Peer-reviewed article
Bidirectional associations between family conflict and child behavior problems in families at risk for maltreatment
Nicholas M. Morelli, Kajung Hong, Xavier Elzie, Jackelyne Garcia, Meghan C. Evans et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how family conflict and children's behavior problems influence each other over time in families at risk for maltreatment. Researchers followed over 1,200 caregiver-child pairs from ages 6 to 10, finding that family conflict and child behavior problems have bidirectional relationships—each can trigger the other. The associations remained significant even after accounting for children's experiences of violent victimization. The study emphasizes that interventions should address everyday negative family interactions like blame and criticism, not just severe violence.
Key points
- Bidirectional associations exist between family conflict and child behavior problems independent of violent victimization
- Several bidirectional pathways were stronger for boys than girls
- Little evidence for differences based on whether families had experienced maltreatment before study entry
- Everyday negative family interactions (blame, criticism, nonacceptance, favoritism) warrant intervention attention alongside severe family dysfunction
- Study controlled for time-varying violent victimization experiences across three measurement points
Limitations
The study is observational and correlational, so it cannot definitively establish causation despite the bidirectional design. Results are specific to families already identified as at-risk for maltreatment and family violence, limiting generalizability to the broader population.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Children's exposure to family conflict is associated with the development of behavior problems. However, it remains unclear whether this association (1) functions bidirectionally and (2) exists independent of more severe forms of violent victimization. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to examine bidirectional and transactional associations between family conflict and children's behavioral problems, controlling for time-varying violent victimization experiences. Invariance testing examined whether these models differed by gender and by maltreatment status prior to initial recruitment. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Participants were caregiver-child dyads identified prospectively as being at risk for maltreatment and family violence exposure prior to age four (N = 1281; 51.4 % female; 74.6 % persons of color). METHODS: Caregivers were interviewed prospectively about family conflict, children's aggressive and delinquent behavior, and children's victimization experiences at child ages 6, 8, and 10. RESULTS: After controlling for prior victimization, significant cross-lagged bidirectional associations were identified between family conflict and child behavior problems. Indirect effects from age 6 to age 10 externalizing problems through age 8 family conflict were not supported. Several bidirectional paths were stronger among boys than girls. Results revealed little evidence for moderation by prerecruitment maltreatment status. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support a conceptualization of the family-child relationship that is reciprocal in nature and highlight the importance of non-violent, everyday negative family processes. Interventions aiming to improve child behavior problems by targeting severely dysfunctional family processes should also address non-violent, lower-level patterns of negative family interactions, such as everyday instances of blame, criticism, nonacceptance, and favoritism.