Family and individual risk factors for triangulation: Evaluating evidence for emotion coaching buffering effects.

Abstract

Adolescents who are triangulated into interparental conflict are at increased risk for psychological maladjustment. However, little is known about factors that may predict family risk for triangulating adolescents, or protective factors that can off-set this risk. In this study, we conducted longitudinal tests of family, parent, and adolescent factors that might predict increases in triangulation over time. The sample included 174 adolescents and their mother figures from two-parent families (58% female; Mage =14.75years) who provided data on two occasions, six months apart. Hierarchical linear regression models evaluated family, parent, and adolescent risk factors for triangulation into interparental conflict, and subsequently parent's emotion coaching and adolescent gender as potential moderators of risk for triangulation. Findings revealed that low family cohesion, parent depression, and adolescent difficulties with emotion regulation represented risks for triangulation. Parent emotion coaching moderated the association between low interparental love and triangulation differentially based on adolescent gender.