Understanding of the universality of relations between marital discord and children
is limited by gaps in cross-cultural study. In an extension of study of this
question to a Latin American culture, the impact of marital discord was examined in
7–9 and 11–13-year-olds from Chilean (N = 36) and US
(N = 36) families. Parents completed marital discord and child adjustment
measures and children responded to analogue presentations of marital discord. For
both groups, marital discord was related to children’s adjustment and
children’s reactions to marital discord varied significantly as a function
of conflict resolution. At the same time, culture moderated the amplitude of some
relations, with the pattern of findings suggesting that Chilean children were more
sensitive to marital discord than US children. Discussion considers the role of
cultural context as a factor in the effects of marital discord on children.
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