Pathways Linking Interparental Conflict and Violence/Abuse to Family Processes

Abstract

Interparental conflict has salient influences on family functioning and child development. Although traditionally viewed as a proxy for family disruption, recently, interparental conflict has been categorized as destructive (e.g., hostility, verbal and physical aggression) and constructive (e.g., respect, affection, progress toward resolution). Another category of maladaptive conflict that overlaps substantially with destructive conflict is intimate partner violence/abuse (IPV/A), a concept that captures physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as controlling behaviors by an intimate partner. The aim of this dissertation is to describe unique or conjoint implications of each construct on family processes. Specifically, the goal of the first paper is to empirically examine the association between verbally abuse behaviors of destructive conflict and physical aggression of IPV/A, and to identify quantitative differences of the links between each construct and children’s emotional insecurity, a construct that represents children’s emotional, behavioral, and cognitive reactions to the nature of interparental conflict. The main objective of the second paper is to test implications of constructive and destructive interparental conflict on family functioning (e.g., parenting, coparenting) across three different family configurations: married, cohabiting, and non-cohabiting couples. Finally, the goal of the third paper is to determine the influence of personality domain known as Conscientiousness on conflict strategies and parenting behaviors. The three papers included in this dissertation advance knowledge on interparental conflict in relation to family functioning and child development, and offer important practical implications for professionals working with families (e.g., therapists) and professional who develop and promote family-based interventions.