Emotional Security Theory: An Emerging Theoretical Model for Youths' Psychological and Physiological Responses Across Multiple Developmental Contexts

Twenty-year synthesis of Emotional Security Theory (EST). Children appraise interparental conflict for its threat to family stability; when their sense of security is undermined they show heightened emotional reactivity, behavioral dysregulation and later internalizing/ externalizing problems. Emotional security is the mediating process linking conflict to child adjustment, now tested with physiological and multimethod measures.