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Cited by 8Attachment and Relationship DynamicsStress Responses and CortisolChild Abuse and Trauma

Childhood family adversity and adult cortisol response: The role of observed marital conflict behavior.

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Winer, Jeffrey P., Powers, Sally I., Pietromonaco, Paula R., Schreck, Meghan C.·2018·Journal of Family Psychology
DOI 10.1037/fam0000455PMC PMC8252991
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Abstract

Childhood family adversity predicts adult interpersonal behavior and physiological responses to interpersonal stress. Additionally, negative marital behaviors (e.g., hostility and distress maintaining attributions) predict maladaptive stress responses and mental health problems, whereas positive marital behaviors (e.g., acceptance and relationship enhancing attributions) predict adaptive physiological and psychological outcomes. The present study examined potential marital behavior mediators and moderators of the link between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to conflict. In a sample of 218 different-sex newlywed couples, we examined (a) actors' marital conflict behaviors as candidate mediators of the link between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to marital conflict discussions, and (b) partners' marital conflict behaviors as candidate moderators of the relation between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to marital discussions. Path analysis using actor-partner interdependence modeling did not confirm mediation. Instead, wives' childhood family adversity directly predicted husbands' attenuated cortisol responses, and wives' negative behavior predicted wives' attenuated cortisol responses. As hypothesized, wives' negative behaviors moderated the association between husbands' childhood family adversity and husbands' cortisol in response to conflict; husbands showed higher cortisol if they had experienced greater family adversity and if their wives displayed more negative behavior. Results suggest that childhood family adversity may carry forward to shape adult cortisol responses to conflict and highlights the importance of wives' negative behavior for both husbands and wives. These findings add to the family psychology literature by further clarifying how the interaction of stressful childhood experiences and conflict behaviors in marriage are associated with adult physiological responses to conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record

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  • Women's childhood family adversity was associated with their partner's attenuated cortisol response during an in-lab conflict discussion (Winer et al., 2018).

    “women’s childhood family adversity was associated with their partner’s attenuated cortisol response during an in-lab conflict discussion (Winer et al., 2018)”

    From Partner Effects of Childhood Maltreatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2024) · cites this paper as Winer et al., 2018

  • Men's family-of-origin aggression and men's childhood family adversity were not significantly related to their partner's cortisol response during in-lab interactions (Arbel et al., 2016; Kazmierski et al., 2020; Winer et al., 2018).

    “Men’s family-of-origin aggression and men’s childhood family adversity were not significantly related to their partner’s cortisol response during in-lab interactions (Arbel et al., 2016; Kazmierski et al., 2020; Winer et al., 2018)”

    From Partner Effects of Childhood Maltreatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2024) · cites this paper as Winer et al., 2018

  • Women and men's childhood family adversity were not significantly related to their partner's negative and positive behaviors during an in-lab conflict discussion (Winer et al., 2018).

    “Women and men’s childhood family adversity were not significantly related to their partner’s negative and positive behaviors during an in-lab conflict discussion (Winer et al., 2018)”

    From Partner Effects of Childhood Maltreatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2024) · cites this paper as Winer et al., 2018

    The Results report that women’s and men’s childhood family adversity was not significantly related to their own positive or negative conflict behavior. They do not report whether either person’s adversity was related to their partner’s behavior. Searches for partner-behavior associations found moderation analyses instead, which do not settle the claimed association. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Winer, J. P., Powers, S. I., Pietromonaco, P. R., & Schreck, M. C.
Affiliations
  • Boston Children's Hospital (US)
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Family Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2018-09
Volume
32
Issue
6
Pages
793-803
ISSN
  • 0893-3200 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1293
DOI
10.1037/fam0000455
PMC
PMC8252991
OpenAlex
W2891302464
Cited by
8
References
0
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4
FWCI
1.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Family Psychology (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
Keywords
cortisol response, stress reactivity, newlyweds, marital hostility, interpersonal stress, actor-partner interdependence, mediation, moderation
MeSH terms
Adult Survivors of Child Adverse Events, Adult, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Spouses, Family Conflict, Young Adult

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