DONNA RUANE MORRISOX Georgetown University MARY Jo COIRO Johns Hopkins University* Parental Conflict and Marital Disruption: Do Children Benefit When High-Conflict Marriages Are Dissolved? A million children experience divorce each .vear, and some policymakers argue for policies that would muke it more difficult for parents to divorce. Ho\+!ever: being e.rposed to a high degree qf nturi- tal conjlict ittrs been siu,nn to place children at risk for a varien of problems. Using mother-child datu from the Nationul Longitudinul Survey oj’ Youth (NLSY) and a prospective design, this research esplores two questions: Do the e8ect.s of marital disruption on child wel[-being varq’ for children whose parents leave high-conflict marriages ver- sus low-conjlict marriages? HOW do children fare when their high-conjlict parents remain together? WeJnd that sepamtion and divorce are associ- ated brith increases in hehaCor problems in chil- dren, regardless of the level of conflict between parents. However. in marriages that do not break up, high levels of muritul conjlict are associated with even greater increases in children ‘s behavior problems. Georgetown Public Policy Institute and Department of Demog- raphy. Georgetown University, 3600 N Street, NW. Washing- ton, DC 2OOO7 Imorrisod@gunet.georgetown.edu). *Department of Health Policy and Management. Johns Hop- kins University School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway. Baltimore. MD 21205. High rates of divorce have prompted many ob- servers, largely out of concern for the children in- volved, to advocate measures to keep marriages together. The accumulated evidence suggests that children, particularly boys, not only have problems in the immediate aftermath of marital disruption, but have difficulties that persist into adulthood as well (e.g., Amato, 1994: Amato & Keith, 1991; Cherlin. Chase-Lansdale, & McRae, 1998). Along with these findings, however, there is evidence that being exposed to a high degree of conflict be- tween married parents also places children at risk for a variety of problems. Consequently, the diffl- culty for parents, legal professionals, and policy- makers weighing what is best for the child lies in determining whether the effects of divorce will be less deleterious than the effects of remaining with two parents in a disharmonious relationship. Another question is whether the effects of marital disruption on child well-being vary ac- cording to the level of marital conflict that children experience before the separation. If the break-up represents an exit from severe marital disharmony, children may make an easier adjustment than if the separation was unexpected. Moreover. children removed from intense parental conflict may fare better than those whose high-conflict parents re- main together. In a recent study Amato. Loomis, and Booth (1995) used longitudinal data from a 626 Journal of Marriage and the Family 6 1 (August 1999): 626-637 Reproduced with pe?mission of Copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without pemirsion.~