National Library of Medicine: IGM
Full Record Screen
TITLE:
Buffering children from marital conflict and
dissolution.
AUTHOR:
Katz LF; Gottman JM
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Psychology, University of
Washington, Seattle 98195, USA.
SOURCE:
J Clin Child Psychol 1997 Jun;26(2):157-71
NLM CIT. ID:
97312935
ABSTRACT:
Examined several protective mechanisms that may
reduce deleterious correlates of marital conflict and marital dissolution in young
children. One set of potential buffers focused on parent-child interaction: parental
warmth, parental scaffolding/praise, and inhibition of parental rejection. As a second set
of potential buffers, each parent was interviewed about their "meta-emotion
philosophy"--that is, their feelings about their own emotions, and their attitudes
and responses to their children's anger and sadness. The third set of potential buffers
concerned intraindividual characteristics of the child, including the child's intelligence
and regulatory physiology (basal vagal tone and vagal suppression). Fifty-six families
with a preschool child were studied at two time points: when the children were 5 years old
(Time 1) and again when the children were 8 years old (Time 2). At Time 1, naturalistic
observations of marital and parent-child interaction were conducted and assessment of
child regulatory physiology was obtained through measures of basal vagal tone and
suppression of vagal tone. Parents were also interviewed individually about their feelings
about their own and their children's emotions, and children's intelligence was assessed.
At Time 2, assessment of child outcomes were obtained, including observations of peer
interaction, mother ratings of behavior problems and mother and teacher ratings of peer
aggression, mother ratings of child physical illness, and measures of achievement. Results
indicated that all Time 1 buffering factors protected children in face of marital conflict
and dissolution.
Achievement
Adult
Aggression/PSYCHOLOGY
Arousal/PHYSIOLOGY
Child
Child Psychology
Child, Preschool
Emotions
Female
Human
Intelligence
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Parenting/PSYCHOLOGY
Peer Group
Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. Teaching
Vagus Nerve/PHYSIOLOGY
PUBLICATION TYPES:
JOURNAL ARTICLE
LANGUAGE:
Eng
On Sabbatical!
When my office
lease expired at the end of 2004, I decided to turn it into a
"sabbatical" from my private practice. Many years ago, in my
grandfather's 89th year of life, he told me, "John, it is important
to smell the roses while you can still smell them." His life
gave living a very good reputation. It is also true that the
pursuit of that philosophy required my grandfather to to re-open his
assay office/ore market in Wickenburg, Arizona as a 75-year-old because
he had run a little short of retirement money. Thus, if blessed with his
luck and health, I'll be back.. --jjh
