Adults’ recollections of anger and fear during adolescence amidst interparental conflicts

Abstract

This study aimed to examine adults’ recollections of emotions experienced during adolescence exposure to interparental conflicts. It focuses on recalled emotions of anger against violent parents and fears for nonviolent parents. Anger and fear were evaluated across three factors: Dyadic Concordance Types (DCTs; Straus, 2015), sex, and form of violence. Israeli adults (N = 548) completed a retrospective questionnaire on interparental conflict tactics used by their parents and their emotional experiences toward each parent during these conflicts. Repeated measurement analyses examined the effects of various factors on the frequency of experiencing anger and fear. The findings indicate that physical interparental violence was associated with a higher frequency of anger and fear in adolescents than verbal violence. While the violent parent evokes a higher frequency of anger, the nonviolent parent evokes a higher frequency of fear. In retrospect, anger was a more dominant experience than fear. Regarding the DCTs, when only the mother was physically violent, adolescents experienced a higher frequency of anger and fear than when only the father was physically violent. No differences were found between boys and girls. The current study indicates that adolescents are emotionally involved in and affected by interparental violence (IPV). The findings underscore the importance of understanding IPV’s effects at varying forms and types.