The Role of Marital Conflict and Family Emotional Security in Children's Physical and Psychosocial Health

This research investigated the role of marital conflict and family emotional security in children’s physical and psychosocial health.

413 fifth-grade school children in the city of Tehran (220 girls and 193 boys) with a mean age of 10.81, were selected using relative stratified random sampling. Mothers responded to the Overt Hostility/ O’Leary-Porter Scale (OPS) and the Child Health Questionnaire-Parent Form (CHQ-PF-28) and children responded to the Security In the Family System (SIFS) scales.

The findings indicated that marital conflict and family emotional insecurity have inverse relationship with children’s physical and psychosocial health. Also, marital conflict was a predictor (inversely) of children emotional security.

Marital conflict leads to an insecure attachment of children to parents.