The mediation effects of dysfunctional beliefs and emotional regulation on children's perceived parental conflict and internalizing and externalizing problems

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediational effects of dysfunctional beliefs and difficulties in emotional regulation on children's perception of interparental conflict and subsequent internalizing and externalizing problems. The participants in this study were 335 fifth grade elementary school students in Korea. We hypothesized that the association between children's perceived parental conflict and their internalizing and externalizing problems is mediated by dysfunctional beliefs and difficulty in emotional regulation. The hypothesized model was tested by structural equation modeling (SEM). The hypothesis was supported, and we concluded that children's perceived parental conflict affects children's internalizing problems through dysfunctional beliefs and difficulties in emotional regulation. However, the bootstrap results indicate that the direct path between parental conflict and externalizing problems is not significant, which suggests full mediation of dysfunctional belief in the association between parental conflict and externalizing problems, while dysfunctional belief partially mediated the association between parental conflict and internalizing problems.
Source: School Psychology International - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Articles Source Type: research