Longitudinal typologies of perceived parent-child conflict and their correlates in adolescence

Abstract

The present study was designed to uncover longitudinal trajectory classes of perceived parent-child conflict that followed distinct developmental courses across late childhood and adolescence and their antecedents and outcome of smoking. Data were obtained from a large, nationally representative sample of two age cohorts, who were 2844 fourth graders (first wave, Mage = 9.86, SD = 0.35) and 3449 eighth graders (first wave, Mage = 13.79, SD = 0.42), surveyed at five and six time points, respectively, separated by a one-year interval in South Korea. Although the majority of the youth reported low to moderate levels of parent-child conflict, four and three trajectory groups were identified for the younger and the older cohorts, respectively. The younger cohort with higher levels of aggression, depressed mood, or academic stress in grade four was likely to belong to latent classes characterized by higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict, whereas the older cohort with higher levels of aggression and household income in grade eight was likely to be assigned to a latent subgroup with higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict. Overall, youth in latent classes characterized by lower levels of perceived parent-child conflict over time had a lower likelihood of smoking. These findings highlight the heterogeneous developmental pathways of perceived parent-child conflict throughout childhood and adolescence and suggest that higher conflict in parent-child relationships could result in ramifications for adolescent tobacco use. Thus, family-based programs to prevent smoking initiation in young people may incorporate interventions to address parent-child conflict.