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Pathways between profiles of family functioning, child security in the interparental subsystem, and child psychological problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2004

PATRICK T. DAVIES ,
E. MARK CUMMINGS  and
MARCIA A. WINTER
PATRICK T. DAVIES
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
E. MARK CUMMINGS
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame
MARCIA A. WINTER
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
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Abstract

This study was designed to delineate pathways between systems profiles of family functioning, children's emotional insecurity in the interparental relationship, and their psychological adjustment in a sample of 221 children and their parents. Consistent with family systems theory, cluster analyses conducted with assessments of marital, coparental, and parent–child functioning indicated that families fit into one of four profiles: (a) cohesive families, characterized by warmth, affection, and flexible well-defined boundaries in family relationships; (b) disengaged families, reflected in high levels of adversity and low levels of support across family subsystems; (c) enmeshed families, evidenced by high levels of discord and weak maintenance of relationship boundaries in the family unit; and (d) adequate families, defined by elevated parental psychological control within a larger family context of low discord and high warmth. In comparison to children in cohesive families, children in enmeshed and disengaged families exhibited greater signs of insecurity in the interparental relationship concurrently and internalizing and externalizing symptoms both concurrently and 1 year later. Structural equation models revealed that a latent, multimethod measure of insecurity in the interparental relationship partially mediated associations between family enmeshment and disengagement and children's psychological symptoms 1 year later. Results are discussed in relation to how they inform and refine a family-wide model of the emotional security hypothesis.This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Project R01 MH57318) awarded to Patrick T. Davies and E. Mark Cummings. Marcia A. Winter was supported by a predoctoral National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (F31 MH068058). The authors are grateful to the children, parents, teachers, and school administrators who participated in this project and to the staff who assisted on various stages of the project, including Courtney Forbes, Marcie Goeke–Morey, Amy Keller, Michelle Sutton, and the graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Rochester and University of Notre Dame. We also thank Harry Reis for his valuable statistical advice.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 525 - 550
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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