Does the Quality of Mother-Child Relationships Moderate the Effect of Postdivorce Interparental Conflict on Children's Adjustment Problems?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the quality of children's relationships with their primary residential par- ents interacts with interparental conflict to predict children's postdi- vorce psychological adjustment problems. It was predicted that a high quality relationship would moderate the relation between inter- parental conflict and children's psychological adjustment problems such that this relation would be significantly attenuated for children with high quality relationships, defined in terms of high levels of acceptance and high quality communication. No support was found for this hypothesis. Implications of these findings for the development of preventive intervention programs and directions for future research are discussed.