ABSTRACT
Research examining the impact of interparental conflict on children has evolved from describing the parameters of this association to proposing and testing mechanisms by which exposure to conflict may lead to adverse outcomes in children. Although it is clear that exposure to high levels of interparental conflict is related to greater adjustment problems, many questions remain regarding how and under what conditions conflict between couples affects their children. Both conflict and child adjustment are complex, multifaceted constructs, and our understanding of which aspects of conflict may be detrimental to children and which aspects of child functioning are affected by conflict is limited. This is due in part to a lack of specificity in assessing these constructs and the processes hypothesized to account for their association (also see Holmbeck, 1997). This chapter considers how increasing precision in the conceptualization and measurement of conflict, adjustment, and the pathways proposed to link them can produce a clearer picture of the ways in which discord in the couple relationship may affect children’s development.
