Annotated Bibliography

Each generation begins with a set pair that decides to create life. A pair of two people either get

married, separate, divorce, widowed, or simply are together at some point and begin a family of

their own. As this family grows, these children start to form who they are, and the closest of an

example they have, is of course their parents. As you grow older, your role model starts with

who is caring for you and shows you the way of living. Now this way of going about your life

may not be shown perfectly. Not many realize the effect that parents have on their own children

and how they proceed to grow into who they are. My question is, how does a parents

marriage/relationship affect their children as they grow up? The way your parents lead their lives

is a part of how you live your own, and this is shown through the research I have conducted.

FEN Learning. “How Your Marriage Affects Your Children.” FamilyEducation, 25 July

2006, www.familyeducation.com/life/healthy-marriage/how-your-marriage-affects-your-

children.

Throughout the article, it explains how the way parents act in front of their children can

impact the way they behave. It points out how kids are great at mimicking their parents with how

they treat one another and have the ability to reflect that in their own lives. It goes on to establish

a case Family Education had where two parents saw their kids’ behavior change drastically and

not knowing the reason why. As they evaluated how they have been acting in front of their son,

they realized that it had been hurting him. The parents begin to resolve their issues together in a

healthy manner, and soon enough their son begins to return to his normal behaviour.

This source does fit into the debate of my question and topic because it personally

elaborates how an argument or event could be hurting or benefiting a kid. This source more
relies on the story of Eric and his parents because of their living situation and how Eric had been

reacting towards it. The author explains, “The worse Eric's behavior got, the more they worried

and the more they fought. They blamed each other for his behavior, and rather than come up with

solutions, they kept focusing on the problems.” This story is what introduces ethos, logos, and

pathos. As said before, pathos comes from Eric’s story which gives the pull of emotions and

understanding and the credibility is more easily given because of his story.

The viewpoints of this source is both the parents and children react to a certain situation,

and how the children learn/taught from their parents. Although you may not see much ethos or

logos, the experience that is told by someone who was interviewed and studied comes into play.

The audience of this article is intended for adults that could possibly be a parent or just

responsible over an adolescent. It could even be targeted to children who may be curious as to

how they are affected by their parents behaviours.

This source sort of seems not too credible at the moment because there isn’t many

straight up facts and research done on the authors parts. This makes it harder for the audience to

trust, but at the same time the story of Eric is what supports the information given by the writer.

The audience can differ from each person because this can occur in the curiosity of a parent,

child, doctor, or social worker. Overall, this source does well to explain and give information

telling on my question. Ethos and logos could’ve been shown and done more efficiently so that

the audience doesn’t distrust this source. I had some questions concerning where they got some

of their information, but I would say the story of Eric brought back their credibility.

Gager, Constance T, and Mary Holland Berin. “Assessing the Effect of Parental Marital Conflict

on Adult Child Relationship Outcomes: Does the Apple Fall Far from the Tree?”
 Https://paa2005.Princeton.edu/Papers/51523, Arizona State University, 23 Sept. 2004,

https://.

This source is more of a knowledgeable and researched paper because it gives the theory

of how parents are hurting their children by the conflict between the two. It includes multiple

factors of how the two individuals in a relationship can specifically harm a child. It does look

towards the child’s perspective as to what type of relationship they have in the future and what

behaviors they can develop. This source also provides an outline of a study they would like to

conduct. It has a list of questions that would be asked and the information that will be observed.

It also speaks about how the two genders can have a different impact when it comes to conflict.

As I read, there were a few paragraphs that elaborated how much of an impact parental

conflict has on a child and what situations occur that can have an even bigger effect. “1) when

did child leave parental home – which will affect the degree to which they were exposed to

positive or discordant relationship of parents, and 2) whether or not the parents divorced, 3)

socioeconomic status, measured as income and other independent factors such as age, race, and

educational level.” These are the leading factors that contribute to the amount of harm towards a

child when there is parental conflict identified in the home.

The viewpoints shown given the research provided was both the child and adults

involved with them. It was able to explain the importance of both sides when looking at the

severity of the situation for the child to be affected. The ethos in this source were the two

researchers, Constance and Mary, which major in family and human development and sociology.

Along with them, their own resources came from studies that have been conducted and written

by those with a PhD. Logos was shown by the resources they were pulling from where studies
were done beforehand to form their own knowledge as well as their own and quoting it.

Normally pathos isn’t shown throughout the source, but then again, conflict happens in all

homes. The audience that was focused on is more of researchers who want to learn more about

this specific topic and the chance that anyone is interested could end up reading it.

I would say this source is credible because of the two authors who major and seem to be

around the knowledge needed to write of it. Looking over the information provided by them, I do

agree with most of what they say, but I don’t know very much about how the different genders

can affect a child. It is interesting and would like to know more about it though, and it would’ve

been nice if they quoted more things from their research. They do very well at explaining their

theory and breaking down what they spoke about.

Goldberg, J., & Carlson, M. (2014, August 1). Parents' Relationship Quality and Children's

Behavior in Stable Married and Cohabiting Families. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4128411/

This source contains research, theories, and factual information of how parents can

directly and indirectly affect and influence their children. It does look towards the brighter side

of how they can affect their children in the future positively. It does elaborate on how the

“mother-father” relationship represented in the home is the first thing to be received as a model

of behavior to every member in the household. It goes on and explains when the child begins to

be affected by a parents relationship and tells of how a child develops their characteristics and

general personality from the main examples; being their parents.

The way a child perceives their parents' relationship during development stages

contributes to who they may become in their adulthood. The authors state, “As such, conflict or
tension—or conversely, supportiveness and positive affect—in the parental union may affect

parent–child relations and, ultimately, children’s outcomes.” Whichever way a partner gives

parental guidance or simply teaches their child, good or bad, it will eventually be a part of who

they are. If a person has mental illnesses, is abusive, has fear, or has anxiety. it can be tied to

how they were raised and observed their primary resource of dependency, being their parents or

even absence of a parent.

In this source, the viewpoints are how the children are affected by the parents

relationship. The other viewpoints that come into play are all the family members in a household,

and how everyone’s choices and actions can affect everyone else that they live with or love.

Another viewpoint would be the reverse effect of behaviour from children towards the parents

that creates a distress that is pressured in a parental relationship and can cause conflict. The

debate of whether or not the marital relationship affects a child doesn’t exactly pop out, but

rather explains and shows the pros and cons of their influence. As for rhetorical aspects, ethos is

a big part of this scholarly article because the research that was done and taken to inform the

audience of this topic are from scientists, college professors, psychologists, universities, and

written books on the subject. Logos is brought up because of the research that was done and

quoted by the authors of this source. As for pathos, it’s not exactly pointed out or emphasized on

because it is more of an informative source rather than a one-sided analysis.

The audience would be anyone that is interested in the topic or parents who are simply

trying to understand why their children are acting a certain way. I would say this source is hugely

credited to the audience because it was a thoroughly researched article with its own multiple

cited sources given to refer back to. If this were to be read by someone with a degree in family,

child, or parental health, I would say it will be accepted and be supported by what is stated. I
simply learned a lot of how much a relationship in a home can affect those around them, and

more specifically children. I can see from my own family and experience how it comes into play

and is true evidence of what is explained in the source. There wasn’t really an argument of a side

to begin with, but with what is stated throughout the article I am able to understand.

Lindburg, Sara. “Bad Parenting: Signs, Effects, and How to Change It.”

https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/bad-parenting, Healthline, 25 Sept. 2020.

This source gives tips and identification advice as to what is bad parenting and how

actions done are harmful to their children. It begins by identifying what “bad parenting” is and

goes on to point out that the author had asked two mental health experts to inform parents. Then

it leads to the signs of bad parenting and characteristics that are involved with it. After that, it

leads to the effects of having those signs and then what parents can do to fix these actions; to

help their kids instead of harm. Concluding, it states how parenting is an overwhelming job but

there are ways that can certainly help and make it easier.

This source gives a list of what can be done to improve a parents behavior towards their

kid. “Revamping your parenting style can require patience, honesty, and a lot of hard work. The

good news is it’s never too late to start. Any positive change you make can result in a better

outcome for your child.” It gives lots of room for improvement and doesn’t say that the actions

done can permanently have a negative effect on their child as long as it’s corrected. After this

explanation a list of ways it presented to show what can be done to benefit a parent’s relationship

with their child. To teach them how to handle problems and find help if they are struggling with

personal issues caused by parental conflict.

 The viewpoints given in this source are more on the parents side rather than the child’s,

but it still states what could be happening to a kid. I would say the audience is leaning towards

parents who are looking for help or wondering if what they’re doing in front/to their children

would be reading this. The ethos provided are the two medical approved reviews given to the

source. Logos is shown as much as I’d like because I don’t see any vivid quotes or facts about

the subject. It is more informative than fact after fact, so I would like to see improvements in that

area. Pathos is shown throughout the article from beginning to end because it sympathizes with

parents saying that parenting can be very difficult and it’s a huge learning process.

I say this can be a very credible source if it has more logos, but it does get backed up

because of the two mental health professionals that have provided information and reviewed it.

One of these professionals is named Timothy J. Legg, who majors in geriatric and psychiatric

mental health nurse practitioner and is also a licensed psychologist. I do agree with this article

and what it states because it’s something that parents should be aware of and try to look for ways

to improve themselves. Overall, the article was well written and organized. Like I said before,

logos would’ve been something nice to see more of.

Maccoby, E., & Psychology, E. (n.d.). Parenting and its Effects on Children: On Reading and

Misreading Behavior Genetics. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.1

This article looks over every single aspect of a child's life, but in a way of relationships

and how they are reacting to situations in and outside of their home. Before the 1980’s research

on this specific topic was only done on one variable and only on one side of the effects on

someone, but now is being done through multiple sources that are tied to a child. It goes on to
explain how much of a child's behavior is created from each parent. It also focuses more on the

aspect of a longer set of time observing a kid and how they act as they grow up, which the author

found that during the early stages of their childhood are they affected by their parents'

relationship and take within themselves.

Researching and analyzing the certain types of behaviours that are created from children

because of their parents can differ because of many different reasons. The authors researchers

explain, “Clearly, a given parent behavior may have different effects on different children,

depending on such things as age, sex, temperament, and distinctive prior experiences. If such

differential effects exist, aggregating data across a whole sample of children will wash out

parent/child effects—effects that might be quite robust within sub-groups of children.” Certain

variables in an experiment can change the outcome entirely. Just as it said above, certain

characteristics can contribute to the personality a child develops from the influence of their

parents.

The viewpoints this source takes on is all relationships that are created by the children

that are being observed throughout their lives. Along with their parents and the way the parenting

changes during that time. I will be leaning towards the side of how a marital relationship affects

children negatively for the debate. It doesn’t completely exclude the positive effects of it, but

overall I am noticing how the actions of a parent is hurting a kid more than benefiting them.

Ethos is profoundly emphasized and any quoted statements or hard facts that are spoken of have

a reference towards the article, book, or professional that is specialized in this topic. As for

logos, it explains the percentage of how much a mother or father has an impact on their children.

Facts are given in each paragraph to back up any new and concluding information. Pathos I

would say can be a part of this source because this is such a general yet hidden topic in
everyone’s lives. We all have parents and we were all taught differently, causing many

characteristics, insecurities, fears, etc.

The audience as usual will possibly be a parent trying to see how they are helping or

hurting their kid. They could possibly also be looking for parental guidance to help their child.

Other researchers or writers may want scholarly evidence to write their own opinions and

informative articles to help give awareness to future generations. I would say this source is

absolutely credible to any audience because it does have tested theories and research done to

answer multiple questions and test different perspectives. Again, I would say I disagree or agree

with this, but I take it in and inform myself, and even look at my own family/future.

Parenting NI. “Parent-Child Relationship - Why It’s Important.” Parenting NI, 25 Oct.

2018, www.parentingni.org/blog/parent-child-relationship-why-its-important/#:

%7E:text=Helps%20the%20child%20exhibit%20optimistic,%2C%20cognitive%2C

%20and%20motivational%20development.

Throughout this source, it explains how a strong healthy parent-child relationship can

help develop multiple benefits for the child. It goes on to list these benefits as well as how to

develop this relationship. In the article, it states, “A secure attachment leads to a healthy social,

emotional, cognitive, and motivational development. Children also gain strong problem-solving

skills when they have a positive relationship with their parents.” This could occur in a child’s

behaviour and future outcome in life because of the strong bond with a parent. I bring this source

into my research because it’s important to see the positive impacts a healthy relationship can

bring whether it be from a single parent or both. Later on it does begin to say that the way
parents handle or treat the other in front of their children, can impact the way their future

relationships turn out to be.

As for viewpoints, it comes down to parents and how they are treating their children or

caring for their well being. This fits into the debate by having more positive outcomes of a

healthy relationship rather than negative. It shows how this can actually occur and not only be a

negative outcome. The rhetorical aspects of the article aren't very strong on ethos or pathos

because the author isn’t shown and there aren’t any 100% facts shown for logos, so this may not

be a very credible resource to the audience. The audience will most likely be a parent trying to

understand the importance of bonding and caring for a child. Although this article isn’t very

credible at times, it does tie into the other sources I have because they do have logos and ethos

for everything they stated in this article. I do agree with what it says, but then again not many

would give the credibility towards it, I say.

Sutherland, Anna. “How Parents’ Relationship Quality Affects Kids.” Institute for

Family Studies, 18 Mar. 2014, https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-parents-relationship-quality-

affects-kids

The author of this article goes on to examine and explain how a study was conducted by

four researchers and observe how the quality of a relationship affects the way parenting is done.

She goes into depth about one specific detail that these researchers point out and confirm, which

is called “spillover”. She proceeds to give an example of this known hypothesis, “It's easy to

imagine how such spillover...A man or woman who feels loved and supported is more apt to

have the patience and energy that good parenting requires, whereas someone worn out by a

romantic conflict has little appetite for yet another round of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider."’ If a father
or mother, support and love is needed. When the relationship is being nurtured or conflicted,

their behaviour towards each other begins to spill into the way they care for their children. After

this, she gives her own opinion on how this research could’ve been better on the controlled

variables that were used to show the situations certain relationships may be in.

The viewpoints on this article is focused more concerning the parent’s relationships. It is

also coming from the writer of the article because towards the end she gives her own opinion of

the research she was analyzing. This source doesn’t really fit into a debate because it is more

informing the reader of research that was done that could confirm an hypothesis that is about the

quality of parenting. As for rhetorical aspects, logos wasn’t shown as much but then again this

was based on an experiment that was trying to confirm the “spillover”. Ethos is very strong

throughout it because of the experiment that was conducted from the researchers. Pathos doesn’t

come into play at all, unless the audience is tied or has experienced anything concerning this

topic. The audience is anyone looking to be informed or is involved in a romantic relationship

with children. As for the credibility, it is certainly going to be credible for the audience since it

was a conducted experiment and researched by four people.

I thought this source did a very good job at informing the audience of the experiment and

giving her own opinion of what should’ve been included. In fact, I do agree with the author

because not all relationships are in the same level of a relationship and they all can be in different

living situations. This source does connect to another source of mine where it goes further into

depth about the “spillover” that happens in a home. I think it’s very interesting because this is

something that truly happens in a home between parents and a child.

 Sutherland, Anna. “How Parental Conflict Hurts Kids.” Institute for Family Studies, 9

April 2014, https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-parental-conflict-hurts-kids

This source discusses how the importance of a healthy relationship should be present so

that children grow in a healthy environment and aren’t negatively impacted. It breaks down

exactly what kind of behaviour from the parents are affecting the child in a negative or positive

way. Whether that be physical abuse, verbal insults, silent treatment, or aggressiveness between

both parents. It goes on to explain that the effects of conflict between parents can cause anxiety,

depression, fear, anger, and sadness in their children. What the kids see from their parents can be

shown in the children's future relationships as well. It then goes in depth of why conflict or

healthy resolution from parents causes certain trauma and behavior in children, and how every

child reacts differently to it.

They all participated and gave in the information to credit and support what they stated

in the volume of their book. These researchers went on to explain, "children from high-conflict

homes are more likely to have poor interpersonal skills, problem solving abilities and social

competence." I think this source is very informative to parents because it helps them realize how

their behavior contributes to their children’s lives. It brings the perspective of a child, and

although it may not apply to all parents, it’s able to show what the cause and effect is.

Throughout this source, it’s viewpoints are more of how the children are affected by

conflicts from their parents. It goes into depth of what ways and in which situations affect the

children the worst or how exactly a child’s behavior changes. The ethos of this are the four

researchers that did research on this subject and wrote a short volume in the UK of how parents

affect their children. As for pathos, you begin to understand the perspective of a child more than
the adult and how more than a fight or two with an adolescent present can slowly hurt them

psychologically. Logos begin to come into play because of the statistics the researchers'

information is quoted on. The audience here is most likely adults who have children and are

wanting to know how their own relationship could be affecting their kids, or even have an

understanding of what may be happening to them.

I would say this source is credible because they had four people co-writing and

researching this topic. I do agree with this source because I do think it’s true that the way a

marriage is handled in the household takes a big part of the life of their children. Overall, I need

to keep looking into finding more quotes from this source and make a connection that is more

clear between the audience and this article. Throughout this source it is answering my question

and goes into explanation as to exactly how kids are being affected by their parents relationship.

Everything seems to be clear as to what the researchers are stating and what the main points are

in the article and in the volume that was written.

University of Vermont. "Parental conflict can do lasting damage to kids." ScienceDaily.

ScienceDaily, 28 March 2018.

<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180328083402.htm>.

This source speaks about how a study that was conducted by Alice Schermerhorn that has

99 nine year-olds identify photos that show couples in neutral, angry, and happy emotions. They

found that these children knew how to identify which couples were angry or sad, but never

neutral. They were vigilant of either of these emotions, having them not take advantage of the

time they were neutral, which led to the kids going into their rooms and not building a
relationship. They go on to explain how these issues of being vigilant of only these strong

emotions causes them to have problems with relationships ahead of time.

This source does show the difference between children who have been in lower or higher

conflict homes (conflict comes from parents). According to Alice, “Children from the low

conflict homes consistently scored the photos accurately. Those from high conflict homes who

experienced the conflict as a threat were able to accurately identify the happy and angry couples,

but not those in neutral poses -- incorrectly reading them as either angry or happy or saying they

didn't know which category they fit.” As I explained beforehand, some children can only see the

strong emotions so that they know how to react and what to do, leading them to never take

advantage of the times when there is no conflict.

The viewpoints given throughout are only on how the children react to the conflict in the

home caused by parents. It also gives details of what type of children can be even more affected

in their lives because of this, leading to their adulthood issues that are explained. Ethos is

profoundly shown by the head researcher Alice, a assistant professor with a degree in

psychological sciences at the University of Vermont. For logos, she has her own conducted

experiment to give testimony of what she found and what it means. So she quotes and gives

insight as to what she was able to find about the children who were studied. Pathos isn’t really

shown, but everyone has been in some sort of family where we could see for ourselves how this

could connect to our own situations.

This source is 100% credible because not only does Alice major in psychological

sciences but she was able to conduct a study on this very specific topic. She was able to identify

the differences between children that are at a very young age, showing that this could start early
on. It goes on to explain what certain types of traits a child can develop from parental conflict

and how traumatic experiences or habits shown from their own parents can lead to it affecting

their adulthood. I do agree with this source and thought that it was well put together and done

with the correct variables. The expected audience I would say, is anybody interested in learning

how very simple visuals, sayings, gestures, or actions, could be affecting their children. A

question I do have is, why were there only 99 children studied instead of 100.