4/24/02

FREQUENT PARENTAL CONFLICT HARMS CHILDREN: AU RESEARCHERS

AUBURN -- Children who witness their parents fighting are more likely to be sick, not sleep as well, have their cognitive functions impaired, have increased physiological changes and be more depressed and aggressive.

Those were some of the findings of new research released Wednesday by Auburn University faculty member Mona El-Sheikh, the principal investigator for a $500,000 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

El-Sheikh, an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, studied more than 200 children from May 1996 through last April, monitoring their reactions to marital conflict.

The children, primarily from East Alabama, were observed during the first year, then again in 1998 and 2000. They ranged in age from six to 12 years at the start of the study and were from varied socio-economic backgrounds. About 35 percent were African-American.

One important finding El-Sheikh uncovered was that a child's ability to regulate his or her vagal tone response -- the parasympathetic response of the nervous system which affects the childąs ability to soothe him or herself -- is influenced by exposure to such family situations as verbal or physical parental conflict and parental alcohol abuse.

"Vagal tone is associated with calming a person down after an emotionally arousing experience," she said.

A childąs vagal tone response is determined in part by biology and in part by environment, and as a child ages it becomes a stable individual difference.

"Those who have better levels of vagal tone tend to function better overall," she said. "Children who have better physiological responses tend to be more protected in situations of emotional stress and instability."

Contrary to what people think, the frequency of parental conflict (whether verbal, mental or physical) is not always a key in determining how a child will be affected.

"What we've found is that children differ in their reactions," she said. "Some children become sensitized to it, meaning that they have a lowered threshold for emotional arousal to any conflict, and may become upset more easily even to situations unrelated to parental conflict.

"In addition, it has been found that it is beneficial for children to witness parents resolving conflicts."

In one recent segment of the research, in which she collaborated with her husband, Joseph Buckhalt, a professor in AU's Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, the duo found that children's sleep patterns, both the quality and quantity, were affected by parental conflict.

To conduct that research, children wore watch-like devices that monitored their sleep activity.

"How children's sleep is affected by emotional distress has not been well researched and it's an area we want to explore more," said El-Sheikh.

The husband-and-wife team has two grant proposals pending to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation to continue their work in that area.

El-Sheikh said that research on the topic is important because it is something all parents can relate to.

"We all know that poor sleep impairs cognitive and emotional functioning," she said. "We don't process information as efficiently, and we are more prone to irritability. Research also shows that poor sleep leads to more sickness. It's a cycle."

By understanding better what is responsible for differing reactions and outcomes for children, they hope to inform prevention and treatment programs.

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apr02: AU-children

CONTACT: El-Sheikh, 334/844-3294; and Buckhalt, 334/844-2875.

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(MEDIA NOTE: The ABC News program, Primetime Thursday will air a segment on El-Sheikh's research on Thursday, April 25, at 9 p.m., CDT.