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Interparental Control During Pregnancy Predicts Parental Control Directed Toward Infants, Jaime Stephenson

Honors Theses

Numerous studies have found that the quality of the intimate relationship between parents significantly impacts the quality of the parent-child relationship which, in turn, has important implications for child psychosocial adjustment. Research calls to Enfger’s spillover hypothesis suggesting that discord or dysfunction in one family relationship (e.g., the interparental relationship) puts other family relationships (e.g., parent-child relationships) at increased risk for dysfunction. Examining the association between interparental respect and control dynamics during pregnancy and the parent-child relationship when the child is 1 year of age is important because (a) children’s social and moral adjustment is in a critical stage of …