The relation between interparental conflict and adolescent's adjustment problems: the mediator role of parental control practices

Abstract

This study aims to explore the maternal and paternal psychological and behavioral (monitoring) control as mediators in the relationships of adolescent's perceived interparental conflict with bullying and loneliness. A total of 542 adolescents (316 females, 226 males) coming from middle SES families and from 7th to 10th grades (M= 14.74, SD = 1.44; range = 11.9 - 18.3) participated in the study. Psychological Control Questionnaire, Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC), UCLA Loneliness Scale and Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Scale, Bullying Scale, and Adolescent Family Process Measure (monitoring subscale) were administered to the students in a group session. Structural Equation Modeling analyses revealed that interparental conflict had a detrimental role on parental control behaviors leading to heightened psychological control and lessened parental monitoring. Interparental conflict also directly related to increase in female adolescents' loneliness and male adolescents' bullying. Psychological control mediated the relations between adolescents' perceived interparental conflict and loneliness in males and bullying in females. As for monitoring, mediation was observed in the relation between interparental conflict and bullying only in females and for mothers. Our results support both the direct and spillover effects of interparental conflict on adolescent adjustment.