Marital Conflict and Children's Adjustments in Chinese Culture: Explore the Role of Maternal Parenting

• In Event: 1-070 - Exploring Links between Family Processes and Child Development in China

Integrative Statement

Marital conflict not only has deleterious effects on parents’ own mental and physical health, but is also associated with socio-emotional difficulties in children (Davies & Cummings, 1994; Katz & Gottman, 1997). Almost all children experience some conflict between their parents, and most identify marital conflict as a source of distress (Lewis, Siegel, & Lewis, 1984). Research consistently shows that marital conflict has a great influence on children’s psychological and emotional development (e.g., Cummings & Davies, 1994). However, it is also certainly the case that not all children who experience conflict between their parents go on to develop problems later on.
Parenting styles also play a critically important role in children’s development (Fauber, Forehand, Thomas, & Wierson, 1990). For example, whereas authoritative parenting (high in warmth but also sets clear limits) appears to promote children’s social and emotional competence, authoritarian parenting (harsh, punitive) may exacerbate negative outcomes for children who experience the conflict between their parents (e.g., McCoy et al., 2013). However, there remain important gaps in the extant literature. For example, most previous research in this area has focused solely on maternal reported marital conflict. Therefore, in the present study, we sought to understand how parenting styles (e.g., authoritarian parenting) may impact upon the links between marital conflict and child’s adjustment outcomes (e.g., internalizing problems) over time. Importantly, most previous research in this area have been conducted in the West. Culture also plays an important role in shaping individuals’ attitudes towards marital conflict and ultimately its developmental significance (Pimentel, 2000). As such, the present study adds to the literature by examining outcomes of marital conflict in China. Specifically, the purpose of the present study was to explore the longitudinal links among marital conflict, parenting styles, and children's adjustment in mainland China.
Participants were N = 1,269 third to eighth-grade students (634 boys; Mage = 11.73 years, SD = 21.75 months) at the start of the study, attending six public elementary and junior high schools in Shanghai, P. R. China. Multi-source assessments were employed at three time points (separated by 3 years). Both mothers and fathers reported their marital conflict, mothers reported their parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian), and children’s socio-emotional functioning (externalizing and internalizing problems) were rated by teachers and by child self-reports.
Relations among marital conflict, maternal parenting styles, and indices of child adjustment were examined. Among the results, structural equation models indicated multiple dimensions of parenting mediated relations between marital conflict and children's adjustment. When including controls for earlier adjustment, authoritarian parenting continued to mediate relations between marital conflict and change in children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms over time (see Figure 1.).
This study provided valuable information about how the important aspects of parenting affect the relations between marital conflict children’s adjustments in Chinese children. Results will also be discussed in terms of the evolving meaning and implication of parenting in Chinese culture.

Authors

• Bowen Xiao, Carleton University
  Presenting Author

• Junsheng Liu, East China Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robert J Coplan, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Xinyin Chen, University of Pennsylvania
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dan Li, Shanghai Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author