Interparental Conflict Research Articles

An online, father-inclusive parenting intervention for reducing child conduct problems: a randomised controlled trial of family man.

Parenting interventions are effective for improving child conduct problems (CPs), but online self-directed interventions are required to improve reach and impact. Mothers are the main users of such programmes; fathers show low participation rates despite evidence of increased efficacy when they participate. This randomised controlled trial examined the efficacy of Family Man, a brief, self-directed online parenting intervention for fathers and mothers of children with CPs. The intervention involves several innovative design features to maximise the engagement of fathers. Families (N = 103; 102 mothers, 78 fathers) seeking help with managing their 2- to 8-year-old child's CPs were randomly assigned to either the Family Man intervention condition (n = 53) or a 4-week waitlist control group (n = 50). Primary outcomes were frequency and severity of child CPs and secondary outcomes included dysfunctional parenting, parenting efficacy, parenting stress, parental psychological distress, household disorganisation and interparental conflict. Repeated measures ANOVAs/MANOVAs found that at 4-week post-assessment, parents in the intervention group reported significantly lower levels of child CPs than waitlist. Significant effects for the intervention group relative to waitlist were also found across all secondary outcomes examined. Intervention effects were maintained at 2-month follow-up for the intervention group. Outcomes did not significantly differ for mothers and fathers. Results support the efficacy of this brief, self-directed online parenting intervention in improving child CPs and a range of parent and family outcomes, both for fathers and mothers. Implications for improving the reach and impact of parenting interventions and increasing father engagement, are discussed.

Unravelling the family curse: How parental depressive symptoms link to adolescents’ depressive symptoms through interparental conflict and adolescent triangulation

Unravelling the family curse: How parental depressive symptoms link to adolescents’ depressive symptoms through interparental conflict and adolescent triangulation

Family shapes child development: The role of codevelopmental trajectories of interparental conflict and emotional warmth for children's longitudinal development of internalizing and externalizing problems.

This study aimed (1) to identify distinct family trajectory profiles of destructive interparental conflict and parent-child emotional warmth reported by one parent, and (2) to examine whether these codevelopmental profiles were associated with the longitudinal development of children and adolescents' self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. Six longitudinal data waves from the German Family Panel (pairfam) study (Waves 2-7) from 722 parent-child dyads were used (age of children and adolescents in years: M = 10.03, SD = 1.90, range = 8-15; 48.3% girls; 73.3% of parents were native Germans). Data were analyzed using growth mixture and latent growth curve modeling. Two classes, harmonious and conflictual-warm families, were found based on codevelopmental trajectories of interparental conflict and emotional warmth. These family profiles were linked with the development of externalizing problems in children and adolescents but not their internalizing problems. Family dynamics are entangled in complex ways and constantly changing, which appears relevant to children's behavior problems.

The effect of perceived parental conflict on middle school students' social anxiety: The role of self‐compassion and shame

AbstractThis study explores the relationship between perceived parental conflict, self‐compassion, shame, and social anxiety and its internal mechanisms through two studies. Study 1 took 612 middle school students (285 women, 327 men, M = 14.18 years, SD = 1.72) as participants, and the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale, Self‐compassion scale (SCS), shame scale (SS), and Social Anxiety Scale were used for testing. The results showed that perceived parental conflict was significantly correlated with self‐compassion, shame, and social anxiety. Perceived parental conflict affects middle school students' social anxiety through feelings of self‐compassion and shame. In study 2, 106 middle school students (76 women, 30 men, M = 15.47 years, SD = 0.62) were randomly assigned to the self‐compassion group and control group, and students were asked to complete different literacy tasks, and then fill out the SCS, SS and adolescent social anxiety scale in turn. The results found that in the context of parental conflict, inducing the self‐compassion of middle school students can reduce the level of shame and social anxiety. The introduction of the concept of self‐compassion into the field of middle school students' mental health reveals the function of self‐compassion. It expands the relevant research on the intermediary role of self‐compassion, and also provides innovative ideas for the future research of mental health education in primary and secondary schools.

Adults' Recollections of Support and Closeness During Adolescence Amid Interparental Conflict.

This study examined adults' memories of childhood exposure to interparental conflict, including support for and closeness to each parent. Closeness and support were explored based on three dimensions: dyadic concordance types of intimate partner violence (father to mother, mother to father, or both), form of violence (verbal or physical), and sex. This study featured 548 Israeli adults who completed a retrospective questionnaire on their parents' interparental violence, their level of support for each parent during conflict, and their closeness to each parent. The results revealed a notable pattern: adolescents exhibited greater support and closeness toward nonviolent parents compared to violent parents, irrespective of the form of violence. Sex differences emerged across types and severity of violence. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Interparental conflict spillover: Examining parental depression risk pathways.

Interparental conflict spillover: Examining parental depression risk pathways.

Adolescent mindfulness may buffer the longitudinal effect of parental work-family conflict and interparental conflict on adolescent affiliation with deviant peers

Parental work-family conflict undermines family functioning, which in turn may impair children’s peer functioning. Using a longitudinal design spanning across 2 years, the present study examined whether paternal/maternal work-family conflict could predict interparental conflict and, in turn, whether such conflict contributed to adolescent affiliation with deviant peers. Additionally, this study also explored the moderating role of adolescent mindfulness on these relationships. As part of a large longitudinal project, 1427 adolescents (773 boys and 654 girls; aged from 12 to 15 years, M = 12.66 years, SD = 0.63) completed questionnaires regarding perceived interparental conflict, deviant peer affiliation, and mindfulness, and both parents reported on questionnaires regarding their own work-family conflict at three-time points with 1-year intervals. Results indicated that paternal but not maternal work-family conflict positively predicted interparental conflict, which was further positively predictive of deviant peer affiliation for adolescents with low but not high mindfulness. Our study revealed the role of paternal work-family conflict as a seemingly distal but relatively proximal risk factor for adolescents’ affiliation with deviant peers, as well as the buffering role of mindfulness on the longitudinal relations.

Adolescent Emotional Reactivity in Family and School Contexts: Prospective Links to Adolescent Psychopathology.

Emotional reactivity has been linked to adolescent psychopathology and mental health problems. However, limited research has investigated the distinct associations between emotional reactivity in multiple interpersonal contexts and the development of adolescent psychopathology. The current study examined emotional reactivity to interparental conflict, parent-adolescent conflict, and school problems as predictors of adolescent internalizing problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms six months later. The sample included 139 adolescents (54% girls; Mage = 13.30, SDage = 0.73) and their parents who completed 10-day daily reports and 6-month follow-up assessments in Taiwan. Results showed that negative emotional reactivity to interparental conflict was associated with increased internalizing problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, after controlling for emotional reactivity to parent-adolescent conflict and school problems, outcomes at baseline, mean negative emotions, and sex. Furthermore, the associations between both positive and negative emotional reactivity to interparental conflict and adolescent anxiety symptoms was stronger for girls than boys. Findings suggested that heightened emotional reactivity to interparental conflict is a risk factor for predicting adolescent psychopathology, especially for girls' anxiety symptoms. Results highlight the importance of emotional reactivity across multiple interpersonal contexts in adolescence.

Could a Growth Mindset Attenuate the Link Between Family Socioeconomic Status and Depressive Symptoms? Evidence from Chinese Adolescents.

The alleviating effects of a growth mindset on depression are promising. However, whether a growth mindset can attenuate the effect of low family socioeconomic status (SES) on depressive symptoms among adolescents remains unknown. Based on the Family Stress Model, the current study explores whether a growth mindset could moderate the associations between family SES, interparental conflict, and adolescent depressive symptoms. The participants were 1572 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.35 years, SD = 1.16, 51.84% female). They completed the family SES questionnaire, Children's Perceptions of Interparental Conflict scale, Growth Mindset scale, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. We tested the moderation, mediation, and moderated mediation models using the SPSS macro program PROCESS. A growth mindset moderated the association between family SES and depressive symptoms. Family SES was significantly related to depressive symptoms in adolescents with a lower growth mindset, but not in those with a higher growth mindset. After incorporating the mediating effect of interparental conflict, the growth mindset did not exert a significant moderating influence on the direct path; however, it significantly moderated the mediating effect of interparental conflict on depressive symptoms. Specifically, while a lower growth mindset in adolescents was associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms due to interparental conflict, those with a higher growth mindset showed a less pronounced effect. A growth mindset attenuates the link between family SES and depressive symptoms among adolescents. These findings highlight the benefits of a growth mindset on mental health, especially for low-SES adolescents.

Physical and Psychological Symptomatology, Co-Parenting, and Emotion Socialization in High-Conflict Divorces: A Profile Analysis.

Although the consequences of divorce and conflict have been extensively studied, most research has focused on children rather than ex-spouses, although variables such as parental health or co-parenting may have an influence on children's development through processes such as emotion socialization. In addition, the relationship between these variables has never been considered in high-conflict divorces. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the impact of physical and psychological symptomatology and co-parenting on the emotion socialization patterns of parents experiencing high-conflict divorces. Furthermore, the moderating role of resilience was considered, as it has been highly studied as a coping mechanism in adverse situations but barely in divorce at the parental level. For this purpose, a Latent Profile Analysis was carried out with Mplus 8.10, using a sample of 239 parents from Family Visitation Centers. Results revealed, on the one hand, that parents with fewer physical and psychological symptoms sowed more emotion socialization behaviors than those with more symptomatology. On the other hand, in situations of high interparental conflict, the role of co-parenting and resilience seems less relevant than that of physical and psychological symptomatology when analyzing parental skills like emotion socialization.

Cohort profile: the Dynamics of Family Conflict (FamC) study in Norway

PurposeThe Dynamics of Family Conflict (FamC) prospective cohort study was set up to investigate how and why interparental conflicts and family relations develop over time, and in which contexts which...

Interplay between interparental relationship quality and infant temperament predicts toddler transdiagnostic psychopathology.

Although exposure to interparental conflict (IPC) in late childhood and adolescence appears to be a robust risk factor for the development of child psychopathology, less work has examined how very early exposure to IPC poses risk for the development of psychopathology in the first 2 years of life. Further, it is unclear whether IPC is uniquely related to child psychopathology relative to other critical dimensions of the interparental relationship. This study aimed to investigate the unique effects of IPC and low levels of emotional intimacy in the interparental relationship during pregnancy and infancy on toddler psychopathology and whether children with higher negative emotionality during infancy were most vulnerable to these conditions. One hundred fifty-one cohabitating couples completed semistructured interviews and questionnaires once during pregnancy and three times postpartum. Results demonstrated that consistent and sustained interparental emotional intimacy, first observed during pregnancy and persisting throughout infancy, was a unique predictor of toddler psychopathology, controlling for sustained and persistent exposure to IPC. The negative association between emotional intimacy and toddler general psychopathology was stronger at higher levels of infant negative emotionality. Results highlight the importance of early exposure to a warm, affectionate interparental relationship for healthy child socioemotional development. These findings have potential for informing early prevention and intervention efforts, including prenatal programs, aimed at reducing psychopathology across the lifespan. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors Associated with Fathers’ Mental Health Difficulties in an Australian Help-Seeking Sample

Fathers are at increased risk of mental health difficulties such as depression during the first postnatal year, however little is currently known about the extent to which fathers experience symptoms of anxiety and stress, and the factors associated with these symptoms. This study aimed to: (1) investigate the extent to which fathers accessing support to strengthen their coparenting relationship through a community health organisation experience depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms during the first postnatal year, and (2) examine associations between a broad range of individual, child, and family factors and fathers’ depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms during the first postnatal year. This study involved secondary analysis of routinely collected data from 170 fathers of children aged 0–12 months who were enroled in a coparenting intervention programme delivered by a community health organisation in Melbourne, Australia. Elevated symptoms of stress were reported by ~28% of fathers, while elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety were reported by ~26% and 16% of fathers, respectively. Multiple regression analyses revealed evidence for associations between reduced parental self-efficacy and higher depressive and stress symptoms, while infant regulation difficulties and increased interparental conflict were associated with higher levels of stress. This study highlights that fathers are at risk of mental health difficulties during the first postnatal year. Findings demonstrate the importance of undertaking a broad assessment of fathers’ mental health during the first postnatal year and provide important insights into individual, child, and family factors that may represent optimal targets for prevention and early intervention.

The associations between interparental conflict and adolescent adjustment: a cross-lagged panel network analysis.

Extensively studied in interparental relationship literature suggests interparental conflict is a risk factor for adolescent adjustment, but the specific, dimension level relationships between interparental conflict and adolescent adjustment remain unclear. This study explored the interactions between the various dimensions of interparental conflict and adolescent adjustment in Chinese adolescents. A total of 1870 Chinese adolescents (42.27% males; Mage = 16.18, SD = 0.43, range = 15-18) completed a survey at two time points spaced three months apart. Data was analyzed using both cross-sectional and longitudinal network analysis. The cross-sectional network analysis found that resolution has the greatest connections with the dimensions of adolescent adjustment, suggesting that adolescents reporting high resolution are more prone to experience concurrent poor adjustment and therefore should be a primary focus of attention. The longitudinal network analysis revealed that, in general, previous hyperactivity-inattention is a significant and strong predictor of future interparental conflict, underscoring a child-driven effect. Meanwhile, prosocial behavior contributes to decreases in both interparental conflict and adjustment problems over time. These findings highlight the importance of addressing hyperactivity-inattention and cultivating prosocial behavior in adolescents as key intervention points-these can help resolve conflicts between parents and reduce adjustment problems for adolescents.

The role of parental illicit substance use and interparental conflict frequency on children’s externalizing behaviors over time

The role of parental illicit substance use and interparental conflict frequency on children’s externalizing behaviors over time

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

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.

Interparental Conflict and Children’s Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Four Residence Arrangements

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between residence arrangements and depressive and anxiety symptoms from children’s perspective and the moderating role of interparental conflict. The sample included 454 children from families recruited from family counselling offices across Norway. Mixed effects regression models assessed the association between four residence groups – symmetric shared, asymmetric shared, extended sole, and limited sole – and children’s mental health symptoms. Findings indicate that children in different residence arrangements generally displayed similar levels of mental health symptoms, except those in asymmetric shared residence reported fewer depressive symptoms compared to those in limited sole residence. Higher interparental conflict was associated with increased anxiety symptoms, particularly in symmetric shared residence. These results suggest that shared residence may not always be in the child's best interest when there are high levels of interparental conflict. The study reveals variations within the traditional categorizations of “shared” and “sole” residence, highlighting the importance of nuanced differentiation.

Non-Supportive Coparenting and a High Interdependent Self-Construal as Risk Factors for Parental Burnout in Mothers and Fathers in Switzerland

Multiple determinants of parental burnout have been identified, among which two indexes of non-supportive coparenting play a central role: low endorsement of the partner’s parenting, and high exposure of the child to interparental conflicts. It is, however, unclear whether these coparenting dimensions play a role for both mothers and fathers, and if this role may be more important for parents who have a high interdependent self-construal. We surveyed a sample of upper-middle-class heterosexual parents living in a dual-earner family arrangement (152 mothers, 101 fathers) with 0- to 12-year-old children living at home. Parents answered questionnaires about burnout, sociodemographic variables, coparenting, self-construal independence and interdependence, and child-related variables. Generalized linear model analyses showed that (i) burnout is higher in mothers than in fathers; (ii) for fathers, burnout is associated with a higher exposure of the child to interparental conflicts; (iii) for mothers, it is associated with a younger age of the youngest child, a higher exposure of the child to interparental conflicts, a lower endorsement of the partner’s parenting, and a higher self-construal interdependence; and (iv) there is no moderation effect of interdependence on the link between the coparenting dimensions and burnout.

Learning from Bitter Memories: Frequency and Resolution of Interparental Financial Conflicts, Financial Beliefs and Behaviors, and Well-Being among Hong Kong Young Adults

AbstractDrawing from family systems theory and family financial socialization theory, we examined associations among interparental financial conflicts (IPFC), financial beliefs and behaviors, and well-being for 312 Hong Kong young adults (aged 18–30 years old). The sample was relatively diverse in age, income level, and education level; the data were collected in March and April of 2022. IPFC consisted of frequency and three types of resolution strategies: negotiation, hostility, and triangulation. Financial beliefs and behaviors consisted of money vigilance and healthy money management. Well-being consisted of financial well-being and life satisfaction. Conducting structural equation modeling and calculating indirect effects, we identified two key findings. First, IPFC strategies (but not IPFC frequency) spill over into offspring’s financial beliefs and well-being. Second, young adults’ financial beliefs mediated associations between IPFC strategies and young adults’ well-being. Collectively, our study extended family systems theory and family financial socialization theory in demonstrating that (a) family interactions and relationships—including IPFC— are a vital component of the financial socialization process, and (b) these processes are associated with young adults’ financial beliefs, and in turn, well-being.

Child temperamental negative affectivity moderates the relation between interparental conflict and child cortisol recovery

AbstractThis study examined the relation between interparental conflict and cortisol recovery, with child temperamental negative affectivity as the moderator. Children (n = 118) ages 9–11 years observed an argument between their parents in the lab and provided saliva samples for cortisol assays. Children also reported levels of interparental conflict, and mothers reported their child's negative affectivity. Results showed that youths with high levels of negative affectivity experienced less cortisol recovery as interparental conflict levels increased. Further, demonstrating some support for differential susceptibility, youths with higher levels of negative affectivity exhibited less recovery at high levels of parental conflict but greater recovery at low levels of parental conflict, compared to peers with lower scores on negative affectivity. We also found that children with low levels of negative affectivity exhibited greater recovery as rates of interparental conflict increased. In summary, this study sheds light on sources of variability in cortisol recovery as it relates to interparental disharmony.