Relations between childhood emotional insecurity, self‐esteem, and adulthood marital conflict in South Korea

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• Author: Young‐Eun Lee
• Date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12743

RESEARCH

Relations between childhood emotional insecurity,

self-esteem, and adulthood marital conflict in

South Korea

Young-Eun Lee

Department of Early Childhood Education,

Gachon University, Seongnam-si, South Korea

Correspondence Young-Eun Lee, Graduate

School of Education Building 357, Gachon

University, 1342 Seongnamdaero, Sujeong-gu,

Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

Email: yelee@gachon.ac.kr

Funding information

This work was supported by the Ministry of

Education of the Republic of Korea and the

National Research Foundation of Korea

(NRF-2020S1A5B5A16081963).

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the reciprocal relation-

ship between childhood emotional insecurity, later

adult self-esteem, and marital conflict in South Korean

couples.

Background: Current literature on intergenerational trans-

mission of marital relationships lacks a dyadic perspective

for understanding how spouses influence the relationship

between childhood emotional insecurity and adulthood

marital conflict.

Method: The actor–partner interdependence model was

employed to test spillover and crossover effects using

data from 210 South Korean couples with children age

3–5 years.

Results: Childhood emotional insecurity was associated

with marital conflict in both women and men. Addition-

ally, this relationship was mediated by lower levels

of self-esteem. However, the mediating effect was stron-

ger for women than for men. Furthermore, women

experiencing emotional insecurity during childhood

positively affected their spouses’destructive marital

conflict coping strategies through lower self-esteem,

whereas men’s childhood emotional insecurity did not

affect their spouses’destructive marital conflict through

self-esteem.

Conclusion: This study provides strong evidence to explain

the mechanism of intergenerational transmission in marital

conflicts.

Implications: Future research on intergenerational trans-

mission of marital relationships should consider the influ-

ence of the family of origin and the interactions between

couples by considering the family as an interdependent

dynamic system.

Received: 24 September 2021Revised: 20 April 2022Accepted: 13 June 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12743

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

1926 Family Relations. 2023;72:1926–1941.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

KEYWORDS

actor–partner interdependence model, emotional insecurity,

intergenerational transmission, marital conflict, self-esteem

According to the literature on the intergenerational transmission of marital relationships,

marital discord predicts lower marital quality in subsequent generations (Amato &

Booth, 2001). This study examines the mechanisms that explain intergenerational transmis-

sion of marital relationships, especially marital conflicts. Davies and Cummings (1994)

argued that primary goals of child development, such as “safety”and “security,”could

be violated by marital conflict. Furthermore, they termed the psychological state of anxiety

in the marital conflict context “emotional insecurity.”However, despite extensive research

on emotional security over the past 30 years, few studies have focused on how reports of

childhood emotional insecurity experienced during interparental conflict by adult offspring

are related to their coping strategies for their current marital conflicts. Additionally,

although one family member’s emotional state affects the emotions and well-being of other

family members (Abrams, 1999), little is known about how spouses influence the relation-

ship between childhood emotional insecurity and adulthood marital conflict.

Theoretical framework

Based on the interdependent characteristics of family members, the family systems theory

emphasizes identifying the causes of problems within the family from the perspective of context

and relationships rather than individual factors (Smith-Acuna, 2010). According to Bowen

(1978), who applied the contextual approach to actual marital therapy, it is important to con-

sider marital conflict within the intergenerational context to understand it properly. In other

words, the cause of marital conflict should be understood by examining the dynamic context of

the family in which the couple grew up and not the problems related to individual behavior or

personality. Additionally, Bandura (1977) stated that humans learn while observing others and

that others’recognition or rejection in the process can be a powerful source of joy and pain.

This supports the view that children observe their parents’interpersonal relationships, process

and store the information, and replicate the same relationship in their own marriages later.

Based on the family systems theory and social learning theory, Smith-Acuna (2010) suggested

that adult offspring can have an internal model of family relationships that originates from their

own families without their knowledge when they become parents. This internal model may

affect marital relationships.

The emotional security theory states that when children are repeatedly exposed to inter-

parental conflicts, a stressful and harmful environment is created, making it difficult

for them to achieve and maintain the developmental goal of emotional security (Davies &

Cummings, 1994). Researchers who developed the emotional security theory–reformulated

(EST-R) to better understand the inner workings of emotional security in the context of

interparental conflict (Davies & Martin, 2013). The EST-R assumes that children’s

concerns about safety in the face of interparental conflict are mostly organized by

the social defense system. In the social defense system, humans respond by organizing

behavioral strategies to avoid or mitigate interpersonal threats (Davies & Sturge-

Apple, 2007). From this viewpoint, children want to protect themselves from the damage

caused by conflicts between parents, and the ways in which they do so vary. Davies

and Martin (2013) suggested that individual differences in the way security systems operate

in the context of interparental conflict affect close relationships, such as those with friends

CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL INSECURITY AND MARITAL CONFLICT1927