A R T I C L E FAMILY CONFLICT MODERATES EARLY PARENT–CHILD BEHAVIORAL TRANSACTIONS KATHERINE W. PASCHALL University of Texas at Austin MELISSA A. BARNETT University of Arizona ANN M. MASTERGEORGE Texas Tech University JENNIFER A. MORTENSEN University of Nevada, Reno ABSTRACT: The reciprocal transactions that shape early parent–child relationships are inﬂuenced by contextual stress, such as family conﬂict. Although family conﬂict is a salient stressor to the family system, few studies have considered how parent–child transactions vary according to exposure to family conﬂict. The present study examined how family conﬂict alters early parent–child behavioral transactions. We utilized three waves of data from a multisite longitudinal study of low-income families (N = 2, 876), child age 14 months, 24 months, and 36 months, to identify behavioral transactions of positive and negative maternal (supportiveness, negative regard) and child (engagement, negativity) behaviors. Results indicated that family conﬂict at 14 months diminished the positive association between maternal supportiveness and child engagement, and ampliﬁed the inverse association between maternal negativity and child engagement. Family conﬂict at 14 months also was associated with increased stability of child negativity and subsequent increased maternal negative regard at 36 months, in part via increases in 24-month child negativity. In sum, family conﬂict occurring early in childhood predicted and moderated behavioral transactions between young children and their mothers. Keywords: mother–child relations, conﬂict, toddlers, bidirectional * * * Early parent–child relationships develop through mutually inﬂuential interactions (e.g., Sameroff & Mackenzie, 2003); how- ever, contextual stressors can alter the quality of these interactions, and thus alter the overall quality of the parent–child relationship. Family conﬂict, which represents a family social environment of hostility and discord, is known to undermine both children’s social development and parenting behaviors (Cummings & Davies, 1994; Findings are based on research conducted as part of the National EHS Research and Evaluation Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, under Contract 105-95- 1936 to Mathematic Policy Research, Princeton, NJ and Columbia University’s National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, in conjunction with the EHS Research Consortium. Inter-University Consortium distributed data for political and social research in Ann Arbor, MI. Direct correspondence to: Katherine W. Paschall, Population Research Center, 305 E. 23rd Street, G1800, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712; e-mail: Kpaschall@utexas.edu. Jenkins, Simpson, Dunn, Rasbash, & O’Connor, 2005; Malik et al., 2007), but it is not clear how family conﬂict impacts dyadic in- teractions between parent and child. Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine how family conﬂict disrupts parent–child transactions across 2 years of early childhood. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS The present study is informed both by control systems theory as well as family systems theory. Control systems theory explic- itly outlines the form and function of bidirectional effects as they pertain to parent–child relationships (Bell, 1971). Bidirectional ef- fects, or reciprocal chains of action and reaction in dyadic social interactions, are the foundational mechanisms that drive parent– child relationship quality and children’s development (Bell, 1979; Pardini, 2008; Sameroff & Mackenzie, 2003). According to con- trol systems theory, individuals in dyads are likely to respond to INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Vol. 38(5), 1–13 (2017) C  2017 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21660 1