The Multivariate Roles of Family Instability and Interparental Conflict in Predicting Children’s Representations of Insecurity in the Family System and Early School Adjustment Problems

Abstract

This study examined the moderating role of family instability in relations involving destructive interparental conflict, children’s internal representations of insecurity in the family system, and their early school maladjustment. Two hundred forty-three preschool children (M age = 4.60 years; 56% girls) and their families participated in this multi-method (i.e., observations, structured interview, surveys) multi-informant (i.e., observer, parent, teacher), longitudinal study. Findings indicated that the mediational role of children’s insecure family representations in the pathway between destructive interparental conflict and children’s adjustment problems varied significantly depending on the level of family instability. Interparental conflict was specifically associated with insecure family representations only under conditions of low family instability. In supporting the role of family instability as a vulnerable-stable risk factor, follow up analyses revealed that children’s concerns about security in the family were uniformly high under conditions of heightened instability regardless of their level of exposure to interparental conflict.

Validación del Cuestionario Actitud ante el Conflicto Parental: Autoinformada y Referenciada (ACPar)

“…En cuanto a las limitaciones del presente estudio, es preciso señalar que no se ofrece evidencia acerca de su validez externa, tanto convergente, con instrumentos de medida que evalúen constructos similares, como discriminante, con instrumentos que midan constructos hipotéticamente relacionados con la actitud parental ante el conflicto. Futuras líneas de investigación pueden centrarse en analizar cómo la actitud parental percibida ante un conflicto se relaciona con variables relacionadas como los estilos de crianza (Smetana, 2017), de apego (Jones, Cassidy, y Shaver, 2015) o el funcionamiento familiar en presencia de conflicto (Coe, Davies, y Sturge-Apple, 2017).…”

Child Sexual Abuse and Suicidal Ideation: The Differential Role of Attachment and Emotional Security in the Family System

“…However, the EST posits that despite the short-term usefulness of the disengagement and preoccupation strategies, the psychological and physical resources used to maintain security reduce the resources available to other processes that are needed for development. Thus, as numerous longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have shown, children using such strategies are at increased risk of developing difficulties such as eating disorders [25], symptoms of hyperactivity [26], adaptation problems in school [27], or addictions [28]. Although numerous studies have tested the EST in the general population, to date, only one work has analyzed the relationship between emotional security/insecurity in the emotional system and mental health of CSA victims [29].…”

Efectos de la autoestima y la seguridad emocional en el sistema familiar sobre el estilo motivacional para el estudio de la Economía

“…Numerosos estudios han analizado el impacto de la seguridad emocional en el sistema familiar sobre el bienestar psicológico de los menores (Bi, Haak, G ilbert y Keller, 2017;Cantón-Cortés et al, 2016;Cantón-Cortés, Cortés y Cantón, 2019;Coe, Davies y Sturge-Apple, 2017;Zhou et al, 2017). Zhou et al, (2017), por ejemplo, encontraron en una muestra de 1.189 adolescentes que la inseguridad emocional se relacionaba con la adicción a internet.…”