Although the assertion that marital hostility relates to higher levels of youth adjustment difficulties has been well established, few studies have examined cooperative marital conflict in relation to youth behavior problems. This study examined the main and moderating effects of cooperative marital conflict on youth behavior problems in a sample…

Adolescents' emotional reactivity in family, close friendships, and romantic relationships was examined in a community-based sample of 416 two-parent families. Six waves of annual data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Emotional reactivity to interparental conflict during early adolescence was associated prospectively with…

Using a risk and resiliency theoretical framework, the association between interparental conflict and academic achievement was examined. The sample consisted of 2,297 6th grade youth with a mean age of 11.92. Participants were mostly European American (81.8%) and 52% were girls. Results demonstrated that interparental conflict is a risk factor for…

Examined relationships among dimensions of former spouse relationship and children's social competence postseparation and explored impact of community-based, educational prevention program for divorcing parents on quality of former spouse relationship. Findings from 113 program participants and 80 separated and divorcing nonparticipants revealed…

The association between interparental conflict and problem behaviors (internalized vs. externalized) of children is examined. Youth perceptions of three interparental conflict variables are studied: parents' frequency of disagreement, parents' use of an overt conflict style, and parents' covert conflict style. Individual and socioeconomic…

Findings support the pattern of independent, additive effects of individual family stressors. There was no evidence that the effects of poor parenting, overt interparental conflict, and family economic hardship exacerbate one another, or that the converse serve as buffers. This model explains more variance in externalizing problem behavior for…

Examines association between hostile interparental conflict and youth maladjustment. Suggests effects of hostile interparental conflict style on youth maladjustment are more indirect than direct. Delineates three mediating factors: parenting behaviors, parents' depression, and youth's perceptions and appraisals of parents' interactions. Offers…

Contemporaneous and longitudinal associations among marital conflict, parent-child relationship quality, and youth maladjustment were examined using data from the National Survey of Families and Households. Analyses were based on 551 married families with a child age 5 to 11 years at Wave 1. The concurrent association between marital conflict and…

We examined the cross-ethnic equivalency of socialization measures developed primarily with European American families. Four aspects of measurement equivalence were assessed: conceptual, operational, scalar, and functional. Evidence of between-and within-group measurement equivalency of socialization measures was derived from youth reports of 500…