# “Constructive Interparental Conflict Resolution and Child Adjustment.”

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 2020 · $609,456

## Abstract

Greater exposure to constructive interparental conflict (IPC) characterized by cooperation, warmth,
support, and problem-solving uniquely predicts improvements in children’s mental health outcomes even after
considering other family and child characteristics (Jouriles, McDonald, & Kouros, 2016). However, little is
known about how, why, and when children directly benefit from witnessing constructive IPC. Although earlier
research focused on examining whether decreases in children’s negative emotions and appraisals explain the
link between constructive IPC and children’s better psychological adjustment, studies have consistently failed
to support this hypothesis. Thus, new scientific calls have been made to examine whether constructive IPC
may promote children’s mental health by increasing the salience of their approach or positive valence systems
of functioning (Davies, Sturge-Apple, & Martin, 2016).
 To address this novel paradigm shift, this application is designed to break new ground by providing the first
test of a new integrative process model of constructive IPC and its implications for children’s open, flexible, and
positive responding to environmental stimuli. Specific aims are centered on examining whether prospective
associations between constructive IPC and children’s psychological adjustment (i.e., lower internalizing and
externalizing symptoms, social competence, school engagement) are mediated by their: (a) biases in attention
to different negative and positive emotional displays; (2) increases in social-cognitive understanding as
indexed through emotion knowledge and social problem-solving abilities, and (3) greater emotion regulation
(i.e., positive emotionality, effortful control). To further identify which children may profit the most in this
supportive environment, another aim is to test the theory-guided hypothesis that children’s physiological
reactivity to environmental challenges magnifies associations among constructive IPC and the three classes of
mediating mechanisms.
 Building on the solid base of a strong conceptual framework and promising preliminary findings, this
application will test these aims by following a sample of 250 4-year-old children and their parents over three
annual measurement occasions. The multi-method, multi-informant, and multi-level measurement battery
combined with powerful quantitative analyses will generate authoritative tests of the novel hypotheses. High
methodological innovation and rigor is also evident in the use of the latest, sophisticated measures of the
proposed mediators (e.g., eye tracking measures of emotion-biased attention; precise computer generated
manipulations of emotion stimuli in emotion knowledge assessments) and physiological moderators (e.g.,
assessment of three stress-sensitive neurobiological systems). Thus, this study has the potential to
significantly advance knowledge on mechanisms and conditions by which constructive IPC increases children’s
adjustment and inform cli...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9930104
- **Project number:** 5R01HD094829-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Patrick T Davies
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $609,456
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-11 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9930104

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9930104, “Constructive Interparental Conflict Resolution and Child Adjustment.” (5R01HD094829-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9930104. Licensed CC0.

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