Self-blame and control appraisals as moderators of adjustment in children exposed to interparental conflict

Grych and Fincham's cognitive-contextual model ( 1990) attempts to explain the relationship between interparental conflict and child adjustment.In particular, they propose that children's perceptions of interparental conflict may influence this relationship.The present study investigated the mediational and moderational effects of children's attributions of self-blame and control on this relationship using simple regression and hierarchical multiple regression.It was hypothesized that the interaction between self-blame and control would act as a moderator of the relationship between interparental conflict and child adjustment.One hundred and two mothers and their male and female children, aged 6 to 12.7 (M age= 8.77 years; N= 102), participated.Children completed the Children's Perceptions of Interparental -Conflict measure and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale.Mothers completed the O'Leary Porter Scale, a measure of children's exposure to interparental conflict, and the Child Behavior Checklist, which assesses children's emotional and behavioural adjustment along the dimensions of externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems.No evidence was found for mediational effects.However, evidence was found supporting the hypothesis that the interaction between children's attributions of self-blame and control moderates the relationship between interparental conflict and child externalizing.Specifically, the combination of high self-blame and high control moderated the relationship between exposure to interparental conflict and child externalizing such that children exposed to more interparental conflict also .displayed more externalizing problems.However, for children with other iii combinations of high and low levels of self-blame and control attributions, the relationship between exposure to interparental conflict and child adjustment was not as strong.These findings have implications for our understanding of how children's views of interparental conflict may impact their adjustment.Acknowledgements I would like to take an opportunity to thank those people who helped me complete this process in the smoothest fashion possible.My heartfelt thanks go to my senior supervisor, Patricia Kerig, who has always been very dedicated, efficient, patient, and enthusiastic during our