Research Proposal - Final Version - Bar.docx

Research Proposal The exposure of young children to parental conflicts was found to trigger emotional distress and is associated with a wide range of psychological problems (Buehler et al., 1997). Infants have not yet developed emotional regulation mechanisms, hence the exposure to conflicts at this stage can be devastating and may lead to many problems such as emotional and behavioral regulation difficulties, developmental problems, and impaired mental well-being (Valiente & Eisenberg, 2006). However, not every child growing up in a conflictual environment will be equally affected (Crockenberg & Langrock, 2001; Davies & Cummings, 1994; Westrupp et al., 2015). The ability to regulate feelings influences the way in which parents handle their conflicts and affect the outcome of the situation for both the parents and their family members (Fruzza & Iverson, 2006). There seems to be a relationship between the dimensions of the parental conflict (i.e., frequency and intensity) and the infant's emotional regulation (Siffert & Schwarz, 2000). Further, there seems to be a link between the parent's emotional regulation and the way the conflict is managed (Willen, 2015). By providing positive feedback to the partner and the child, in order resolve the conflict, parents with normal emotional regulation were more flexible and successful in adapting their emotion to the situation, (Willen, 2015). Thus, the parents' ability to regulate their emotions is critical both for conflict management and for the proper development of the emotional regulation of the child. Emotional regulation of the parent may also affect the quality of the ongoing conflict. However, the possible moderating effect of parental emotional regulation on child's emotional regulation is yet to be studied. In the present study, I will focus on examining these variables for mothers and father, given the central role they play in the infant’s life. In light of these findings, levels of emotional regulation of the parent should moderate the negative relationship between the parental conflict and the infant's emotional regulation. That is, among parents with a higher level of emotional regulation, there should be a weaker negative correlation between the indexes (frequency and intensity) of parental conflict and the infant's regulation capacity. Parents of infants aged six months to a year will fill in the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) (Gratz & Roemer, 2004) as well as the Multidimensional Assessment of Interparental Conflict Scale (MAIC) (Tschann, Flores, Pasch & Marin, 1999). Next, infants will undergo the classic ‘tab lab’ battery (Goldsmith and Rothbart, 1996). This battery has been found to elicit distress situations and thus is useful in measuring emotional regulation. Infants performance will be recorded on tape and will be encoded later, according to the criteria of a behavioral coding guide. The current study can be valuable for psychological treatment. By training parents who experience intense conflicts with their partners to develop a more robust emotional regulation capacity, we might be able to minimize the potentially devastating effects on their infants.

References .‫ ולמחוק את ההערות בעברית שסבירות מה מטרת השאלון‬,‫את צריכה לתקן את הרפרנסים של הכלים לאנגלית‬ .‫אל תשכחי לסדר את הרפרנסים אח"כ לפי סדר אלפאבתי‬ )DERS( “Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale” ‫ יימדד באמצעות שאלון‬.‫ויסות רגשי הורה‬ .)Gratz & Roemer, 2004( .‫ ביניהם איכות ותדירות‬,‫ יימדד באמצעות שאלון הבוחן מדדים שונים של קונפליקט‬.‫קונפליקט בין הורי‬ Tschann, ( (MAIC) "Multidimensional Assessment of Interparental Conflict Scale‫״‬ .)Flores, Pasch & Marin, 1999 Lab-TAB; Goldsmith & Rothbart, ( Lab-TAB ‫ יימדד באמצעות סוללת מטלות קלאסית של‬.‫ויסות רגשי תינוק‬ .‫ ולכן יעילה במדידת וויסות רגשי‬,‫ סוללה זו נמצאה כמעוררות מצבי מצוקה‬.)1996

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Buehler, C., Anthony, C., Krishnakumar, A., Stone, G., Gerard, J., & Pemberton, S. (1997). Interparental conflict and youth problem behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 6(2), 223-247. Crockenberg, S. & Langrock, A. (2001). The role of emotion and emotional regulation in children's responses to interparental conflict. In J. H. Grych & F. D. Fincham (Eds.), Interparental conflict and child development: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 129-156). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116(3), 387-411. Fruzzetti, A. E., & Iverson, K. M. (2006). Intervening With Couples and Families to Treat Emotion Dysregulation and Psychopathology. In D. K. Snyder, J. A. Simpson, & J. N. Hughes (Eds.), Emotion regulation in couples and families: Pathways to dysfunction and health. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Goldsmith, H. H., & Rothbart, M. K. (1996) The Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (LAB-TAB): Prelocomotor Version 3.0. Personality Development Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI 53706. Available from Hill H. Goldsmith, Ph.D. Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional Assessment of Emotion Regulation and Dysregulation: Development, Factor Structure, and Initial Validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41-54.

Siffert, A., & Schwarz, B. (2011). Parental conflict resolution styles and children's adjustment: Children's appraisals and emotion regulation as mediators. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 172(1), 21-39. Tschann, J. M., Flores, E., Pasch, L. A., & Marin, B. V. (1999). Assessing Interparental Conflict: Reports of Parents and Adolescents in European American and Mexican American Families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(2), 269-283. Valiente, C. & Eisenberg, N. (2006). Parenting and children's adjustment: The role of children's emotion regulation. In D. K. Snyder, J. A. Simpson, & J. N. Hughes (Eds.), Emotion regulation in couples and families: Pathways to dysfunction and health (pp. 123-142). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Westrupp, E. M., Rose, N., Nicholson, J. M., & Brown, S. J. (2015). Exposure to inter-parental conflict across 10 years of childhood: Data from the longitudinal study of Australian children. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 19(9), 1966-1973. Willen, H. (2015). Challenges for Divorced Parents: Regulating Negative Emotions in PostDivorce Relationships. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 36(3), 356-170.