title: Exposure to Inter-Parental Conflict Across 10 Years of Childhood: Data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.
abstract: Rates of child exposure to inter-parental conflict are high and appear to be increasing, with at least one million Australian children affected annually. To-date, there is no established prevalence for inter-parental conflict that includes the more common but less severe forms for young families in the wider Australian community. The current study aims were to examine the prevalence, persistence, and the individual, family and socio-economic context of inter-parental conflict. Data were from four waves of the Baby (n = 4,898) and Kindergarten (n = 4,182) cohorts of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Verbal and physical inter-parental conflict was measured using the Argumentative Relationship Scale. More than 1 in 3 mothers (35-36%) reported any verbal and/or physical conflict. Prevalence of verbal conflict at each wave (10-13%) was higher than physical conflict (4-10%), with low co-occurrence (1-3%). Report of inter-parental conflict at one wave only was most common (19%); although 13% of mothers reported conflict at two waves; and 5-6% reported persistent conflict across three or more waves. Social disadvantage was consistently associated with report at one-wave only and persistent inter-parental conflict. Extrapolated to the Australian population, an estimated 1.9 million children are likely to be affected by inter-parental conflict within any 6 years of the early-to-middle childhood period. Establishing accurate prevalence and understanding the social context of the less severe but most common forms of inter-parental conflict will allow family and child support services to allocate finite resources more effectively and develop targeted interventions to promote children's positive development.
authors: Parenting Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia, e.westrupp@latrobe.edu.au.
authors: Elizabeth M
authors: EM
authors: Westrupp
authors: Natalie
authors: N
authors: Rose
authors: Jan M
authors: JM
authors: Nicholson
authors: Stephanie J
authors: SJ
authors: Brown
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010290:Parents; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
references: Annu Rev Psychol. 2000;51:445-79
references: 10751978
references: Child Care Health Dev. 2012 Sep;38(5):654-64
references: 22017576
references: Lancet. 2008 Apr 5;371(9619):1165-72
references: 18395577
references: J Interpers Violence. 2008 Jan;23(1):117-35
references: 18087035
references: Psychol Med. 2003 Feb;33(2):357-62
references: 12622315
references: Pediatrics. 2010 Feb;125(2):313-9
references: 20100743
references: J Consult Clin Psychol. 2003 Apr;71(2):339-52
references: 12699028
references: Lancet. 2002 Apr 13;359(9314):1331-6
references: 11965295
references: Matern Child Health J. 2011 Jul;15(5):570-8
references: 20628799
references: Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1981 Jul;51(3):415-428
references: 7258307
references: Can J Psychiatry. 1990 Aug;35(6):466-70
references: 2207980
references: Child Abuse Negl. 1998 May;22(5):339-57
references: 9631247
references: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007 Dec;48(12 ):1223-32
references: 18093028
references: Child Dev. 2008 Nov-Dec;79(6):1942-56
references: 19037959