S. H. (1993). Developmental issues in stepfamilies research project: Family relationships and parent-child interactions. Journal of Family Psychology, 7, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, C. M., & Waezenhofer, R. (2001). The impact of interparental conflict on adolescent children: Considerations of family systems and family structure. In Booth, A., Crouter, A. C., & Clements, M. (Eds.), Couples in conflict (pp. 149–160). Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Capaldi, D. M., & Patterson, G. R. (1991). Relation of parental transitions to boys' adjustment problems: I. A linear hypothesis. II. Mothers at risk for transitions and unskilled parenting. Developmental Psychology, 27, 489–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherlin, A. J., & Furstenberg, F. F. (1994). Stepfamilies in the United States. Review of Sociology, 20, 359–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherlin, A. J., Furstenberg, F. F., Chase-Lansdale, P., Kiernan, K. E., Robins, P. K., Morrison, D. R., & Tietler, J. O. (1991). Longitudinal studies of the effects of divorce on children in Great Britain and the United States. Science, 252, 1386–1389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowan, C. P., & Cowan, P. A. (1992). When partners become parents. The big life changes for couples. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Cowan, P. A., Powell, D., & Cowan, C. P. (1997). Parenting interventions: A family systems perspective. In Sigel, I. E. & Renninger, K. A. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (5th ed., pp. 3–72). Vol. 4: Child psychology in practice. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Cummings, M. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Rapp, L. M. (2001). Couple conflict, children and families: It's not just you and me, Babe. In Booth, A., Crouter, A. C., & Clements, M. (Eds.), Couples in conflict (pp. 117–148). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
D'Onofrio, B. M. (2004). Causation versus selection: A genetically informed study of marital instability and its consequences for young-adult offspring. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Davies, L., Avison, W. R., & McAlpine, D. D. (1997). Significant life experiences and depression among single and married mothers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59, 294–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doherty, W. J., & Needle, R. H. (1991). Psychological adjustment and substance use among adolescents before and after a parental divorce. Child Development, 62, 328–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emery, R. E. (1999). Marriage, divorce and children's adjustment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Fincham, F. D., Bradbury, T. N., & Scott, C. K. (1990). Cognition in marriage. In Finchman, F. D. & Bradbury, T. N. (Eds.), The psychology of marriage (pp. 118–149). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Gottman, J. M. (1993). The roles of conflict engagement, escalation and avoidance in marital interaction: A longitudinal view of five types of couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 6–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce?Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Gottman, J. M., & Levenson, R. W. (1992). Marital processes predictive of later dissolution: Behavior, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 221–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gottman, J. M., & Notarius, C. T. (2001). Decade review: Observing marital interaction. In Milardo, R. M. (Ed.), Understanding families into the new millennium: A decade in review (pp. 146–166). Minneapolis, MN: National Council on Family Relations.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (1987). Family relations six years after divorce. In Pasley, K. & Ihinger-Tallman, M. (Eds.), Remarriage and stepparenting: Current research and theory (pp. 125–156). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (1991a). The role of individual differences and family relationships in children's coping with divorce and remarriage. In Cowan, P. & Hetherington, E. M. (Eds.), Advances in family research: Vol. 2. Family transitions (pp. 165–194). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (1991b). Families, lies, and videotapes. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1, 323–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (1993). An overview of the Virginia Longitudinal Study of Divorce and Remarriage with a focus on early adolescence. Journal of Family Psychology, 7, 39–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (1999a). Social capital and the development of youth from nondivorced, divorced, and remarried families. In Collins, A. (Ed.), Relationships as developmental contexts: The 29th Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (pp. 170–210). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (1999b). Should we stay together for the sake of the children? In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.), Coping with divorce, single parenting and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (pp. 93–116). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (2003). Intimate pathways: Changing patterns in close personal relationships across time. Family Relations, 52, 318–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., Bridges, M., & Insabella, G. (1998). Five perspectives on the association between marriage and children's adjustment. American Psychologist, 53, 167–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., & Clingempeel, W. G. (1992). Coping with marital transitions: A family systems perspective. Monographs of the Society for Child Development, 57 (Serial No. 227, Nos. 2–3).Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., Cox, M., & Cox, R. (1985). Long-term effects of divorce and remarriage on the adjustment of children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 518–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hetherington, E. M., Henderson, S. H., & Reiss, D. (1999). Adolescent siblings in stepfamilies: Family functioning and adolescent adjustment. Monographs for the Society for Research in Child Development, 64 (4, Serial No. 222).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., & Jodl, K. (1994). Stepfamilies as settings for development. In Booth, A. and Dunn, J. (Eds.), Stepfamilies (pp. 55–80). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., & Stanley-Hagan, M. M. (2000). Diversity among stepfamilies. In Demo, D. H., Fine, M. A., & Allen, K. R. (Eds.), Handbook of family diversity (pp. 173–176). New York: Oxford University.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., & Stanley-Hagan, M. M. (2002). Parenting in divorced and remarried families. In Bornstein, M. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Being and becoming a parent (pp. 287–316). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., & Stanley-Hagan, M. M. (2003). Diversity among stepfamilies. In Demo, D. H., Fine, M. A., & Allen, K. R. (Eds.), Handbook of family diversity (pp. 173–176). New York: Oxford University.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., & Kelly, J. (2002). For better or for worse: Divorce reconsidered. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Hope, S., Power, C., & Rodgers, B. (1999). Does financial hardship account for elevated psychological distress in lone mothers?Social Science and Medicine, 29, 381–389.Google Scholar
Jocklin, V., McGue, M., & Lykken, D. T. (1996). Personality and divorce: A genetic analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 288–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kanoy, K., Ulku-Steiner, B., Cox, M., & Burchinal, M. (1993). Marital relationship and individual psychological characteristics that predict physical punishment of children. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 20–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, F. S., & Woodin, E. M. (2002). Hostility, hostile detachment, and conflict engagement in marriages: Effects on child and family functioning. Child Development, 73, 636–652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, J. E., Hetherington, E. M., & Reiss, D. (1999). Relations between family, peers and adolescents' externalizing behaviors: Gender and family type differences. Child Development, 70, 1209–1230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kitson, G. C. (1992). Portrait of divorce: Adjustment to marital breakdown. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Kurdek, L. A. (1990). Divorce history and self-reported psychological distress in husbands and wives. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 701–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, L. S., Wickrama, K. A. S., & Conger, R. D. (1996). Predicting marital instability from spouse and observer reports of marital interaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 641–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGue, M., & Lykken, D. T. (1992). Genetic influence on risk of divorce. Psychological Science, 6, 368–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McHale, J. P. (1997). Overt and covert co-parenting processes in the family. Family Process, 36, 183–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLanahan, S. (1999). Father absence and the welfare of children. In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.), Coping with divorce, single parenting and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (pp. 117–146). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Neiderhiser, J. M. (2004). Genetic and environmental influences on mothering of adolescents: A comparison of two samples. Developmental Psychology, 40, 335–351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, T. G., Hetherington, E. M., & Reiss, D. (1998). Family systems and adolescent development: Shared and nonshared risk and protective factors in nondivorced and remarried families. Development and Psychopathology 10, 353–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, T. G., Caspi, A., DeFries, J. C., & Plomin, R. (2000). Are associations between parental divorce and children's adjustment genetically mediated? An adoption study. Developmental Psychology, 36, 429–437.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, T. G., Dunn, J., Jenkins, J. M., Pickering, K., & Rasbash, J. (2001). Family settings and children's adjustment: Differential adjustment within and across families. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 110–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Papernow, P. L. (1984). The step-family cycle: An experiential model of stepfamily development. Family Relations, 33, 355–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reiss, D., Neiderhiser, J., Hetherington, E. M., & Plomin, R. (2000). The relationship code: Genetic and social analysis of adolescent adjustment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1987). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 5, 315–331.Google Scholar
Sun, Y. (2001). Family environment and adolescents' well being before and after parents' marital disruption: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 697–713.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, R. S. (1979). Growing up a little faster: The experience of growing up in a single-parent household. Journal of Social Issues, 35, 97–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×