Longitudinal pathways between marital relationships and children’s CU traits: Parenting style mediation and gender moderation

Abstract

BackgroundMarital conflict, marital intimacy, and parenting styles have been associated with the development of CU traits in children. However, the pathways between these variables is not yet clear. MethodsA sample of 492 Chinese children in primary school were followed over a period of 18 months. First, we examined the associations between marital conflict, marital intimacy, and children’s CU traits longitudinally, and examined the mediation of these associations by parenting style. Second, we tested for potential gender differences in these predictive associations. ResultsMarital intimacy strongly predicted lower level of children’s CU traits over a period of 18 months, and an authoritative parenting style mediated this predictive relation. Additionally, the relationship between marital conflict and children’s CU traits was totally mediated by an authoritarian parenting style. Gender only moderated the pathway of marital intimacy on authoritarian parenting styles which is lower marital intimacy leads to more authoritarian parenting for girls than boys. ConclusionsWe found spillover effect on CU traits from both marital relationship and parenting style. From a developmental perspective, either improving the marital intimate relationship and addressing an authoritative parenting style, as well as reducing marital conflict and minimizing an authoritarian parenting style could help decrease CU traits in child. The findings of this study have implications for the early prevention of CU traits in children, and for future research into the impacts of family functioning.