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Categories and continua of destructive and constructive marital conflict tactics from the perspective of U.S. and Welsh children

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 21:46 authored by Marcie C Goeke-Morey, E Mark Cummings, Gordon Harold, Katherine H Shelton
Categories and continua of parents' marital conflict tactics based on multiple, conceptually grounded criteria were tested. Participants were 175 U.S. children, ages 8-16 years (88 boys, 87 girls) and 327 Welsh children, ages 11-12 years (159 boys, 168 girls). Children's responses (affective, cognitive, behavioral) to analog presentations of 10 everyday marital conflict tactics enacted by fathers or mothers showed substantial variation as a function of tactic used. Orderings of conflict tactics on the various response criteria varied as a function of moderators, particularly the gender of the parent expressing the conflict tactic. Conflict tactics were classified as either constructive or destructive according to criteria derived from the emotional security hypothesis. Except for calm discussion, classifications did not change regardless of cultural group, parent gender, or child age or gender. Recommendations for negotiating everyday marital conflict for the children's sake are discussed.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Journal of Family Psychology

ISSN

0893-3200

Publisher

American Psychological Association Inc.

Issue

3

Volume

17

Page range

327-338

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-08-11

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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