Interparental conflict and adolescent emotional security across family structures.
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| Title: | Interparental conflict and adolescent emotional security across family structures. |
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| Authors: | O'Hara, Karey L., Cummings, E. Mark, Davies, Patrick T. |
| Source: | Family Process. Mar2024, Vol. 63 Issue 1, p265-283. 19p. |
| Subjects: | Mental illness risk factors, Risk assessment, Family conflict, Marriage, Conceptual models, Suburbs, Mental health, Research funding, Parent-child relationships, Multivariate analysis, Path analysis (Statistics), Internalizing behavior, Descriptive statistics, Psychology, Emotions in adolescence, Family structure, Divorce, Psychology of parents, Externalizing behavior, Adolescence |
| Abstract: | This study investigated whether interparental conflict was differentially related to forms of emotional security (i.e., family, interparental, parent–child) and whether forms of emotional security were differentially associated with mental health problems for adolescents in married versus divorced/separated families. Participants were 1032 adolescents (ages 10–15; 51% male, 49% female; 82% non‐Hispanic White, 9% Black/African American, 5% Hispanic, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander, 2% Native American) recruited from a public school in a middle‐class suburb of a United States metropolitan area. We used multiple group multivariate path analysis to assess (1) associations between interparental conflict and multiple measures of emotional insecurity (i.e., family, interparental, and parent–child), (2) associations between measures of emotional insecurity and internalizing and externalizing problems, and (3) moderation effects of parent–child relationships. The patterns of association were similar across family structures. A high‐quality parent–child relationship did not mitigate the harmful effects of interparental conflict on emotional insecurity or mental health problems. Findings suggest that regardless of family structure, emotional security across multiple family systems may be a critical target for intervention to prevent youth mental health problems, in addition to interventions that reduce conflict and improve parent–child relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | This study investigated whether interparental conflict was differentially related to forms of emotional security (i.e., family, interparental, parent–child) and whether forms of emotional security were differentially associated with mental health problems for adolescents in married versus divorced/separated families. Participants were 1032 adolescents (ages 10–15; 51% male, 49% female; 82% non‐Hispanic White, 9% Black/African American, 5% Hispanic, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander, 2% Native American) recruited from a public school in a middle‐class suburb of a United States metropolitan area. We used multiple group multivariate path analysis to assess (1) associations between interparental conflict and multiple measures of emotional insecurity (i.e., family, interparental, and parent–child), (2) associations between measures of emotional insecurity and internalizing and externalizing problems, and (3) moderation effects of parent–child relationships. The patterns of association were similar across family structures. A high‐quality parent–child relationship did not mitigate the harmful effects of interparental conflict on emotional insecurity or mental health problems. Findings suggest that regardless of family structure, emotional security across multiple family systems may be a critical target for intervention to prevent youth mental health problems, in addition to interventions that reduce conflict and improve parent–child relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00147370 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/famp.12872 |
