Poster #98 - Marital Quality and Parent-Adolescent Conflict Escalation in Italian and Colombian Families

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Hostile parent-adolescent conflict (i.e., angry comments, yelling, and/or physical aggression) has been found to be a predictor of a range of maladaptive emotional and behavioural outcomes for youths, including internalizing and externalizing problems (Smetana, 1996; Weymouth et al., 2016). Based on research showing that parent-adolescent conflicts are related to parents’ marital interactions and harsh parenting (e.g. Buehler et al., 2002), we hypothesized that a positive marital relationship, expressed through parents’ love and support, may spill-over to a more positive parent-child relationship and prevent deleterious conflict-related outcomes with their offspring. The present cross-sectional, cross-cultural study examines the relations between marital relationship quality and a) parent-child relationship quality and (b) escalating behaviours occurring during parent-adolescent arguments.
Participants included 109 Italian and 108 Colombian family triads. Children were 13 to 16 years old. An index of marital relationship quality was created by parent-reports of their marital satisfaction (Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale; Schumm et al., 1983), love (Marriage and Relationships Questionnaire; Russell & Wells,1986) and perceived support when dealing with stress (Dyadic Coping Inventory; Bodenmann, 2008). The Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire-Short Form (Rohner, 2005) was used to measure adolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ attitudes and feelings toward them. Specifically, we derived one scale, measuring parental warmth/lack of neglect-indifference, to examine the quality of parent-adolescent relationships. Moreover, parent reports of escalation during parent-adolescent disagreement were also examined with the Parent-Adolescent Disagreement Scale (Honess et al., 1997).
Hierarchical regressions (on the total sample and within each national group) were run to examine the associations among parental marital satisfaction and the quality of parent-adolescent relationship with parent-adolescent conflict escalation (dependent variable; see Tables 1 and 2). Regression analyses included adolescents’ sex and parents’ age and years of education (Step 1), marital relationship quality (Step 2), and parent-adolescent relationship quality (Step 3) as independent variables. Separate models were examined for maternal and paternal marital and parental relationship quality.
In the total sample, high marital and parental relationship quality were associated with lower levels of parent-adolescent conflict escalation. Similar patterns emerged for mother and father reports of both marital and parental relationships, as well as across Italian and Colombian families, except for Italian fathers, whose reports of marital relationship quality were not significantly associated with the quality of the relationship with their children. Indirect effects were examined as well. Specifically, marital relationship quality had a significant indirect effect on parent-adolescent conflict escalation through parent-adolescent relationship quality both for Colombian and Italian mothers. No significant indirect effects were found for Italian and Colombian fathers.
The findings suggest that researchers and professionals addressing parent-adolescent conflicts should attend to both marital relationships and parent-adolescent relationships to better understand the antecedents and outcomes of maladaptive strategies parents and adolescents use when in disagreements with each other.

Authors

• Emanuele Basili, Sapienza University of Rome
  Presenting Author

• Concetta Pastorelli, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Di Giunta, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maria Gerbino, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Universidad San Buenaventura
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carolina Lunetti, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eriona Thartori, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ainzara Favini, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author