title: Parents' hostility in dyadic marital and triadic family settings and children's behavior problems.
abstract: The authors examined the relation between parents' hostility during conflict-focused discussions and child behavior problems. Parents engaged in 3 discussions: a dyadic marital discussion of marital disagreements, a dyadic marital discussion of child-related disagreements, and a triadic family discussion with the child about the child-related disagreements. Eighty-nine 2-parent community families with a child aged 9-13 years participated. A significant 3-way interaction between interparental hostility, parent-to-child hostility, and child sex accounted for variance in children's behavior problems. Among boys, higher levels of parent-to-child hostility during family discussions exacerbated the effects of interparental hostility on boys' adjustment. Thus, exposure to higher levels of both interparental and parent-to-child hostility may put boys at risk for developing internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. egordis@almaak.usc.edu
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Gordis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Margolin
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: John
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors