A considerable body of literature documents the relation between marital conflict and emotional and behavioral problems in children (e.g., Cummings & Davies, 1994; Emery, 1982; Grych & Fincham, 1990). The field has now moved on to consider the mechanisms and processes through which marital conflict undermines the emotional and behavioral competence of children (Fincham, 1994). Much of the theorizing about such processes has centered on the parent–child relationship, and numerous studies have examined whether marital conflict influences child development because of its impact on the parent–child relationship. Although this is a seemingly straightforward question, it is more complex than it first appears to be. Our understanding of human development is as much dependent upon asking the appropriate questions as it is on finding the answers. We propose that systems theory will be helpful in generating the appropriate questions. Systems theories as applied to family or individual development (Cox & Paley, 1997; Sameroff, 1994) lead to a consideration of the mutual influence between family relationships. Systems perspectives suggest the importance of the constant interplay over time between levels and elements of a system. Thus, we should be asking not only how marital conflict affects parent–child relationships, but also how the development of parent–child relationships feeds back into the course of the marital relationship. Does conflict in the parent–child relationship lead to marital conflict? Does the nature of the parent–child relationship affect children's responses to marital conflict?
Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 306 citations exist upstream.