Interrelatedness of Marital Relations and Parent-child Relations: a Meta-analytic Review

It is widely assumed that a linkage, crucial to the understanding of child behavior, exists between marital and parent-child relationship quality. A meta-analysis of 68 studies was conducted to determine whether this linkage exists and, if so, whether the linkage is positive (as suggested by the spill-over hypothesis) or negative (as suggested by the compensatory hypothesis). Results supported the spillover hypothesis; a positive and nonhomogeneous effect size of moderate magnitude was found (d = 0.46). This suggests that research in this area can move beyond the question of whether a positive or negative association exists to identifying moderators of the association. Examination of the impact of 13 potential moderators did not support the existence of any of these variables that could be adequately examined. This suggests that the link between marital and parent-child relations functions as a more stable force than previously thought.