Children's Coping and Adjustment in High-Conflict Homes: The Reformulation of Emotional Security Theory

Repeated exposure to interparental conflict increases children's vulnerability to a range of psychological problems by undermining their emotional security in the relationship between parents. However, emotional security theory in its original form lacks the depth and precision to guide hypotheses regarding individual differences in the nature, precursors, and sequelae of children's emotional security. In this article, we summarize a reformulated version of the theory to address this gap. Specifically, we focus on the ways in which the reformulated theory can elucidate: (a) the nature and developmental implications of systematically characterizing the inner workings of emotional security as a goal system, (b) the relative potency of family characteristics as sources of individual differences in children's emotional security, and (c) processes associated with developmental cascades that account for how and why emotional insecurity is linked to a range of psychological problems.