| In the child development and family studies literature the role of the child has often been ignored due to a unidirectional view of parenting and socialization. Changes in the primary theoretical paradigms for development and relatedness have instigated more bidirectional perspectives, which consider the mutual influences of family members on relationships within the family.; This dissertation uses a variety of methodological means in two studies to examine the bidirectional influence within families on the quality of family relationships. The first study investigated the impact of child characteristics, parent characteristics, and the interaction of child and parent characteristics on ratings of marital intimacy. Previous ratings of marital intimacy were a significant predictor of later marital intimacy in mothers and fathers across the study. Difficult child temperament, less agreeable father personality, and the interaction of more difficult child temperament and less agreeable father personality negatively impacted fathers' ratings of marital intimacy at 24 months. For mothers of girls, child characteristics accounted for 3% of the variance in mother marital intimacy ratings at 24months. These effects did not persist to father ratings of marital intimacy at 36 months; however, the interaction between less agreeable father personality and less complex language in sons did predict reduced marital intimacy.; Study two examined the relationship of father-child micro analytic interaction behaviors on several measures of father-child relationship quality. Father characteristics only predicted father-child synchrony, and father-child emotional reciprocity. Child characteristics and father characteristics predicted both father-child mutual compliance and mutual initiations. Family income and child characteristics predicted father-child attachment security. Single indicators, which impacted various aspects of father-child relationship quality included: child initiations as a significant predictor of father-child mutual initiations, mutual compliance, and attachment security; father compliance and father initiation predicted father-child mutual compliance and mutual initiation.; Both studies identified child characteristics, parent characteristics, and bi-directional influences, which impact family relationships, contributing to our understanding of human development within the family. |
