The Intergenerational Transmission of Marital Conflict: Testing a Process Model

We describe and test a sequential process model derived from socialization theory and designed to expand on previous explanations of the transmission of marital conflict across generations. The model seeks to explicate the reported relationship between parental divorce and offspring's marital c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social psychology quarterly 1999-09, Vol.62 (3), p.219-239
Main Authors: Tallman, Irving, Gray, Louis N., Kullberg, Vicki, Henderson, Debra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Antisocial Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Child Rearing
Childhood Factors
Conflict
Couple and family
Couples
Cultural Transmission
Depression (Psychology)
Divorce
Evidence
Family (Sociological Unit)
Family Conflict
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Generations
Husbands
Intergenerational relationships
Intergenerational transmission
Learning Processes
Learning Theories
Marital conflict
Marital Instability
Marital Relations
Marital status
Marriage
Parental Influence
Parents
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Self image
Social Adjustment
Social Environment
Social psychology
Social Structure
Socialization
Spouses
Trust
Washington (State)
Wives
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Description
Summary:We describe and test a sequential process model derived from socialization theory and designed to expand on previous explanations of the transmission of marital conflict across generations. The model seeks to explicate the reported relationship between parental divorce and offspring's marital conflict by positing a five-phase process that combines in sequential order childhood experiences, self-images, trust, and magnitudes of disagreements. The first two factors are measured at the individual level; the last two at the couple level. The model is tested with data from a three-year panel study of newly married couples. We obtained good fits with Year 1 data. We then constructed a dynamic model to test data for all three years. The results show that the individual factors had significant direct effects only in the first year, whereas couple level factors appeared to mediate the relationship between parental divorce and couple's marital conflict over all three years.
ISSN:0190-2725
1939-8999
DOI:10.2307/2695861