Korean J Child Stud. 2011; 32(5): 85-101.
The Influences of Marital Conflict and Maternal Anger on Child Maltreatmen
부부갈등과 어머니의 분노가 아동학대에 미치는 영향
도현심 , 김민정 , 김상원 , 최미경 , 김재희
Hyun Sim Doh , Min Jung Kim , Sang Won Kim , Mi Kyung Choi , Jae Hee Kim
ABSTRACT
This study investigated both the direct and indirect influences of marital conflict on child abuse by exploring the pathways between marital conflict, maternal anger, and child maltreatment. A total of 344 mothers with 3-year-old children responded to questionnaires, which including items on marital conflict/violence, maternal anger, and child maltreatment. The data thus collected were analyzed by means of Structural Equation Modeling. The results indicated that maternal anger partially mediated the association between marital conflict and child maltreatment. In more concrete terms, the direct and indirect effects of marital conflict on child maltreatment were a little greater than the direct effect of maternal anger on child maltreatment. The effects of marital conflict on maternal anger was the greatest among all associations between the research variables included in this study. The findings of this study have a number of implications for research and practice, which highlights the important considerations that both cultivating positive marital relationships and regulating maternal anger should be emphasized in prevention and intervention programs for child maltreatment.
Key words :
marital conflict, maternal anger, child maltreatment, prevention and intervention
