Coparenting, parent-adolescent conflict and internalizing symptoms in Brazilian adolescents

Abstract

Coparenting might impact on child development, on the intensity of parent-child con-flict, and on the manifestation of internalizing symptoms. Children's perception of coparenting and gender specificities are important to understand this phenomenon. The direct relationship mediated by the intensity of the parent-adolescent conflict in symptom manifestation and the effects of the moderation of the adolescent's gender were investigated. The study included 357 adolescents, 53.2% female, aged 11 to 18 years (M = 14.42; SD = 1.84). The results indicated that the relationship between coparenting and the internalizing symptoms presented by the adolescents are mediated by the intensity of parent-adolescent conflicts. The findings contribute to the identifi-cation of the coparenting reflexes and direct clinical strategies to adolescents and fam-ilies.