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Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
Contents
lists
available
at
ScienceDirect
Infant
Behavior
and
Development
Full
length
article
Marital
conflict
and
parental
responses
to
infant
negative
emotions:
Relations
with
toddler
emotional
regulation
Leslie
A.
Frankela,∗,
Tomo
Umemurab,
Deborah
Jacobvitzc,
Nancy
Hazenc
aDepartment
of
Psychological,
Health
and
Learning
Sciences,
University
of
Houston,
491
Farish
Hall,
Houston,
TX
77204,
USA
bInstitute
for
Research
on
Children,
Youth
and
Family,
Masaryk
University,
Brno,
Czech
Republic
cDepartment
of
Human
Development
and
Family
Sciences,
University
of
Texas
at
Austin,
Austin,
TX,
USA
a
r
t
i
c
l
e
i
n
f
o
Article
history:
Received
20
August
2014
Received
in
revised
form
20
March
2015
Accepted
25
March
2015
Keywords:
Marital
conflict
Emotional
socialization
Emotion
regulation
a
b
s
t
r
a
c
t
According
to
family
systems
theory,
children’s
emotional
development
is
likely
to
be
influenced
by
family
interactions
at
multiple
levels,
including
marital,
mother–child,
and
father–child
interactions,
as
well
as
by
interrelations
between
these
levels.
The
purpose
of
the
present
study
was
to
examine
parents’
marital
conflict
and
mothers’
and
fathers’
dis-
tressed
responses
to
their
infant’s
negative
emotions,
assessed
when
their
child
was
8
and
24
months
old,
in
addition
to
interactions
between
parents’
marital
conflict
and
their
dis-
tressed
responses,
as
predictors
of
their
toddler’s
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months.
Higher
marital
conflict
during
infancy
and
toddlerhood
predicted
both
increased
negative
and
increased
flat/withdrawn
affect
during
toddlerhood.
In
addition,
toddlers’
negative
(but
not
flat)
affect
was
related
to
mothers’
distressed
responses,
but
was
only
related
to
father’s
distressed
responses
when
martial
conflict
was
high.
Implications
of
this
study
for
parent
education
and
family
intervention
were
discussed.
©
2015
Elsevier
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.
1.
Introduction
Children’s
development
of
the
ability
to
regulate
their
emotional
distress
enables
them
to
cope
with
frustration,
fear,
and
anxiety,
so
they
may
effectively
explore
their
environment
and
engage
in
positive
social
interactions
(Cole,
Michel,
&
Teti,
1994).
Although
young
children’s
ability
to
regulate
negative
emotion
is
influenced
by
their
inborn
temperament
(Goldsmith
et
al.,
1987),
the
family
environment
is
also
recognized
as
a
major
contributor
to
children’s
emotional
expressivity.
According
to
family
systems
theory,
the
marital
and
parent–child
subsystems
are
interdependent
predictors
of
toddlers’
later
emotionality
(Cox
&
Paley,
1997);
for
example,
marital
conflict
can
spill
over
to
create
increased
tension
and
negativity
in
parent–child
interactions
(Cummings
&
Davies,
1994)
and
increase
risk
for
insecure
attachment
(Cox,
Paley,
&
Harter,
2001;
Frosch,
Mangelsdorf,
&
McHale,
2000).
Research
indicates
that
children’s
emotional
dysregulation
has
been
linked
to
both
marital
conflict
(Katz
&
Gottman,
1993)
and
to
negative
patterns
of
parent–child
interaction,
including
negative
emotional
socialization
(Eisenberg,
Cumberland,
&
Spinrad,
1998).
However,
studies
have
not
yet
examined
whether
marital
conflict
and
both
mothers’
and
fathers’
emotional
socialization
of
their
infants
predict
children’s
later
emotional
expressivity.
Moreover,
emotional
dysregulation
includes
not
only
underregulation
of
emotions,
characterized
by
frequent
display
of
∗Corresponding
author.
Tel.:
+1
713
743
3999.
E-mail
address:
Lafrankel@uh.edu
(L.A.
Frankel).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2015.03.004
0163-6383/©
2015
Elsevier
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.
74
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
negative
emotions,
but
also
overregulation
or
suppression
of
emotions,
characterized
by
flat
affect
or
emotional
withdrawal
(Cole
et
al.,
1994);
yet
little
is
known
about
family
antecedents
of
flat/withdrawn
affect
in
young
children
(Martins,
Soares,
Martins,
Tereno,
&
Osório,
2012).
Thus,
the
goal
of
the
present
study
is
to
investigate
the
unique
contributions
and
interactions
of
marital
conflict
and
both
parents’
emotional
socialization
during
infancy
to
predicting
their
toddlers’
later
negative
and
flat
emotional
expressivity
in
family
interactions.
1.1.
The
influence
of
marital
conflict
on
infants’
emotional
expressivity
Numerous
studies
done
with
older
children
indicate
that
marital
conflict
often
has
particularly
deleterious
effects
on
children’s
emotional
expressivity
and
regulation
(Katz
&
Gottman,
1993).
Marital
conflict
is
also
likely
to
have
negative
effects
on
the
development
of
emotion
regulation
in
infancy;
for
example,
in
one
study,
infants
whose
parents
reported
high
levels
of
conflict
displayed
poorer
emotion
regulation
(Porter,
Wouden-Miller,
Silva,
&
Porter,
2003).
Studies
with
older
children
indicate
that
marital
conflict
can
have
direct
effects
on
children’s
emotional
development
when
children
witness
marital
conflict,
as
well
as
indirect
effects
through
spillover
of
tension
from
the
marital
relationship
to
parent–child
interactions
(Cummings
&
Davies,
1994;
Erel
&
Burman,
1995).
However,
few
studies
have
examined
the
pathways
that
connect
marital
conflict
to
emotion
regulation
and
expression
in
infancy.
Several
studies
have
found
that
simply
observing
marital
conflict
can
be
stressful
to
infants,
leading
to
emotional
dys-
regulation.
For
example,
infants
scanned
using
fMRI
while
sleeping
showed
greater
neural
responses
to
angry
vocal
tones
when
mothers
reported
higher
marital
conflict,
indicating
that
these
infants
had
been
primed
by
previous
experiences
of
high
levels
of
marital
conflict
between
their
parents
to
experience
future
negative
tones
more
intensely
(Graham,
Fisher,
&
Pfeifer,
2013).
Although
few
studies
have
examined
the
relation
of
marital
conflict
to
emotional
expressivity
in
infants
and
toddlers,
results
of
one
study
indicated
that
infants
showed
more
negative
emotions
when
parents
were
engaged
in
destructive
conflict
with
each
other
than
when
they
were
involved
in
constructive
conflict
(Du
Rocher
Schudlich,
White,
Fleischhauer,
&
Fitzgerald,
2011).
In
addition,
parents’
reports
of
verbally
aggressive
marital
conflict,
in
combination
with
reports
that
infants
were
exposed
to
marital
conflict,
have
been
associated
with
higher
levels
of
infants’
withdrawn
emo-
tion
regulation
(Crockenberg,
Leerkes,
&
Lekka,
2007).
These
studies
suggest
that
direct
exposure
to
marital
conflict
during
infancy
is
associated
with
higher
levels
of
both
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
emotional
expressivity.
There
is
also
considerable
evidence
that
parents’
distress
due
to
high
marital
conflict
can
spill
over
into
their
interactions
with
their
children,
possibly
leading
to
greater
emotional
dysreguation
in
their
children
(Erel
&
Burman,
1995;
Katz
&
Gottman,
1996).
However,
the
study
by
Crockenberg
et
al.
(2007),
cited
above,
is
the
only
study
we
know
of
that
has
examined
direct
versus
indirect
relations
between
marital
conflict
and
infant
emotionality.
Although
results
of
this
study
indicated
that
infants’
withdrawn
emotionality
was
directly
predicted
by
their
exposure
to
aggressive
marital
conflict,
maternal
caregiving
quality
did
not
mediate
this
relation.
Although
father
involvement
moderated
the
relation
between
marital
conflict
and
infant
withdrawal,
father–infant
interaction
was
not
examined,
so
indirect
effects
for
fathers
could
not
be
assessed.
Inclusion
of
fathers
may
be
particularly
important
since
spillover
effects
from
marital
conflict
to
parenting
have
often
been
found
to
affect
fathers
more
than
mothers,
a
phenomenon
termed
the
fathering
vulnerability
hypothesis
(Goeke-Morey
&
Cummings,
2007).
For
example,
lower
sensitivity
(Owen
&
Cox,
1997)
and
lower
synchrony
(Lundy,
2002)
in
parent–infant
interactions
has
been
found
to
mediate
the
relation
between
marital
conflict
and
insecure
attachment
for
fathers,
but
not
for
mothers.
This
may
be
because
mothers
are
usually
primary
caregivers
and
as
such,
they
may
be
less
able
to
withdraw
from
the
parenting
relationship
than
fathers
(Crockenberg
et
al.,
2007),
and
may
even
become
more
invested
in
parenting
to
compensate
for
decreased
marital
quality
(Wang
&
Crane,
2001).
1.2.
Parents’
distressed
responses
to
infants’
negative
emotions
The
development
of
infants’
ability
to
regulate
their
negative
emotions
is
highly
related
to
the
quality
of
their
early
interactions
with
their
caregivers
(Kopp,
1989).
Caregivers’
sensitivity
to
infant
distress
has
been
found
to
predict
infant’s
later
security
of
attachment
to
the
caregiver
(van
IJzendoorn,
1995),
which
has
in
turn
been
linked
with
more
effective
emotion
regulation
during
early
childhood
(Gilliom,
Shaw,
Beck,
Schonberg,
&
Lukon,
2002).
But
what
if
parents
display
distressed
emotions
themselves
when
they
respond
to
their
infant’s
emotional
distress?
Numerous
studies
of
emotional
socialization
done
with
older
(preschool
or
school-aged)
children
using
self-report
measures
have
shown
that
when
par-
ents
report
responding
to
children’s
emotional
distress
by
displaying
emotional
distress
themselves,
children
show
greater
emotional
negativity
and
dysregulation
(Buck,
1984;
Eisenberg
&
Fabes,
1994;
Fabes,
Leonard,
Kupanoff,
&
Martin,
2001).
Surprisingly,
however,
very
little
research
has
examined
how
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
infants’
distress
relate
to
their
childrens’
later
emotion
expressivity,
even
though
parents’
distressed
responses
may
have
an
even
greater
impact
during
infancy
than
later
in
childhood.
Infants
may
not
understand
the
meaning
of
their
parents’
verbalizations,
but
they
do
react
to
the
emotional
tone
of
the
parents’
nonverbal
communications,
including
their
facial
expressions
and
voice
tone
(Mumme,
Fernald,
&
Herrera,
1996;
Sorce,
Emde,
Campos,
&
Klinnert,
1985).
Thus,
if
an
infant
pulls
a
vase
off
the
table
and
gets
hurt,
and
the
parent
rushes
to
pick
the
child
up
and
says,
“It’s
okay,
your
okay”,
but
uses
an
agitated
tone
of
voice
and
displays
an
alarmed
or
angry
facial
expression,
the
infant
is
unlikely
to
be
comforted.
Rather,
the
parents’
distress
may
signal
to
the
infant
that
he
or
she
has
good
reason
to
be
upset,
serving
as
type
of
social
referencing
(Campos,
Sorce,
Emde,
&
Svejda,
2013).
Moreover,
distressed
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
75
parental
responses
do
not
help
children
learn
to
regulate
their
own
distressed
emotions
(Fabes
et
al.,
2001).
Thus,
when
parents
display
emotional
distress
to
their
infants’
own
displays
of
distress,
their
children
should
be
more
likely
to
display
greater
negative
affect
in
toddlerhood.
Alternatively,
if
they
had
a
history
of
having
parents
become
upset
with
their
displays
of
negativity,
toddlers
may
learn
to
suppress
their
expression
of
negative
emotions,
displaying
over-regulated,
flat/withdrawn
affect
instead.
In
fact,
attachment
researchers
have
theorized
that
children
with
an
insecure-avoidant
relationship
should
be
more
likely
to
show
this
pattern
(Cassidy,
1994).
Few
studies
have
examined
caregiving
patterns
that
are
associated
with
flat/withdrawn
affect,
perhaps
because
it
is
difficult
to
assess
when
the
absence
of
emotion
is
indicative
of
dysregulation
(Martins
et
al.,
2012).
In
one
recent
study,
however,
infants’
over-regulated
flat
affect
was
found
to
be
related
to
both
avoidant
attachment
and
to
less
emotionally
responsive
mother–infant
interaction
(Martins
et
al.,
2012).
Crockenberg
et
al.
(2007)
also
found
links
between
negative
maternal
behavior
and
infants’
withdrawn
emotionality.
Fathers’
responses
to
children’s
negative
emotions
have
also
been
largely
neglected
by
researchers,
particularly
during
infancy.
Fathers
may
serve
a
different
role
than
mothers
in
socializing
children’s
expression
of
negative
emotions
and
fostering
their
emotion
regulation.
Whereas
mothers
may
socialize
children
primarily
in
the
context
of
caregiving,
fathers
may
do
so
primarily
in
the
context
of
play
(Umemura,
Jacobvitz,
Messina,
&
Hazen,
2013).
Fathers
often
arouse
their
child’s
emotions
when
playing
and
then
help
calm
the
child
down
(Hazen,
McFarland,
Jacobvitz,
&
Boyd-Soisson,
2010),
which
may
provide
practice
in
emotional
regulation
for
infants
and
toddlers
(Grossmann,
Grossmann,
Fremmer-Bombik,
Kindler,
&
Scheuerer-Englisch,
2002).
Thus,
if
fathers
respond
to
infant
negative
emotion
with
distressed
responses,
this
could
be
particularly
dysregulating,
leading
to
greater
toddler
negative
or
flat/withdrawn
affect.
1.3.
Parents’
distressed
responses
to
children’s
negative
emotions
as
mediators
or
moderators
of
the
relation
between
marital
conflict
and
toddlers’
emotional
expressivity
Marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
to
infants’
negative
emotions
may
affect
the
later
development
of
toddlers’
emotional
expressivity
in
a
variety
of
ways.
First,
both
marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
infants’
may
have
direct,
independent
effects,
such
that
infants
who
experience
higher
marital
conflict
and
whose
parents
respond
to
their
distress
by
showing
distress
themselves
should
be
likely
to
show
more
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
as
toddlers.
Second,
since
stress
from
the
conflictual
marriage
may
spill
over
to
parent–infant
interactions,
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
infants
may
mediate
the
relation
between
marital
conflict
and
toddlers’
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect.
Finally,
parents’
distressed
responses
may
moderate
the
effects
of
marital
conflict
on
infant
emotional
expressivity.
Children
might
be
at
greatest
risk
for
developing
higher
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
when
they
have
parents
who
are
both
high
in
marital
conflict
and
highly
likely
to
respond
with
distress
to
their
infants’
negative
emotions.
The
increased
emotional
stress
infants
feel
from
directly
observing
their
parents’
marital
conflict
may
be
compounded
by
having
their
parents
respond
to
their
emotional
distress
with
their
own
distress.
Conversely,
the
deleterious
effects
of
marital
conflict
might
be
buffered
by
parents
who
are
able
to
respond
calmly
and
appropriately
to
their
infants’
distress
rather
than
becoming
distressed
themselves.
Thus,
we
expect
that
toddlers’
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
should
be
highest
when
both
marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
to
infant
negative
emotion
are
highest;
and
their
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
should
be
lowest
when
marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
to
infant
negative
emotion
are
lowest.
1.4.
The
present
study
The
purpose
of
the
present
study
was
to
examine
the
relation
of
parents’
marital
conflict,
assessed
when
their
child
was
8
and
24
months
old,
and
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
infant’s
negative
emotions
at
8
and
24
months,
in
addition
to
interactions
between
parents’
marital
conflict
and
their
distressed
responses,
as
predictors
of
their
toddler’s
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months.
It
is
particularly
important
to
study
the
interplay
of
these
family
interactions
during
infancy,
because
parents’
emotional
responses
and
the
family’s
emotional
climate
during
this
period
lay
the
groundwork
for
the
child’s
development
of
emotion
regulation
in
the
preschool
years
and
through
adulthood
(Thompson
&
Meyer,
2007),
yet
there
is
a
dearth
of
research
examining
both
marital
conflict
and
parents’
responses
to
their
infants’
emotions
as
predictors
of
their
children’s
later
emotional
expressivity.
We
extend
the
existing
research
in
several
ways.
First,
we
examine
both
mothers’
and
fathers’
negative
responses
to
their
infants’
negative
and
flat
emotions.
Although
past
studies
have
found
more
spillover
from
marital
conflict
to
parenting
for
fathers
than
mothers,
those
studies
have
mainly
examined
parenting
sensitivity
rather
than
parents’
emotionally
distressed
responses
to
infants’
display
of
negative
emotions.
It
is
possible
that
greater
spillover
for
mothers
may
occur
for
distressed
rather
than
sensitive
(or
generally
insensitive)
responses
to
an
infant.
Even
though
mothers
experiencing
high
marital
conflict
may
be
more
likely
than
fathers
experiencing
marital
conflict
to
respond
promptly
to
an
infants’
cries
by
picking
up
the
baby
and
using
comforting
words,
they
may
still
show
signs
of
nonverbal
emotional
distress
in
their
voice
tones
and
body
language.
Second,
we
examine
possible
moderating
effects
of
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
infants
on
the
effects
of
marital
conflict,
as
well
as
examining
parents’
distressed
responses
as
a
possible
mediator.
Finally,
we
examine
family
antecedents
of
toddlers’
flat
emotionality,
as
well
as
their
negative
emotionality.
Over-regulated,
withdrawn
affect
in
toddlers
limits
their
engagement
with
their
environment,
but
although
it
has
been
linked
to
both
exposure
to
marital
76
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
conflict
(Crockenberg
et
al.,
2007)
and
to
less
sensitive
and
responsive
parenting
(Crockenberg
et
al.,
2007;
Martins
et
al.,
2012)
we
know
very
little
about
possible
differences
in
the
family
antecedents
of
flat
versus
negative
affect.
We
hypothesize
that
(1)
marital
conflict
at
8
months
will
predict
marital
conflict
at
24
months,
which
will
in
turn
predict
toddlers’
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
directly,
(2)
parents
who
report
higher
levels
of
marital
conflict
will
show
more
distressed
responses
to
infants’
negative
emotions,
and
in
turn,
higher
ratings
of
parents’
distressed
responsiveness
will
predict
toddler’s
greater
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months,
and
(3)
marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
at
24
months
will
interact
in
predicting
toddlers’
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect,
such
that
they
will
be
highest
when
both
marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
are
high
and
lowest
when
both
are
low.
Thus,
we
anticipate
that
both
marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
infants’
negative
emotions
will
be
independently
and
directly
related
to
their
toddlers’
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect,
and
in
addition,
parent’s
distressed
responses
to
their
infants’
negative
emotions
will
both
mediate
and
moderate
the
relation
of
marital
conflict
to
toddler’s
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect.
Based
on
past
research,
we
further
expect
that
these
hypotheses
will
hold
for
both
mothers
and
fathers,
but
based
on
the
fathering
vulnerability
hypothesis,
spillover
effects
from
marital
conflict
to
distressed
parental
responses
may
be
greater
for
fathers
than
mothers
(Goeke-Morey
&
Cummings,
2007;
Lundy,
2002;
Owen
&
Cox,
1997).
2.
Methods
2.1.
Participants
Participants
were
125
couples
who
were
recruited
to
participate
in
a
longitudinal
study
that
followed
couples
from
the
third
trimester
of
pregnancy
before
the
birth
of
their
first
child
until
that
child
reached
7
years
of
age,
96
of
whom
remained
for
the
entire
study.
The
couples
were
recruited
through
birthing
classes,
newspaper
ads,
press
releases,
flyers
distributed
to
maternity
stores,
and
public
service
radio
announcements.
As
compensation,
participants
received
a
$50
savings
bond
for
participation
in
each
phase
of
the
study,
as
well
as
an
infant
T-shirt,
audiotapes
of
lullabies,
and
a
copy
of
their
videotaped
interaction.
Couples
qualified
to
be
in
the
study
if
they
were
living
together
and
the
female
partner
was
in
her
third
trimester
of
pregnancy.
Ninety-five
percent
of
these
couples
were
married
at
the
time
of
recruitment.
The
mean
age
of
parents
was
29.0
for
mothers
and
31.5
for
fathers.
The
sample
was
mostly
Caucasian
(82%),
with
the
remaining
18%
of
the
sample
comprised
of
9%
Latino,
3%
African
American,
and
6%
other
ethnicities
(Native
American,
Middle
Eastern
and
Indian).
The
median
family
income
for
the
sample
ranged
from
$30,000–$45,000,
with
only
7%
reporting
family
earnings
of
less
than
$15,000.
The
majority
of
the
sample
reported
having
some
school
experience
past
high
school
(69%
had
attended
college
and
60%
had
at
least
a
bachelor’s
degree).
Infants
were
56%
male
and
were
all
full
term
and
of
normal
birth
weight.
At
the
8
month
phase,
121
families
remained
in
the
study.
At
the
24-month
phase,
108
families
remained
in
the
sample.
Of
the
17
families
who
left,
12
had
moved,
three
were
too
busy
to
participate,
and
two
could
not
be
located.
An
additional
12
families
had
divorced,
leaving
96
families
available
to
participate.
By
24
months,
families
with
lower
incomes
(under
$30,000
at
the
prenatal
phase)
were
more
likely
to
drop
out
compared
with
families
with
higher
incomes,
2(4,
N
=
123)
=
16.72,
p
<
.01.
Also,
mothers
and
fathers
who
were
younger
were
more
likely
to
have
dropped
out
compared
to
older
parents,
(odds
ratio
[OR]
=
1.12
for
mothers
and
1.11
for
fathers,
both
p’s
<
.05).
2.2.
Procedures
Data
presented
in
the
current
study
were
collected
during
the
parents’
third
trimester
of
pregnancy
and
when
the
child
was
6
weeks,
8
months
and
24
months
old.
Upon
the
birth
of
their
child,
mothers
were
mailed
an
infant
temperament
assessment,
the
Infant
Behavioral
Questionnaire
(IBQ),
and
were
asked
to
fill
it
out
when
their
child
was
6
weeks
old.
Mothers
and
fathers
each
completed
the
Braiker
and
Kelley
(1979)
measure
of
relationship
quality
when
their
infant
was
8
and
24
months
old.
When
infants
were
8
months
old,
mother
and
fathers
were
observed
separately
for
30–40
min
during
home
visits
while
playing
with
their
infants,
changing
their
infant’s
clothing,
and
feeding
their
infant.
Feeding
and
clothing
changes
were
observed
because
they
are
everyday
occurrences
yet
are
often
stressful
for
infants
and
parents.
Interactions
were
counter-
balanced
so
that
half
of
the
children
interacted
with
their
mother
first
and
half
with
their
father
first.
Mothers’
and
fathers’
reactions
to
their
infants’
distress
was
coded
from
these
videotaped
interactions.
Five
videotapes
had
to
be
discarded
due
to
missing
audio.
When
children
were
24
months
old,
families
first
visited
a
laboratory
playroom
to
participate
in
videotaped
dyadic
mother–child
and
father–child
interactions.
Both
interactions
involved
20–25
min
of
free
play
in
a
playroom
containing
developmentally
appropriate
toys.
Parents
were
instructed
to
play
with
their
child
as
they
normally
would,
followed
by
5
min
of
cleanup.
Afterwards,
the
parent
and
child
completed
two
problem-solving
tasks
in
a
different
room.
The
tasks
were
designed
to
be
difficult
for
the
child
in
order
to
elicit
parental
assistance.
Mothers
and
fathers
completed
several
different
tasks,
which
included
putting
together
nested
cups,
removing
a
snack
from
a
clear
tube
by
using
connected
Bristle
Blocks,
using
a
brick
to
lift
a
lever
inside
of
a
box
in
order
to
retrieve
another
snack,
and
completing
a
sorting
puzzle.
Interactions
were
randomly
counterbalanced
such
that
half
of
the
families
had
fathers
play
first,
whereas
the
other
half
had
mothers
start
first.
These
videotaped
interactions
were
used
to
code
parents’
distressed
reactions
to
their
toddlers.
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
77
Approximately
two
weeks
later,
mother,
father,
and
child
participated
in
videotaped
triadic
family
interactions
at
their
homes.
Parents
were
given
30
min
to
complete
a
Q-sort
task
concerning
attitudes
about
parenting,
to
give
their
child
a
snack,
and
to
change
the
child’s
clothes.
In
the
Q-sort
task,
both
parents
were
asked
to
come
to
an
agreement
about
how
each
of
the
Q-sort
items
should
be
classified.
The
purpose
of
the
Q-sort
task
was
to
require
the
parents
to
complete
an
adult
task
while
simultaneously
caring
for
their
child,
a
common
situation
in
the
daily
lives
of
parents
with
toddlers.
Parents
were
told
that
they
could
complete
the
tasks
in
any
order,
as
long
as
tasks
were
completed
within
30
min.
If
the
parents
finished
the
tasks
in
less
than
30
min,
the
family
then
completed
a
challenging
peg
sorting
game
during
the
time
that
remained.
Toddlers’
emotional
expressivity
was
rated
from
the
videotaped
triadic
interactions.
2.3.
Measures
2.3.1.
Marital
conflict
Marital
conflict
was
measured
using
a
validated
subscale
from
the
Braiker
and
Kelley
(1979)
measure
of
relationship
quality.
The
measure
consists
of
four
subscales
(conflict,
love,
ambivalence
and
maintenance)
derived
from
25
items
that
participants
rate
on
a
9-point
Likert
scale
from
“not
at
all”
to
“very
much”
(Braiker
&
Kelley,
1979).
The
conflict
scale
consists
of
five
items
that
assess
the
amount
and
intensity
of
conflict
in
the
marital
relationship
(e.g.,
“How
often
do
you
and
your
partner
argue
with
one
another”).
The
conflict
scale
was
used
because
it
has
been
found
to
be
an
important
predictor
of
relationship
quality
(Kelly,
Huston,
&
Cate,
1985)
and
has
been
previously
related
to
children’s
emotion
regulation
in
toddlerhood
(Belsky,
Youngblade,
Rovine,
&
Volling,
1991).
Previous
studies
have
found
Cronbach’s
alphas
for
the
Braiker–Kelley
conflict
scale
between
.61
and
.92
across
mothers
and
fathers
the
third
trimester
of
pregnancy
of
a
child
until
the
third
year
of
life
(Belsky
et
al.,
1991).
The
present
study
also
found
similar
levels
of
Cronbach’s
alphas
from
the
third
trimester
of
pregnancy
until
24
months,
ranging
from
.76
to
.88
for
mothers
and
from
.72
to
.83
for
fathers.
Since
mothers’
and
fathers’
conflict
scores
were
highly
correlated
(r
=
.54
at
8
months
and
r
=
.47
at
24
months),
they
were
combined
in
the
present
study
to
simplify
data
analysis.
2.3.2.
Infant
temperament
Mothers
completed
the
Infant
Behavior
Questionnaire
(IBQ,
Rothbart,
1981)
when
their
infants
were
6
weeks
old.
This
measure
includes
94
items
assessing
infants’
activity
level,
smiling
and
laughter,
fear,
distress
to
limitations,
soothability,
and
duration
of
orienting,
each
rated
on
a
7-point
Likert
scale.
We
created
a
composite
scale
of
negative
reactivity
by
subtracting
the
standardized
positive
reactivity
score
from
the
negative
reactivity
score,
following
Rothbart’s
instructions
(Rothbart,
1981,
1986).
The
Cronbach’s
alpha
for
the
composite
scale
was
.77.
2.3.3.
Parents’
distressed
responses
to
infant
and
toddler
negative
emotions
Parents’
responses
to
their
toddlers’
negative
emotions
at
24
months
were
rated
using
the
Parents’
Responses
to
Children’s
Emotions
Rating
Scales
(PRCERS)
(Boyd-Soisson,
2002),
an
observational
rating
system
based
on
scales
from
the
self-report
Parental
Coping
with
Children’s
Negative
Emotions
Questionnaire
(CCNES;
Fabes,
Eisenberg,
&
Bernzweig,
1990).
Four
7-
point
Likert
rating
scales
assessed
the
degree
to
which
parents
responded
to
their
child’s
negative
emotions
in
a
way
that
was
distressed,
harsh,
minimizing,
or
sensitive.
Parents’
responses
to
their
infants’
negative
emotions
at
8
months
were
coded
using
the
Parents’
Responses
to
Infants’
Emotions
Rating
Scale,
an
observation
rating
system
adapted
by
the
first
author
from
the
PRCERS
to
be
developmentally
appropriate
for
infants.
Only
distressed
reactions
were
included
in
the
present
study,
because
we
hypothesized
that
they
would
predict
toddler’s
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect,
yet
have
been
understudied.
In
addition,
in
parent–infant
interactions,
punitive
responses
were
too
low
frequency
to
be
coded
reliably,
and
minimizing
responses
(e.g.,
“Oh,
what
is
the
big
deal?
You’re
fine.”)
were
primarily
verbal
and
thus
unlikely
to
be
experienced
by
infants
as
minimizing
their
feelings.
In
both
coding
systems,
distressed
responses
were
coded
on
a
scale
from
1
to
7,
with
a
parent
receiving
a
1
for
not
showing
any
distress
in
response
to
their
child’s
displays
of
negative
emotion
and
a
score
of
7
for
consistently
showing
highly
distressed
responses.
Distressed
responses
focus
only
on
parents’
nonverbal
displays
of
emotional
distress,
that
is,
the
extent
to
which
they
display
anger,
stress,
frustration,
or
anxiety
in
their
voice
tone
or
movement,
rather
than
on
parents’
verbalizations.
A
score
of
1
indicates
the
absence
of
parental
distress,
whereas
a
score
of
7
reveals
frequent
displays
of
parental
frustration,
stress,
or
anger
displayed
in
voice
tone
(e.g.,
speaking
more
rapidly,
raising
one’s
voice,
using
an
agitated
voice
tone)
or
body
language
(e.g.,
wringing
one’s
hands,
burying
one’s
face
in
one’s
hands,
trembling,
handling
the
child
abruptly).
Two
teams
of
coders
were
trained
by
the
first
author.
The
8-month-old
tapes
were
coded
by
one
primary
coder
and
two
additional
coders
who
double-coded
70%
of
the
tapes
(intraclass
correlation
=
.75).
The
24-month-old
tapes
were
coded
by
a
different
primary
coder
and
one
additional
coder
who
double-coded
34%
of
the
tapes
(intraclass
correlation
=
.77).
2.3.4.
Toddler’s
emotional
expressivity
Toddler
emotional
expressivity
was
rated
using
the
Toddler
Emotional
Adjustment
Coding
System
(Roetzel,
2007).
Coders
were
trained
to
rate
toddlers’
emotional
expressivity
during
the
triadic
(mother–father–child)
interaction
at
24
months.
Each
of
the
following
emotions
was
rated
on
a
7-point
scale
(with
7
indicating
that
the
emotion
was
displayed
frequently
and
at
a
high
intensity):
anxiety,
distressed
vocalization,
anger/aggression,
self-comfort,
and
flat/withdrawn
affect.
Anxiety
ratings
were
based
on
the
extent
to
which
the
child
showed
anxious
behaviors,
including
restlessness,
distress,
repetitive
behaviors,
78
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
Table
1
Descriptive
statistics
and
correlation
coefficients
among
study
variables.
Variables
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
M
(SD)
min.–max.
1
Marital
conflict
at
8
months
4.25
(1.06)
2.00–6.60
2
Marital
conflict
at
24
months
.78*** 4.30
(1.21)
2.30–6.80
3
Maternal
distressed
responses
at
8
months
.21*.36*** 3.36
(1.18)
1.00–7.00
4
Paternal
distressed
responses
at
8
months
.01
.12
.20*3.41
(1.28)
1.00–7.00
5
Maternal
distressed
responses
at
24
months
.09
.01
.21*−.03
2.36
(1.21)
1.00–7.00
6
Paternal
distressed
responses
at
24
months
−.03
−.07
.08
.12
.40*** 2.50
(1.33)
1.00–7.00
7
Child
negative
affect
at
24
months
.27*.22*.24*.24*.23*.17
2.94
(1.40)
1.00–7.00
8
Child
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months
.04
.14
−.01
−.07
−.17
−.03
.16
25%
0–1
9
Child
temperament
−.06
−.04
.10
.09
.13
.16
.24*−.00
.49
(1.68)
−3.17–5.65
10
Child
gender
(female
=
1;
male
=
0)
.04
−.02
−.15
−.02
−.05
−.01
−.10
−.08
.04
44%
female
0–1
11
Family
income .00 .04 .09 .13
−.32** −.11
−.05
.03
−.07
.05
Median:
$30,000–$45,000
Notes.
Min.
=
minimum;
Max.
=
maximum.
We
used
a
maternal
report
of
negative
reactivity
at
6
weeks
as
child
temperament.
*** p
<
.001. ** p
<
.01. *p
<
.05.
inability
to
focus
and
inability
to
control
negative
emotional
states.
The
scale
also
accounted
for
visual
indicators
such
as
furrowing
of
brows
and
tension
in
the
body.
Distressed
vocalization
ratings
indicate
the
extent
to
which
the
child
cried
or
whined.
Whining
behaviors
scored
lower
than
crying
behavior.
The
frequency,
severity,
volume
of
these
vocalizations
played
a
large
role
in
ratings
for
this
scale.
Anger/Aggression
ratings
indicate
the
extent
to
which
the
child
showed
angry,
aggressive,
and
defiant
behaviors.
Children
who
scored
highest
on
this
scale
frequently
displayed
anger
or
physical
aggression
through
actions
such
as
kicking
or
biting
their
toys,
their
parents,
or
themselves.
Self-comfort
and
self-soothing
behavior
ratings
indicate
the
extent
to
which
children
showed
self-soothing
behaviors
such
as
sucking
their
thumbs,
twisting
their
hair,
or
repetitive
behaviors.
Children
who
scored
highest
on
this
scale
showed
self-soothing
behaviors
so
extreme
that
they
might
even
cause
pain
(e.g.,
twisting
or
pulling
at
their
own
hair).
Flat/withdrawn
affect
ratings
indicated
the
extent
to
which
the
child
lacked
emotional
expression,
particularly
in
contexts
in
which
displays
of
negative
or
positive
emotion
would
be
expected.
The
highest
ratings
for
this
scale
were
given
when
a
child
seemed
frozen
and
highly
withdrawn
throughout
the
interaction.
One
primary
coder,
who
did
not
rate
any
of
the
parent–child
interactions,
rated
all
of
the
tapes.
A
second
coder
coded
50%
of
the
tapes.
Average
intraclass
correlations
were
.84
for
anxiety,
.87
for
distressed
vocalization,
.91
for
aggression/defiance,
.90
for
self-soothing
behaviors,
and
.88
for
flat/withdrawn
affect.
A
principal
components
analyses
of
these
scales
revealed
two
factors
with
an
eigenvalue
>1;
one
included
all
of
the
scales
except
flat/withdrawn
affect
(
=
2.73),
accounting
for
54.5%
of
the
variance,
and
one
including
only
flat/withdrawn
affect,
(
=
1.12),
accounting
for
22.5%
of
the
variance.
A
composite
variable
for
negative
affect
was
creating
by
summing
scores
for
anxiety,
distressed
vocalization,
aggression/defiance,
and
self-soothing
(Cronbach’s
˛
=
.88).
Because
only
25%
of
children
showed
flat/withdrawn
affect
during
our
observations
and
the
distribution
of
the
scores
was
positively
skewed,
we
created
a
new
dichotomous
variable
for
flat/withdrawn
affect
(0
=
children
who
did
not
show
any
flat/withdrawn
affect
and
therefore
were
classified
as
1;
1
=
children
who
showed
some
characteristics
of
flat/withdrawn
affect
and
therefore
were
classified
as
greater
than
1).
3.
Results
3.1.
Data
analysis
plan
Descriptive
statistics
and
correlations
among
the
study
variables
are
presented
in
Table
1.
We
conducted
structural
equation
modeling
(SEM)
using
Mplus
(Muthén
and
Muthén,
1998–2014).
The
endogenous
variable
of
the
model
presented
in
Fig.
1
was
children’s
negative
affect
at
24
months,
and
the
endogenous
variable
of
the
model
presented
in
Fig.
2
was
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months.
In
both
models,
maternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
at
24
months,
paternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
at
24
months,
and
marital
conflict
at
24
months
lead
directly
to
the
endogenous
variable.
We
also
included
interaction
effects
between
maternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotions
and
marital
conflict
at
24
months,
and
between
paternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
and
marital
conflict
at
24
months
(in
Fig.
1
and
Fig.
2,
these
interactions
are
denoted
as
lines
with
black
dots).
In
addition,
marital
conflict
at
8
months
leads
to
both
maternal
and
paternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
at
8
months,
as
well
as
to
marital
conflict
at
24
months,
and
maternal
and
paternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
at
8
months
lead
to
each
of
their
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
at
24
months.
Finally,
we
controlled
for
the
association
between
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
79
Negat
ive Affect
at 24
months
Maternal
Distressed
Res
ponses
at 8 months
Pate
rnal
Distressed Res
ponses
at 24 months
Marital C
onflict
at
24 months
Maternal
Distressed
Res
ponses
at 24 months
Marital C
onflict
at 8 mon
ths
Pate
rnal
Distressed Res
ponses
at 8 months
Income
Temperament
e1
e2
e3
e4
-.31(.
09) -.31**
*
-.09(.
10) -.09
.26
(.10)
.26**
-.12(.
12) -.10
.16
(.10
) .16
.83
(.07
).78***
.55(.16)
.38**
*
.31
(.14)
.21
*
.25
(.10
) .22
*
-.01(.16
) -.01
.07(.08)
.09
.26(.12)
.23*
-.23(.12)
-.20
.30(.12)
.25**
.04(.11)
.04
.22(.10)
.23*
Fig.
1.
The
longitudinal
structural
equation
model
predicting
negative
affect.
Numbers
indicate
unstandardized
coefficients
(standard
errors)
and
standard-
ized
coefficients.
Solid
lines
indicate
significant
coefficients,
and
dashed
lines
indicate
non-significant
coefficients.
We
used
a
maternal
report
of
negative
reactivity
at
6
weeks
as
child
temperament.
***
p
<
.001.
**
p
<
.01.
*
p
<
.05.
children’s
temperament
and
children’s
negative
and
negative
affect
and
the
association
between
family
income
and
maternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
at
24
months,
because
these
associations
were
significantly
correlated
(see
Table
1).
Because
certain
variables
in
the
study
have
a
different
number
of
missing
participants,
we
conducted
multiple
imputations
using
Mplus
prior
to
running
the
SEM
analysis.
When
dealing
with
missing
data,
the
multiple
imputation
technique
is
considered
less
biased,
compared
to
listwise
or
pairwise
deletion
techniques
(Enders,
2013).
e6
e7
e8
Maternal
Distressed Respo
nses
at 8 month
s
Flat Affect
at
24
months
Paternal
Distre
sse
d Responses
at 24
months
Marital Co
nflict
at 24 months
Maternal
Dist
ressed
Res
ponses
at 24
months
Marital
Conflict
at
8 months
Paternal
Distress
ed Re
sponses
at 8 months
Income
e5
-.32(.10)**
-.08(.11)
.30(.10)**
-.16(.13)
.17(.11)
.84(.07)**
*
.59(.14)***
.29(.12)*
.29(.11)**
.02(.14)
-.24(.15)
.00(.14)
.27(.13)*
.06(.12)
.12(.
12)
Fig.
2.
The
longitudinal
structural
equation
model
predicting
flat/withdrawn
affect.
Numbers
indicate
unstandardized
coefficients
(standard
errors).
We
did
not
present
standardized
coefficients
for
this
model,
because
the
endogenous
variable
is
dichotomous.
Solid
lines
indicate
significant
coefficients,
and
dashed
lines
indicate
non-significant
coefficients.
***
p
<
.001.
**
p
<
.01.
*
p
<
.05.
80
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Low
pate
rnal dis
tressed responses at
24 months
High p
ate
rnal dis
tressed responses at
24 months
Child Negative Affect at 24 months
Low marit
al confli
ct
at 24 months
High marital conflict
at 24
mon
ths
b
= .31,
t =
2.47, p =.015
b
= -.23,
t =-1.59, p =.114
Fig.
3.
Interaction
effects
between
marital
conflict
and
paternal
distressed
responses
to
toddler
negative
emotion
at
24
months
on
children’s
negative
affect
at
24
months.
High/low
marital
conflict
and
paternal
distressed
responses
indicate
one
standard
deviation
above/below
their
means.
Fit
indices
for
the
models
were
examined
to
determine
whether
the
models
fit
the
data,
using
the
comparative
fit
index
(CFI;
values
above
.90
indicate
a
good
fit)
(Bentler,
1990),
the
root-mean-square
error
of
approximation
(RMSEA;
values
lower
than
.08
indicate
a
good
fit,
(Browne,
Cudeck,
&
Bollen,
1993;
Steiger,
1990),
and
the
2/df
ratio
(less
than
3
indicates
a
good
model
fit
(Kline,
2005).
Regarding
our
models,
the
fit
indices
showed
excellent
model
fit,
CFI
=
.99,
RMSEA
=
.02,
2/29
=
1.03
for
the
model
with
negative
affect
and
CFI
=
.91,
RMSEA
=
.08,
2/24
=
1.71
for
the
model
with
flat/withdrawn
affect.
3.2.
Longitudinal
path
analyses
predicting
toddlers’
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
Regarding
direct
effects,
the
results
of
both
SEM
analyses
revealed
that
marital
conflict
at
8
months
was
related
to
mothers’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
at
8
months,
but
not
to
fathers’
distressed
responses
at
8
months.
Mothers’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
at
8
months
predicted
mothers’
distressed
responses
at
24
months,
whereas
fathers’
distressed
responses
at
8
months
did
not
predict
his
distressed
responses
at
24
months.
Marital
conflict
at
24
months
was
related
to
both
toddler
negative
affect
at
24
months
independent
of
children’s
temperament
(Fig.
1)
and
toddler
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months
(Fig.
2).
Mothers’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
at
24
months
were
related
to
children’s
negative
affect
independent
of
children’s
temperament,
but
were
not
associated
with
children’s
flat/withdrawn
affect.
Fathers’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotion
at
24
months
were
related
to
neither
children’s
negative
affect
nor
their
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months.
To
examine
indirect
effects
of
the
paths,
we
used
the
Sobel
test
(or
the
Delta
method
in
Mplus;
MacKinnon,
2008).
The
indirect
path
from
marital
conflict
at
8
months
through
marital
conflict
at
24
months
to
children’s
negative
affect
at
24
months
was
significant,
b
=
.25,
Z
=
2.47,
p
=
.014
(Fig.
1),
as
was
the
indirect
path
from
marital
conflict
at
8
months
through
marital
conflict
at
24
months
to
children’s
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months,
b
=
.22,
Z
=
2.00,
p
=
.045
(Fig.
2).
All
the
other
indirect
effects
(e.g.,
from
marital
conflict
at
8
months
through
parents’
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
at
8
months
through
parents’
distressed
responses
at
24
months
to
children’s
negative
affect
at
24
months)
were
not
statistically
significant,
indicating
that
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
did
not
mediate
the
relation
between
marital
conflict
and
toddlers’
negative
or
flat/withdrawn
affect.
Regarding
interactions,
independent
of
child
temperament,
the
interaction
effect
between
marital
conflict
at
24
months
and
fathers’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotion
at
24
months
was
significantly
related
to
toddler
nega-
tive
affect
at
24
months.
The
result
of
the
interaction
is
presented
in
Fig.
3,
in
which
high/low
paternal
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotion
and
marital
conflict
indicate
one
standard
deviation
above/below
their
means.
As
expected,
toddler
negative
affect
was
highest
when
both
marital
conflict
and
their
fathers’
distressed
responses
to
their
toddlers’
negative
emotions
were
highest.
Simple
slope
analyses
revealed
that
when
marital
conflict
was
high,
fathers
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotions
were
related
to
higher
toddler
negative
affect.
When,
maternal
conflict
was
low,
fathers’
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotions
were
unrelated
to
their
toddlers’
negative
affect.
No
other
interaction
effects
were
significant.
4.
Discussion
As
hypothesized,
we
found
that
greater
marital
conflict
at
8
months
predicted
greater
marital
conflict
at
24
months,
which
in
turn,
directly
predicted
greater
flat/withdrawn
and
negative
affect
in
toddlerhood,
even
after
controlling
for
children’s
reactive
temperament,
child
gender,
family
income,
and
both
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
at
8
and
24
months.
Contrary
to
our
prediction,
toddlers’
flat/withdrawn
affect
was
predicted
only
by
marital
conflict.
However,
we
found
partial
support
for
our
hypothesis
that
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
81
emotions
would
relate
to
toddlers’
negative
affect
at
24
months:
Mothers’,
but
not
fathers,
distressed
responses
at
24
months
were
related
to
toddlers’
negative
affect
even
after
controlling
for
marital
conflict
and
all
of
the
control
variables.
However,
father’s
distressed
responses
did
interact
with
marital
conflict
to
predict
toddlers’
negative
affect
at
24
months.
Specifically,
fathers’
distressed
responses
were
related
to
increased
negative
affect
in
toddlers
only
when
marital
conflict
was
high,
so
that
toddler’s
negative
affect
was
highest
when
both
marital
conflict
and
fathers’
distressed
responses
were
high.
Thus,
whereas
toddlers’
flat/withdrawn
affect
at
24
months
was
predicted
only
by
marital
conflict
at
8
and
24
months,
their
negative
affect
was
predicted
independently
by
marital
conflict,
by
mothers’
distressed
responses
to
their
negative
emotions,
and
by
fathers’
distressed
responses
to
their
negative
emotions
under
conditions
of
high
marital
conflict.
4.1.
Maternal
conflict
and
toddlers’
emotional
expressivity
As
predicted,
we
found
that
toddlers
who
experienced
higher
marital
conflict
during
infancy
and
toddlerhood
were
more
likely
to
show
both
increased
negative
emotions
and
increased
flat/withdrawn
affect
during
toddlerhood.
This
finding
is
consistent
with
a
small
but
growing
body
of
literature
indicating
that
the
infants’
exposure
to
marital
conflict
may
directly
effect
their
development
of
emotion
regulation
and
expressivity.
Previous
studies
have
found
infants’
exposure
to
marital
conflict
to
be
linked
to
infants’
increased
negative
emotional
expressivity
(Du
Rocher
Schudlich
et
al.,
2011),
as
well
as
their
increased
emotional
withdrawal
(Crockenberg
et
al.,
2007).
Our
findings
extend
that
research
by
examining
marital
conflict
longitudinally
as
a
predictor
of
both
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect
in
toddlerhood.
However,
we
found
little
evidence
for
spillover
effects
from
marital
conflict
to
parenting
(Erel
&
Burman,
1995).
We
did
find
that
marital
conflict
assessed
when
infants
were
8
months
old
was
related
to
mothers’,
but
not
fathers’,
distressed
responses
to
their
infants’
expression
of
negative
emotions.
This
suggests
some
spillover
for
mothers
but
not
fathers,
con-
trary
to
the
fathering
vulnerability
hypothesis
(Goeke-Morey
&
Cummings,
2007).
However,
marital
conflict
and
parents’
distressed
responses
at
24
months
were
not
significantly
related,
and
indirect
paths
from
marital
conflict
through
parents’
distressed
responses
to
toddlers’
emotionality
were
not
significant.
Thus,
marital
conflict
seems
to
have
a
direct
relation
to
toddler’s
negative
affect,
rather
than
being
mediated
by
parent’s
responses
to
infants’
emotions.
These
findings
were
consistent
with
those
of
Crockenberg
et
al.
(2007),
who
also
found
that
marital
conflict
was
a
direct
predictor
of
infants’
withdrawn
emotional
responses,
rather
than
being
indirectly
mediated
through
parenting.
4.2.
Parents’
distressed
responses
to
child
negative
emotions
and
toddlers’
emotional
expressivity
To
our
knowledge,
the
present
study
is
the
first
to
longitudinally
examine
observational
measures
of
both
mothers’
and
fathers’
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
as
predictors
of
their
children’s
emotional
expressivity,
and
to
examine
whether
parents’
distressed
responses
might
moderate
or
mediate
the
relation
between
marital
conflict
and
children’s
negative
and
flat/withdrawn
affect.
Based
on
emotional
socialization
research
done
with
older
children
using
parents’
self-reports
of
their
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
(Eisenberg
et
al.,
1998),
we
expected
that
when
parents
respond
to
their
infants’
distress
by
showing
emotional
distress
themselves,
even
if
their
words
are
positive,
they
are
likely
to
compound
the
infant’s
feelings
of
distress.
Our
study
adds
to
the
body
of
research
on
emotional
socialization
by
demonstrating
that
mothers’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
are
related
to
their
toddlers’
greater
negative
affect,
independent
of
the
effects
of
marital
conflict,
infant
temperament,
and
family
income.
Although
we
did
not
find
a
main
effect
for
fathers’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions,
we
did
find
that
fathers’
distressed
responses
interacted
with
marital
conflict
to
predict
toddler
negative
affect.
Specifically,
fathers’
negative
responses
were
related
to
toddler
negative
affect
only
when
marital
conflict
was
high,
and
toddler
negative
affect
was
highest
when
both
marital
conflict
and
fathers’
distressed
responses
were
high.
Thus,
low
marital
conflict
may
buffer
the
potential
negative
effects
of
fathers’
distressed
responses
on
toddler
negative
affect,
or
vice
versa.
In
contrast,
mothers’
distressed
responses
were
related
to
their
toddler’s
negative
affect
regardless
of
whether
marital
conflict
was
high
or
low.
Perhaps
low
marital
conflict
is
more
likely
to
buffer
the
effects
of
high
distressed
responses
for
fathers
than
mothers
because
mothers
usually
spend
much
more
time
caring
for
infants
and
toddlers.
This
is
supported
by
previous
research
finding
that
fathers’
marital
aggression
predicted
infant
emotional
dyregulation
only
for
fathers
who
spent
considerable
time
caring
for
their
infants
(Crockenberg
et
al.,
2007).
As
noted
above,
flat/withdrawn
affect
in
toddlerhood
was
not
predicted
by
maternal
or
paternal
distressed
responses
to
their
infants’
negative
emotions,
but
only
by
marital
conflict.
Our
findings
differed
from
previous
studies
that
have
found
negative
patterns
of
mother–infant
interaction
to
be
related
to
infants’
higher
levels
of
flat/withdrawn
affect
(Crockenberg
et
al.,
2007;
Martins
et
al.,
2012).
This
may
be
due
to
differences
in
the
assessment
of
parent–child
interaction
used
the
in
present
study
from
those
used
in
these
previous
studies.
Although
these
previous
studies
also
used
observational
assess-
ments,
Crockenberg
et
al.
(2007)
focused
specifically
on
negative
maternal
behaviors
(i.e.,
behaviors
that
were
intrusive,
distracted,
or
showed
negative
or
mismatched
affect),
whereas
Martins
et
al.
(2012)
coded
infant–mother
interactions
at
the
dyadic
level
for
both
mothers’
sensitive
responsiveness
to
their
infant
and
infants’
responsiveness
to
their
mothers.
Our
assessment
of
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions
overlaps
somewhat
with
these
other
assessments,
but
also
differs
in
important
ways.
Distressed
responses
are
nonverbal
indications
of
parental
emotional
stress
that
include
concern,
anxiety,
and
sadness,
which
may
appear
less
negative,
and
possibly
even
as
empathic,
in
compar-
ison
with
more
clearly
negative
emotional
expressions
of
parental
anger
and
frustration.
In
addition,
parents’
distressed
82
L.A.
Frankel
et
al.
/
Infant
Behavior
&
Development
40
(2015)
73–83
responses
to
their
infant’s
negative
emotions
are
by
definition
responsive
and
contingent,
even
if
they
are
not
positive
and
do
not
serve
to
scaffold
infants’
ability
to
regulated
their
negative
emotions.
It
is
possible
that
infants
may
be
more
likely
to
withdraw
and
show
flat/withdrawn
affect
when
parental
behaviors
are
clearly
negative
and
aversive,
or
when
parents
are
uninvolved
and
noncontingent.
These
types
of
parental
behaviors
may
also
lead
to
greater
negative
affect
in
some
infants,
as
they
may
become
angry
and
frustrated
with
parents
who
are
harsh
and
negative
with
them,
or
who
ignore
or
misinterpret
their
signals.
Thus,
it
may
be
that
parents’
distressed
responses
to
their
infants’
negative
emotions
will
lead
to
flat/withdrawn
affect
only
if
they
are
negative
or
noncontingent.
Parental
responses
that
show
anxiety,
concern,
or
sadness
in
response
to
infants’
display
of
distress
may
be
more
likely
to
result
in
infants’
later
development
of
negative
affect
rather
than
flat/withdrawn
affect,
since
these
responses
may
serve
as
a
type
of
social
referencing,
signaling
to
the
child
that
there
is
good
reason
for
them
to
be
upset
and
thus
increasing
their
negative
affect.
4.3.
Limitations
and
future
directions
Clearly,
more
research
on
the
antecedents
of
infant’s
flat/withdrawn
affect
are
needed,
using
more
nuanced
observation
methods
that
assess
the
types
of
distress
that
parents
display
in
response
to
their
children’s
negative
emotions.
Parents’
distress
can
range
dramatically
from
empathic
distress,
to
anxious
or
fearful
distress,
to
frustrated,
angry
distress,
and
different
types
of
distressed
parental
responses
may
lead
to
different
patterns
of
child
emotional
dysregulation.
Future
studies
should
also
examine
responses
that
are
noncontingent,
such
as
ignoring
the
infant
or
misinterpreting
the
infants’
cues,
as
these
types
of
responses
may
be
particularly
likely
to
predict
infants’
flat/withdrawn
affect.
The
small
sample
size
of
the
study
was
a
clear
limitation.
Additionally,
the
sample
was
a
relatively
homogeneous
sample
of
middle-class
individuals
in
which
mothers
were
the
primary
caregivers
of
the
infant.
It
would
be
interesting
to
replicate
this
study
with
more
diverse
samples
or
with
a
sample
of
fathers
who
are
primary
caregivers,
to
see
if
the
lack
of
significant
findings
generalizes,
or
if
findings
for
fathers
have
to
do
with
their
role
as
secondary
caregivers.
Another
limitation
of
the
current
study
is
that
marital
conflict
was
assessed
by
self-report
rather
than
observationally.
Also,
we
did
not
assess
the
extent
to
parents
were
fighting
in
front
of
their
infants.
It
would
be
also
interesting
to
assess
the
extent
to
which
parents
think
that
marital
conflict
affects
how
they
respond
to
their
infants.
Finally,
future
research
should
investigate
why
some
children
respond
to
marital
conflict
with
higher
levels
of
negative
affect,
whereas
others
respond
with
higher
levels
of
flat/withdrawn
affect,
and
if
one
of
these
types
of
emotional
responses
is
more
protective
or
maladaptive
for
the
child.
Results
from
this
study
imply
that
interventions
aimed
at
new
parents
should
aim
to
reduce
their
marital
conflict
and
help
them
find
ways
to
resolve
it.
Parents
should
be
informed
that
even
young
infants
experience
stress
when
exposed
to
marital
conflict
and
may
be
at
risk
for
the
development
of
dysregulated
emotional
expressivity.
In
addition,
parenting
interventions
should
help
parents
learn
to
respond
calmly
to
their
infants’
distress.
It
is
important
for
parents
to
understand
that
negative
emotions
displayed
to
infants
during
marital
interactions
and
in
response
to
their
infants’
distress
can
have
long-term
implications
for
their
child’s
later
emotional
expressivity.
Acknowledgements
The
authors
wish
to
thank
Dr.
Amy
Roetzel
Mintz
for
her
development
and
oversight
of
observational
coding
of
toddler
emotional
expressivity.
This
research
was
supported
by
Grant
SBR-9212990
from
the
National
Science
Foundation
and
Grant
3332
from
the
Hogg
Foundation
for
Mental
Health.
The
second
author
is
supported
by
the
Program
of
Employment
of
Best
Young
Scientists
for
International
Cooperation
Empowerment
(grant
number
CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0037),
European
Social
Fund,
and
the
state
budget
of
the
Czech
Republic.
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