Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Interparental Conflict and Child Adjustment: An Overview
- Part One Foundations
- Part Two Basic Processes
- Part Three Family and Peer Contexts
- Part Four Applications
- Part Five Future Directions
- 17 Advancing Understanding of the Association between Interparental Conflict and Child Development
- Author Index
- Subject Index
17 - Advancing Understanding of the Association between Interparental Conflict and Child Development
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Interparental Conflict and Child Adjustment: An Overview
- Part One Foundations
- Part Two Basic Processes
- Part Three Family and Peer Contexts
- Part Four Applications
- Part Five Future Directions
- 17 Advancing Understanding of the Association between Interparental Conflict and Child Development
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
Lewis Carroll, Alice in WonderlandHow do we advance understanding of the association between interparental conflict and child development? Although this question is quite reasonable, it cannot easily be answered. This is because, as hinted by the Cat's answer to Alice, it depends on the context in which it is asked. Understanding for what purpose, making what epistemological assumptions, referring to what aspect of the association, and with what referents for conflict and child development? For the scientist–practitioner, advanced understanding may lie in the identification of processes (e.g., parenting) that can be changed to alleviate child problems that arise in the context of interparental conflict. In contrast, researchers informed by a systemic perspective may find such a definition of causality unduly restrictive for understanding this phenomenon.
Clearly, there is no single answer to the question we posed. Rather than attempt to document the numerous answers that can be given, we believe it is more productive to highlight some issues relevant to addressing the question. This belief rests on the view that advances in any field depend on the questions asked. We therefore address this issue first.
Of Questions
Our field of inquiry has coalesced around a simple question: What is the association between marital satisfaction/discord (more recently, interparental conflict) and child disorder/adjustment (more recently, child development)?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Interparental Conflict and Child DevelopmentTheory, Research and Applications, pp. 442 - 451Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001
- 6
- Cited by