News
» Go to news mainResearch Spotlight: Weina Zhou
鈥淭he Spillover Effects of Parental Verbal Conflict on Classmates' Cognitive and Noncognitive Outcomes,鈥 published in 2023 in Economic Inquiry (with Andrew J. Hill, Montana State University).
Students experiencing conflict at home are known to exhibit disruptive behaviors in the classroom.
This study shows that children exposed to Interparental Verbal Conflict (IPVC) exert negative spillovers on their peers. We find that being assigned to classes where more classmates experience IPVC in their family environments reduces mental wellbeing, self-confidence, and social engagement, and increases the likelihood of problem behaviors.
Contrary to some of the existing literature, effects on test scores are minimal and not statistically significant.
We also find that students of higher quality parents鈥攑arents who are more communicative and invest more time in their children鈥攁re less affected by negative classmate influences.
This is some of the first evidence that parents may be able to insulate their children directly or indirectly from negative peers
Recent News
- Avery Prize and University Medal in Economics, 2026
- 2025鈥26 MA Prize and MDE Prize recipients
- 2025 26 Economics Prizes
- 2025鈥26 U.L.G. Rao Memorial Prize in Economics
- 2025 26 Economics Teaching Assistant Award
- Honours Poster Presentation 2025鈥2026
- Message from the Chair
- Research Spotlight: Dr Norov Tumennasan