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. 2009 Mar;50(3):270-9.
doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01945.x. Epub 2008 Jul 29.

Constructive and destructive marital conflict, emotional security and children's prosocial behavior

Kathleen McCoy  1 , E Mark Cummings, Patrick T Davies
Affiliations

Constructive and destructive marital conflict, emotional security and children's prosocial behavior

Kathleen McCoy et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Background: This study addresses the gaps in understanding the relationship between constructive and destructive marital conflict and children's prosocial behavior from a process-oriented perspective.

Method: Data were drawn from a three-wave study of 235 families with children ages 5-7 at wave 1. Relations between constructive and destructive marital conflict, children's emotional security, warm parenting and children's prosocial behavior were examined through the use of structural equation modeling.

Results: Even after controlling for prior levels of children's prosocial behavior at wave 1, children's emotional security acted as an intervening variable between both constructive and destructive marital conflict and children's prosocial behavior over time.

Conclusions: These findings advance the relationship between marital conflict and children's adjustment by focusing on children's prosocial behavior and highlight the need to further investigate the impact of positive dimensions of marital conflict on dimensions of children's positive social functioning.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comprehensive model examining children's emotional security and couples' positive parenting as intervening variable linking couples' constructive marital conflict to children's prosocial behavior, including the autoregressive pathway of children's prosocial behavior at Time 1
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comprehensive model examining children's emotional security and couples' positive parenting as intervening variable linking couples' constructive marital conflict to children's prosocial behavior, including the autoregressive pathway of children's prosocial behavior at Time 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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