PS 370 Exam 3

historical trends in parenting

• Leta Hollingworth (early 1900s):

  • Maternal instinct?

  • Social devices make women want to have children

• Utilitarian, now more emotional

  • Parents spend more time and money than ever before

influence of parenting

• Emotional functioning

• Cognitive development

• Social relationships

• Behavioral regulation

socialization goals

• Influences the parenting tactics

• Socioeconomic influence

• May stem form real life demands

• Concerted cultivation

  • Structuring and developing a child’s talents, skills, abilities

• Accomplishment of natural growth

  • If parents provide love, safety, and security, children will naturally grow and develop well.

parents impact

• Emotion regulation

• Peer relationships

• Empathy

• Prosocial behavior

• Behavioral regulation

moderators of parenting influence

• Child factors

• Cultural context

• SES

• Parental mental health

parenting influence in infancy

• Sensitivity, Warmth, Involvement, Responsiveness…

• Consistency

• Synchronous parent-child interactions

parenting influence in preschool

• Beginning negotiation of autonomy/independence

• testing the limits:

  • Setting limits

  • Giving clear consequences

  • Rewarding desired behavior

parenting influence in middle child

• Warmth

• Control

• Involvement

• Monitoring

• Promote autonomy and growth as individual

parenting influence in adolescence

• Stanley Hall: storm and stress theory

  • adolescence as a period of heightened emotional turbulence, conflict, and risky behavior

• Warmth from parent decreases then increases

• Conflicts with parents increase and then decrease

  • Only a minority of adolescents experience extreme distress

  • Conflicts are overstated – increase in minor conflicts and disagreements

acceptance/responsiveness

• Amount of support and affection that parent displays

• High: Smile at, praise, encourage; can become critical too

• Low: Quick to criticize, belittle, punish, or ignore; rarely communicate to child hat they are valued or loved

demandingness/control

• Amount of regulation or supervision

• High: place limits on freedom of expression by imposing many demands, actively monitor children’s behavior

• Low: less restrictive, make fewer demands and allow children freedom to pursue interests and make decisions about own activities

authoritative parenting

• High warmth and control

• Acceptance and respect

• Reasonable demands, consistently enforced

• Somewhat democratica

authoritarian parenting

• High control, low warmth

• Many rules/demands

• Few explanations

• Punitive

• More of a dictatorship

permissive parenting

• High warmth, low control

• Few rules, little parental monitoring

• Child free to express feelings/impulses

• Indulgent parents

• “laissez faire”

neglectful/uninvolved parenting

• Low control/low warmth

• Few rules and demands

• Insensitive/indifferent to child’s needs

authoritative style outcomes

• Well-adjusted

• Responsible

• High-achieving

authoritarian style outcomes

• Moody/Unhappy

• Lower academic, cognitive, and social competence

permissive style outcomes

• Lower self-control

• Lower academic achievement

neglectful/uninvolved style outcomes

• Behavior problems

• Drug abuse, delinquency

criticism of parenting styles theory

• Not sensitive to context, culture

• How much of each dimension?

• Classifies parents only along two dimensions

• No consideration of child effects

parental control

• Behavioral:

  • firm discipline and monitoring of conduct (withholding privileges and toys, grounding)

  • Positive outcomes

• Psychological:

  • psychological tactics such as withholding affection and/or inducing shame or guilt

  • Negative outcomes

parenting stress as a public health concern

• Parenting stress an “urgent public health issue”

  • Financial strain

  • Time pressure

  • Isolation (2/3) and societal pressure

• Impact on children

  • Risk of depression, anxiety, and behavioral issues in children

  • Parental resilience and social support as buffer

recommended parenting support

• Policy Changes: Paid family leave, affordable childcare, and accessible mental health services.

• Cultural Shifts: Encourage community support, reduce stigma on parental mental health, and normalize self-care.

• Community-Based Solutions: Establish more community centers, shared childcare resources, and supportive social networks.

public health approach to positive parenting programs

• EBPPs effective in improving child outcomes by enhancing parental knowledge, skills, and confidence. 

  • Numerous meta-analyses

• Access an issue

• Gap between need and participation

• Public health model for parenting support

triple p positive parenting program

• Attempt to introduce positive parenting programs in public health settings

• Moderate significant effect for children’s social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes, parenting practices, and parenting satisfaction and efficacy 

• Smaller but significant effects were also found for parental adjustment and parental relationship

• Reduce the rates of childhood social, emotional, and behavioral problems as well as maltreatment in childhood

process model of stress and coping

• How a person interprets and responds to it.

• Transactional:

  • Family support, child characteristics, coping resources available

  • Assumes everyone is managing stress to the best of their ability

  • Stress x environment

main effects of social support

• Improved mental health – lower levels of depression and anxiety

• Increased resilience – higher resilience and life satisfaction

• Better family functioning – improved parental relationships, sibling well-being, and overall family dynamics

buffering effects of social support

• Reduced caregiver stress 

• Coping with financial & emotional Strains 

• Improved problem-solving

quality of parenting

• Significant relationship between quality of caregiving and a child’s ability to adapt to adversity 

  • Use of structure and discipline

  • Child supervision

  • Active involvement

  • Clear communication patterns

  • Child characteristic and behavior

child resilience

• Ability of a child to adapt, recover, and thrive despite adversity, stress, or trauma.

• Several key components of resilience that contribute to a child's ability to cope with challenges

  • Individual factors

  • Family factors

  • Social support

  • Cognitive and academic factors

  • Coping strategies

risk factors

• circumstances that increase the likelihood that a child will experience negative outcomes and problem behaviors.

protective factors

• modify, ameliorate, or alter a person’s response to stressors

behavioral intervention models for parenting

• Parent management training (PMT)

  • Modify problematic behaviors though positive reinforcement and consistent discipline

  • Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (2-5 yo)

  • Your Defiant Child (up to adolescence)

• Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)

  • Parent ONLY model

therapy for parents

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy:

  • Promote parents’ well-being

  • Manage stress, anxiety, negative thinking pattern

• Mindfulness-based parenting:

  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction

  • Lowering parent stress

family therapy

• Family communication and problem-solving skills

• Functional Family Therapy:

  • Evidence-based short-term

  • Teens 11-18 yo

  • Engagement and motivation

  • Understanding family dynamics

  • Behavior change (strategies to modify and improve family interactions)

  • Generalization

psychoeducational intervention

• Focusing on knowledge and skills to better understand and support the child

• Particular condition

• Coping strategies

• Resources

  • NAMI basics

involving parents in child treatment

• Parent engagement → Better treatment outcomes, reduced symptoms 

  • Validate

  • Encourage treatment engagement

  • Learn the skills

  • Adjusting parenting behaviors

• CBT, DBT, many variations, all with parent component.

community based and support interventions

• Support groups and peer networks

• Parent-to-Parent USA (P2P):

  • Connects parents with trained peer mentors for emotional and informational support.

• Wraparound services

  • Team-based approach

fathers

• Also attached/attachment figures

• Societal shift – more involved

• Can assume all responsibilities of mothers

• Some differences in engagements

  • More physical and stimulating play

  • Bring children closer to the threshold of overarousal

  • Fewer words, more direct commands, encourage problem-solving

• Children w/ secure attachment to father have better emotional regulation

single parents

• Becoming more common

• Look at process not structure

  • Best predictor of poorer adjustment in children from single mother families was their income level.

• Cohort effects: Outcomes seemed worse when single parenthood was less accepted

• Current research findings:

  • Single mothers may show more emotional support, praise, and affection to their children than single fathers do but..

  • Most outcome differences linked to process and individual level characteristics

negative media impact hypothesis

• Displacement hypothesis:

  • IMPACT: health, language, socio-emotional and self- regulation

• Arousal-habituation: 

  • IMPACT: desensitization to emotional stimuli, attention problems, hyperactivity, and poor self regulation

• Melatonin suppression: blue light

  • IMPACT: sleep, routine, fatigue, concentration, learning

• No impact: media use as correlate

  • child/family characteristics (temperament, ADHD, chaotic lifestyle/routine, SES)

technology use

• touchscreens potentially combine the best (social, interactive, developmentally appropriate apps) with the worst of both traditional media forms (e.g. passive video watching).

• Not all use is the same

tv data

• Negative:

  • excessive screen time (TV) may be associated with a range of developmental problems including delayed language 

  • health, sleep

  • antisocial behavior 

  • attentional problems 

• Positive:

  • But, these effects are moderated by parenting style

  • type of content 

  • coviewing with a parent 

  • may disappear when confounds such as socioeconomic status (SES) are accounted for 

american academy of pediatrics tv guidelines

• 0-18 months: Avoid screen time except for video chatting

• 18-24 months: Introduce high-quality, educational content with parental co-viewing.

• 2-5 years: Limit screen time to 1 hour per day of high-quality programming.

• 6+ years: Ensure consistent limits, prioritizing sleep, physical activity, and social interactions.

managing screen time

• Screen Time and Family Routines

  • Children with screen-free mealtimes and bedtime restrictions had better sleep, healthier eating habits, and stronger family bonds

• Physical Activity vs. Screen Time

  • Replacing 1 hour of screen time with outdoor play improves motor skills, attention span, and social development

• Tech Break – better focus

• Parental Influence on Children's Media Use

• Effectiveness of Parental Screen Monitoring

  • Time limits and content filters – children’s healthier digital habits

• Interactive vs. Passive Screen Time

  • Content matters (cognitive benefits)

• Family Media Plans & Child Well-Being

  • Families with consistent media rules had children with better self-regulation and less screen addiction

2007-2009 recession

• National unemployment rates hit 9%

• Same jobs, same education, and less money

• Despite market gains and low unemployment, stagnant wages and only ~50% of Americans have any money in the markets (stocks, retirement, etc.) 

• Economic scarring: short-term economic hardship has lasting consequences (e.g., educational attainment, savings, emotional stress)

2020 recession

• GDP Decline: The U.S. economy contracted by 31.4% (annualized rate) in Q2 2020, the sharpest decline on record.

• Unemployment spike: The U.S. unemployment rate surged to 14.8% in April 2020, the highest since the Great Depression.

• Stock market crash: The S&P 500 dropped over 30% in March 2020 before rebounding after government stimulus measures.

COVID-19 and income shock

• More than 3 out of 5 low-income households with children reported that they had experienced an income shock due to COVID-19

• Associated with a host of material hardships

• Families with children vulnerable to falling behind on obligations

  • each additional child in a household increases the likelihood of a serious delinquency (being at least two months behind on a current loan obligation) by 17%

major economic climate disruptions

• Raising recession concerns

• Market volatility

• The war

• Higher prices

• Overall heightened uncertainty

work and families

• “Ideal Worker” vs. “Good Parent” Conflict

• Policy and Cultural Differences

• Intensive Parenting Norms

• Fertility Rates and Support Policies (still declining)

• Gender Norms and Paternal Leave

• Solutions through Community Support

gender and work

• Women and career advancementge

• Dual-earner families are the norm (most can’t afford SNAF)

• Helps protect against poverty

• Parents’ gender role stereotypes and expectations matter

  • mothers’ and fathers’ predictions of their children’s future careers at age 15 positively correlated with actual career in adulthood.

• Complex bioecological influences on both career and family roles

gender bias

• No difference in performance, but female supervisors rated as being less effective

• Mommy and caring tax – wage penalties for taking time off to have and care for children

• Women are less likely to receive a promotion (Stone et al., 2003; Gutek, 2001b).

• If a woman takes over a job from a male employee, she often receives less pay than her male predecessor 

• Gender gap in a public university system

• Wage gaps persist across gender and race

• Gender and ethnicity interactions

• When judging the success of their female and African American managers → Attributed success to getting help from others

• Judged male and European American managers’ success as due to their personal abilities.

  • But over time, this trend dissipated

family process model of economic hardship/family stress model

• A chain reaction that begins with economic hardship and affects family members through stress and strained relationships.

1. Economic hardship

2. Economic pressure

3. Parental distress

4. Parental disruption

5. Child outcomes

financial supports

• Child Tax Credits: Reducing tax burdens for families with children.

• Universal Basic Income (UBI) or Family Allowances: Direct payments to families to cover essential costs.

• Subsidized Childcare: Lowering childcare costs to make it more affordable.

• Paid Parental Leave: Ensuring parents can take time off work after childbirth or adoption without financial hardship.

work life balance

• Flexible Work Policies: Allowing remote work, flexible hours, and part-time options.

• Paid Family Leave: Covering leave for caregiving responsibilities beyond parental leave.

• Affordable Housing Programs: Making housing more accessible to families through subsidies or rent control.

healthcare and nutrition

• Universal Healthcare or Subsidized Insurance: Ensuring families have access to affordable medical care.

• Maternal and Child Health Programs: Providing prenatal and postnatal care, immunizations, and nutrition support.

• Food Assistance Programs (e.g., SNAP, WIC): Helping low-income families afford healthy food.

education

• Free or Low-Cost Early Childhood Education: Expanding access to preschool and daycare.

• Affordable College Tuition & Student Loan Relief: Reducing the financial burden of higher education.

• After-School & Summer Programs: Supporting working parents with childcare and learning opportunities for kids.

how to measure poverty in research

• The current measure as a base but to deduct work-related expenditures and include all cash and in-kind government benefits when calculating ‘‘income.’’

• However, still weak correlation between income measures and material well-being.

  • Relative poverty (below 200% of federal poverty levels)

poverty in the US

• 10 million children (13.7%) live in poverty

• Varies by ethnic groups

• Varies by state

• The three developed nations with the highest rates of child poverty are the United States (20% to 25% of children), the United Kingdom (18.5% of children), and Australia (15.4% of children)

• The US has the highest rates of poverty out of the 17 developed nations of the world

causes of poverty and the american family

• Access to family benefits (more benefits, less poverty)

• Relationship stability (access to consistent multiple earners)

• Access to education and opportunity

• Neighborhood risk

• Poverty-inducing events (recession, layoffs, policy changes)

consequences of poverty

• Health

• Educational

• Cognitive

• Behavioral

• Parenting may mediate the effects of poverty on child outcomes

• Cascading Consequences:

  • Toxic Stress

  • Poverty → Neighborhood Stress → psychological stress (even for adolescents)

  • Cognitive deficits and school readiness

  • Parenting conflict and behavior problems

poverty as a disease

• Inherited, pervasive, debilitating

• Exposure has last implications for generations

income inequality

• Income inequality has been steadily increasing since the 1970s, with the gap between the richest and poorest individuals in the United States increasing by 40% to 50% over the last four decades.

• Worse outcomes where income inequality is high

• Boys engage in more antisocial behavior, but not girls

• Potential mechanisms linking inequality with health:

  • Social stratification and structural factors

  • Social mechanisms

  • The ways in which individuals within unequal societies and settings internalize or “feel the hierarchy” based on social comparisons

future directions in research

• Merely placing low-income children in wealthier environments does not automatically yield positive results.

• Isolate the age at which children begin to internalize SES-based rankings and hierarchies,

• How perceptions of social status evolve from childhood to adulthood

• The effects of SES across development and among diverse populations.

scarcity mentality

• People focus intensely on what they lack

• the brain allocates most of its focus to solving immediate problems.

  • reduces mental capacity for long-term planning, impulse control, and decision-making

  • only focused on immediate needs

• Stress

• short-term financial choices

• can perpetuate the cycle of poverty

universal basic income

• Government provides citizens with a fixed, unconditional sum of money on a regular basis (e.g., monthly or annually), regardless of employment status or income level.

• Support a basic standard of living and reduce poverty.

types of early childcare

• Head Start

• Through Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

  • State pre-K programs

  • 3 years olds ae beginning to enter the system as well.

• In the welfare system, some focused on supporting maternal employment.

• Families who are neither poor nor have a child with disability have to figure it out on their own.

childcare costs

• On average, a family making the state median income would have to spend 18 percent of their income to cover the cost of childcare for an infant, and 13 percent for a toddler.

• In no state does the cost of center-based infant or toddler childcare meet the federal definition of affordable

  • no more than 7 percent of annual household income.

• In 12 states, the cost of childcare for just one infant exceeds 20 percent of the state median income.

• Current public investments in infant and toddler childcare fall short:

  • The gap between the childcare subsidy rate and the cost of licensed infant care exceeds $400 per month in nearly half of all states.

quality of care determined by

• Child-adult relationships and interactions:

  • Children more advanced in development if:

    • Ample verbal and cognitive stimulation

    • Sensitive and responsive

    • Attention and support

  • Widely varied

  • 1 in 4 infant caregivers was moderately insensitive

  • One of the highest turnover rates (about 30%)

• Structural features of care:

  • Child to staff ratios and group sizes

    • Lower better (more sensitive better social and cognitive development)

  • Caregiver education and training

    • Less consistent findings, but some suggest better outcomes

• Surrounding community and policy context:

  • Federal and state regulations

  • Funding policies

  • Regulations for ratios, group size, provider education

effects of childcare

• Quality of Child Care:

  • Higher quality childcare was consistently linked to better cognitive and academic outcomes.

• Quantity of Child Care:

  • More hours associated with increased behavioral issues, such as impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors, observed during adolescence.

• Type of Child Care:

  • Participation in center-based care was linked to higher cognitive and language scores but also correlated with more reported problem behaviors.

• Family and Home Environment:

  • Family characteristics, including maternal sensitivity, income, and education level, stronger predictors of children's developmental outcomes than childcare factors.

• Long-Term Effects:

  • High-quality early childcare was associated with higher academic grades and admission to more selective colleges by the end of high school.

benefits and risks of childcare

• The benefit is that higher-quality childcare, quality that improves over time, and more experience in centers predicts better performance on measures of cognitive and linguistic functioning.

• The risk is that more hours in childcare across the first 4 1⁄2 years of life is related to elevated levels of problem behavior at 4 1⁄2 years.

• No evidence that time in childcare impacts the quality of the parent-child relationship.

• Depends:

  • Main effects of childcare are significant after controlling for family variables, meaning they are viable options for low-income interventions

  • There are individual differences in the effects of childcare

    • Temperament

    • Physiology

    • Attachment classification

global exposure to violence

• At least 50% of children living in or near active conflict areas at any given time (e.g., Middle East, east Africa)

• According to UNICEF and WHO, over 1 billion children experience violence each year

• Incredible importance of understanding the impact of exposure to violence and conflict on the developing child.

historical trends in IPV

• Breaking the Silence:

  • Feminist activists began to name and confront domestic violence, marital rape, and sexual harassment.

  • The first domestic violence shelters opened in the 1970s.

• Legal and Policy Advances:

  • States began enacting laws against domestic abuse.

  • Title IX (1972): Addressed sex discrimination in education and later expanded to include sexual harassment and assault on campuses.

violence against women act

• Mandatory Arrest Laws: Many states adopted policies requiring police to arrest alleged abusers in domestic violence calls.

• Increased Public Awareness: High-profile cases (like O.J. Simpson) brought domestic violence into the national conversation.

2010-present trends in IPV

• #MeToo Movement

• Title IX enforcement became a battleground under multiple administrations, with debates around due process and victim rights.

• Digital Abuse became more recognized as forms of gender-based violence.

• VAWA Reauthorizations:

  • The act has been reauthorized multiple times, though sometimes with political struggle.

• Recent versions included stronger protections for LGBTQ+ survivors, Native American women, and immigrant women.

intimate partner violence (IPV)

• A broad term that includes physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, and psychological aggression (like threats or coercive tactics) by a current or former intimate partner.

domestic violence

• abuse occurring within a domestic setting

intimate terrorism

• Coercive control (isolation, threats, intimidation), ongoing physical and emotional abuse. Highest lethality risk.

situational couples violence

• Mutual slapping, pushing, or other forms of less severe violence which rarely result in injury

• 56% perpetrated by males and 44% by females

• Found in middle-class couples

gender symmetry controversy

• Do men and women experience (and perpetrate) violence in relationships at equal rates?

• Measurement differences

• Reporting bias, variation in risk of severe risk to health, and types of offending all make it difficult to study.

• Ideological bias

• Policy implications

• Funding, law enforcement training, shelter services, prevention programs

• Nuanced approach

gender symmetry

• Equal

• Evidence from family conflict studies

gender asymmetry

• IPV is gendered

• Evidence from intimate terrorism, hospital/emergency room data, shelter usage, and homicide stats.

• Women make up 85–90% of victims of severe IPV.

• Women are much more likely to be killed by male partners than vice versa.

structure vs process of IPV

• Structural view: violence is a product of structural gender inequality, shaped by institutions, cultural norms

• Process view: interpersonal dynamics, conflict

cycles of violence

• Psychological and behavioral model, explains how abusive relationships tend to repeat in predictable patterns

• Phase 1: escalation/increasing tension

• Phase 2: violence/acute battering

• Phase 3: honeymoon period/apology and cool-down

power and control

• Two core elements that drive the cycle of violence

• Duluth wheel: Visual tool designed to illustrate the common patterns of abusive behavior used by perpetrators ro maintain power and control over their intimate partners 

  • most often in the context of male-perpetrated violence against women

why is it so hard to leave

• Psychological and emotional factors:

  • Intermittent reinforcement

  • Shame – cannot share

  • Guilt

  • Cognitive dissonance

  • Learned helplessness

• External and social factors:

  • Custody of children

  • Protection of children

  • Finances

  • Social isolation

• Most dangerous when trying to leave

risk factors for IPV

• History of violence

• Substance abuse

• Low income

  • But can occur all income levels and backgrounds

• Low self-esteem

• Financial stress

protective factors of IPV

• Higher income have more resources and support to deal with consequences

• Social support

short and long term impact of IPV

• PTSD, chronic health issues, psychosomatic issues

• Depression

• Allostasis:

  • Allostatic load

  • Harder to maintain homeostasis

  • When constant threat, the system may short-circuit

dysphoric/borderline batterers

• Distances self from responsibility

• Detachment and low empathy

• High psychological distress

• Mental illness or personality disorder

• More likely to commit intimate terrorism

antisocial/violent or cobra batterers

• Blames partner

• Cold, uncaring, low empathy

• Self centered, narcissistic, entitled

• Psychopathic tendencies

• Most likely to commit intimate terrorism

family only or pit bull batterers

• Apologizes after

• Can be loving and tender

• Emotionally needy, clingy, jealous

• Insecure attachment, separation anxiety

• Most likely to commit situational couples violence

attachment issues

• Insecure attachment: most vulnerable to a violent relationship

• Avoidant attachment style → violence to control

• Preoccupied → perseverate on issue, can’t let things go, no resolution, building to violence

• Remember, many insecurely attached adults aren’t engaged in IPV…

treatment issues

• Marriage or couples counseling is not recommended for couples experiencing IPV.

• Each partner working separately on their own issues

• Batterer intervention programs have very low rates of success

• The Duluth Model:

  • Rehabilitation of batterer and support for survivor without attempts at maintaining relationship (which is never the goal)

  • Safety is the priority

children exposed to IPV

• Children may be present for up to 70-85% of violence incidences between adult partners

• Chronic stress undermines emotional security but also changes threat sensitivity

• Hostile attribution bias: a cognitive style of interpreting ambiguous social stimuli as negative or hostile in nature

  • Often leads to aggressive or violent reactions

types of child maltreatment

• Physical Abuse:

  • Most likely to be abused before age of 5

  • Placing child in hot water as punishment, shaking, choking, squeezing, abusive head trauma

  • Often predicated by unrealistic expectations (e.g., infant intentionality)

• Neglect:

  • Physical (food, shelter, clothing shortages)

  • Emotional (failure to meet need for love and affection, low stimulation)

  • Medical/educational neglect (fail to provide necessary medical care or school attendance)

• Sexual:

  • Any physical violation or contextual exposure

  • “grooming” occurs when a perpetrator evolves a trusting relationship into an abusive one

• Emotional/psychological:

  • Verbal abuse, criticisms, undermines confidence

four types of unresponsive care

• Occasional Inattention

• Chronic Under-Stimulation

• Severe Neglect in a Family Context

• Severe Neglect in an Institutional Setting

bucharest early intervention project

• 136 institutionalized children, aged 6 – 30 months.

• Randomly assigned to groups:

  • Foster care (created and monitored by the research team)

  • Continued institutional care

  • Control group of gen population children

• Researchers followed the children for many years

• Findings:

  • Institutionalized children had:

    • Delayed cognitive development

    • Smaller brain volume

    • Impaired attachment and emotional regulation

    • Alterations in reward sensitivity and processing

    • Higher rates of anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues

  • Power of Early Intervention

    • Children placed in high-quality foster care before age 2 showed significant improvements in:

      • IQ and language skills

      • Emotional development

      • Brain activity (measured with EEG and MRI)

  • Lasting Effects

emotional security theory

• “Children are deeply motivated to maintain a sense of emotional safety and security in their relationships – especially with their caregivers.”

• Children seek emotional security

• Interparental conflict can make children feel unsafe

• Children respond to restore their emotional security

  • Secure pattern (regulate emotions well)

  • Insecure preoccupied pattern (worries, hypervigilant, clingy)

  • Insecure disengaged pattern (shut down emotionally or avoid conflict, become withdrawn).

social defense system

• Behavioral and emotional response system which organizes children’s behavior in response to conflict

• Driven by fear

• Repeated activation of the SDS undermines emotional security