Associations between marital conflict and child development are well-documented, and links to children's internalizing and externalizing disorders have been demonstrated repeatedly. However, many questions remain about the causal relations that account for these kinds of outcomes in children. Investigators are increasingly interested in considering the operation of multiple influences and their effects over time, and identifying the causal process(es) that underlie these relations.

The field of developmental psychopathology provides a promising perspective for research on the etiology, classification, and developmental course of children's problems, focused on understanding family processes and children's development in context. In a recent volume,¹ we have discussed the basic concepts and methods of this approach, as applied to the families and children. Developmental psychopathologists are asking different questions than those typically asked in clinical child psychology and psychiatry. Disorder is not seen as something one "has" -- that is, a pathogenic entity. Instead, disordered behavior is conceptualized as developing over time from complex transactions in particular developmental contexts. A broader causal net is cast than in traditional child psychopathology research in order to explain disorder, so that the development of disorder is conceptualized in terms of a multiplicity of positive (e.g., protective) and negative (e.g., risk) influences.

Relatedly, for the developmental psychopathologist, psychopathology is understood in terms of "developmental deviations", which are defined in relation to nondisordered development. The focus is on understanding the interplay among influences leading to disorder, with development conceptualized in terms of pathways that emerge over time. The goal is to identify causal factors, and also to characterize how psychological, physiological and other factors operate over time as dynamic processes. Differential diagnosis is of secondary interest, as the underlying processes that led up to the problem itself are ultimately what must be addressed in treatment.

Children influenced via multiple pathways

Setting forth a process-oriented framework for understanding human development and the onset of disordered behaviors, we have mentioned risk and protective factors, biological and contextual influences, and continuous and discontinuous patterns of development in childhood and adolescence. Within the family context, multiple influences on child development have been identified and marital conflict has been shown to effect children via multiple pathways. One pathway illustrates the direct effects of exposure to interparental conflict on children -- e.g. increased distress and emotion dysregulation, increased aggression towards others and overinvolvement in parents' problems. The other pathway reflects the indirect effects of high marital conflict on children due to disruptions in the family system, including disruptions in parenting, parent-child attachment and sibling relationships.

Although in early research, marital conflict was considered a homogenous construct, different forms of marital conflict have been shown to have differing effects on the children, with marital conflict having negative effects in some contexts and benign or even constructive effects in others.

Based on children's reactions and adjustment outcomes, recent research suggests that destructive forms of marital conflict include physical aggression, threats, verbal anger, nonverbal anger, withdrawal, "giving the cold shoulder" and lack of conflict resolution between partners. By contrast, constructive forms of conflict between parents may include engaging in support, problem-solving, affection, humor, apology, compromise and agreements to discuss later, especially when suggested by fathers.

Constructive vs. destructive marital conflict

A particular aim of the developmental psychopathology perspective is to discover which psychological processes in children mediate links between family processes and children's outcomes. Research has begun to identify these processes. For example, children's cognitions about self and family relationships are affected by exposure to marital conflict. Notably, children's cognitions about both fathering and mothering, as well as about the marital relationship, are sensitive to the relative constructiveness vs. destructiveness of marital conflict styles. Recent studies indicate that negative cognitions about self and family may be both an outcome of negative marital conflict histories and a predictor of children's later adjustment problems.

Other research suggests a mediating role for emotional processes in children's developmental outcomes. Children have been shown repeatedly to react to negative forms of interparental conflict with anger, sadness and fear. Emotional reactions have been found to be both a correlate and predictor of children's social behaviors, coping and cognitions. For example, different patterns of emotion regulation predict subsequent differences in children's aggressiveness, their disposition to act as arbitrators in parental disputes and their negative cognitions about marital and family relationships. Recent evidence also indicates that high levels of distress and anxiety mediate between histories of destructive parental conflict and children's subsequent adjustment.

The articulation of pathways of development is a central aim of the developmental psychopathology perspective. Marital conflict predicts children's adjustment overtime, in some instances accounting for the effects of other family stressors (e.g., maternal depression). Findings have also demonstrated stability in children's psychological responses to marital conflict over time (e.g., emotional reactivity) and after-effects of conflict on children's social functioning (e.g., increased aggressiveness towards peers). In constant, simply showing that two variables are related over a period of time, even a substantial period of time, provides only limited clues about pathways of development.

Causal relations, child development and outcomes

Thus, the aim of a developmental psychopathology perspective is not simply to demonstrate that marital conflict predicts later adjustment or to document correlations or partial correlations overtime. The goal is much more ambitious: to demonstrate the dynamic patterns of causal processes that underlie pathways of development in particular socio-emotional contexts. To achieve these aims, one needs to cast a wide causal net in constructing research designs, requiring tests of how stress and coping processes, child characteristics, and family background factors dynamically mediate and/or moderate relations between particular contexts and aspects of marital relationships and children's developmental outcomes. Patterns of continuity or change in development can only be fully understood by assessing the functioning of individuals on multiple occasions over a period of time and tracking how individuals change, or remain the same, over that period.

Although this essay focuses on marital conflict and child adjustment, the developmental psychopathology perspective has broad applicability for advancing process-oriented perspectives on human development. Using the model for the study of children's abnormal development, we believe that understanding of the etiology, developmental course and treatment of childhood disorders can be advanced dramatically.

Reference:

1. Cummings EM, Davies PT, & Campbell SB. Developmental Psychopathology and Family Process. New York: The Guilford Press, 2000.

E. Mark Cummings, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Patrick T. Davies, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology at the University of Rochester. Susan B. Campbell, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Developmental Psychopathology and Family Process, ISBN 1-57230-597-5, can be obtained from the Guilford Press, 72 Spring Street, New York, NY; www.guilford.com; 800-365-7006.

Hurt, pain, loss, and anger are a few of the feelings you may have about your separation or divorce. While this may be one of the most painful or stressful periods in your life, it's at least doubly so for your children. Experts agree that far to often, it is the children who suffer most in separation or divorce proceedings. Therefore, as parents it is important to know how to approach this subject with your children. Divorce Magazine offers the following suggestions for parents dealing with divorce.

When it comes time to tell your children about the divorce or separation, tell them together (with your spouse) as soon as possible. Often household tension can be sensed by children long before official divorce announcements are made. However, children still need to be told, even if they have figured this out on their own. Be honest with your children about the reasons for your divorce. This does not mean that they need to know every detail; talk to them in an age-appropriate manner. Be prepared for all types of reactions. Age, gender and level of understanding will affect how they will react to the news. Above all let your children express their feelings, whether sadness, denial or anger. Listen to your children. Most children respond to the news with a lot of questions. Give them permission to express their feelings freely. Children of all ages need continual reassurance that they are loved and that the divorce is not their fault.

Additionally:

• Encourage your child to resume his/her hobbies and activities as soon as possible and alert their teachers at school of the pending situation.
• Maintain control of your own emotions. If you fail to do this, kids may either (a) fail apart or (b) become the parent's caregiver, both of which should be entirely avoided.
• Do not blame your child's anxieties/problems on your ex -- especially in front of your child.
• Do not use your kids as messengers between you and your ex.
• Do not use your kids as bargaining chips -- don't ever withhold support payments or visitation to "pay back" your ex.
• Try not to make a lot of changes in your child's life all at once. Changing schools and residences may be too much at once.

Source:

"Caught in the Middle: Children Shouldn't Be Casualties of Divorce," by Mike McCurley, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers; "Child's Play: How, What and When to Tell the Kids About Your Divorce," by Terry Morrison; "Divorce has Different Effects on Boys, Girls," by Diana Shepard; and "How to Help Your Child Though Divorce," by Sabrina Touchino, all of which are available on Divorce Magazine's Web site at www.divorcemag.com.