Interparental Conflict and Youth Maladjustment

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DESCRIPTION: (adapted from Investigator's abstract) The purpose of this project is to identify factors that mediate and/or moderate the association between interparental conflict and youth maladjustment (youth aged 11-15). Several indicators of interparental conflict are examined, with a particular focus on overt (i.e., verbal and shape and aggression) and covert (i.e., triangling children) conflict styles. Youth maladjustment is indicated by externalizing problem behaviors (e.g., aggression, delinquency), internalizing problem behaviors (e.g., depression, withdrawal), and academic failure. The explanatory functions of several parenting practices are examined. These include the lack of parental support, overly harsh discipline, and parent-youth hostility, inadequate monitoring, inconsistent discipline, and parents' psychological intrusiveness. Youth's appraisals of their parents' conflictual interactions also may explain effects on youth maladjustment. Perceived conflict properties, perceived threat, and self-blame are three appraisal variables that are examined. Youth coping responses to the conflict, such as direct intervention or avoidance, also are examined for their mediating or moderating roles. Finally, the mediating or moderating effects of parents' depressive affect are explored. The explanatory function of each of these factors is analyzed with consideration given to the moderating effects of youth gender age. The research design is a yearly, four panel longitudinal assessment of 400 two-parent families. Youth and parents report on their perceptions of interparental conflict and parenting. One hour, semi-structured, in-home observations are videotaped of dyadic and triadic interactions among family members. These observations are coded using a version of the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales that has been expanded to include the coding of indirect, intrusive family processes such as covert interparental conflict and parents' use of psychological control with their youth.