Family relationships and the psychosocial adjustment of school-aged children in intact families

The authors investigated whether the quality of three family relationships (i.e., marital, parent-child, sibling) in intact families are associated with each other and with children's psychosocial adjustment. Data were collected by means of maternal and child reports (N = 88) using standardized instruments (i.e., Marital Satisfaction Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). The findings confirm associations between the marital and the parent-child relationship, and between the parent-child and the sibling relationship. Further, both father-child relationships and sibling relationships predict children's adjustment. Father-child conflicts contribute to children's problem behavior, while father-child acceptance and sibling affection contribute significantly to children's general self-esteem. However, contrary to previous studies no support was found for the association between marital relationship and sibling relationship, or for that between marital relationship quality and children's adjustment.