Poster #91 - Cumulative Interparental and Parent-Child Conflict on Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms

• In Event: 3-003 - Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

There is concurrent and longitudinal evidence that interparental conflict (Shelton & Harold, 2008) and parent-child conflict (Marmorstein & Iacono, 2004) relate to greater adolescents’ depressive symptoms. This evidence is in line with theoretical perspectives positing that family subsystems are interrelated and that both early and concurrent family experiences affect adolescent development. However, it is possible that the accumulation of interparental and parent-child conflict over time may be especially consequential to adolescent depressive symptoms, above and beyond family conflict at individual points in time (Westrupp, Brown, Woolhouse, Gartland, & Nicholson, 2018). The present study investigated unique effects of interparental and parent-child conflict at specific points in time during middle childhood and adolescence, as well as cumulative scores capturing the totality of risk within these subsystems in order to identify salient conflict exposure as it impacts adolescents’ depressive symptoms.
Using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care Youth and Development, the current subsample included data from 617 families when children were in 5th, 6th, and 9th grade. Approximately half of children were female (48%), 80% were Caucasian, and 24% were considered low-income (income-to-needs<2). Interparental conflict was an average of mother and father reports at the 5th, 6th, and 9th grade using the Partner Conflict and Resolution Measure (Braiker & Kelly, 1979). Parent-Child conflict was reported by mothers and fathers at 5th, 6th, and 9th grade using the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (Amato, 1986). Adolescents reported on their depressive symptoms at 9th grade using the Child Depression Inventory Short Form (Angold, Costello, Messer, & Pickles, 1995). The cumulative risk variables were constructed by dichotomizing (0,1) the 5th, 6th, and 9th grade time points of interparental, mother-child, and father-child conflict exposure. At-risk families were given a 1 if they were in the top quartile of scores or above for each grade level, then the scores were summed across the three time points for interparental, mother-child, and father-child conflict.
Bivariate associations showed most study variables were related to adolescent depressive symptoms at 9th grade (Table 1). We ran two linear regressions including child gender and ethnicity, family income, and marital status as covariates. In the first, the three interparental and parent-child conflict waves were included as predictors of 9th grade adolescent depressive symptoms (Table 2, Model 1). Father-child conflict at 9th grade was positively associated with concurrent adolescent depressive symptoms. In the second, the three cumulative conflict risk scores were added to the predictors in relation to adolescent depressive symptoms (Table 2, Model 2). Cumulative mother-child conflict predicted adolescents’ depressive symptoms; concurrent father-child conflict was no longer a significant predictor.
Findings suggest the accumulation of high mother-child conflict over time relates to greater adolescent depressive symptoms, above and beyond specific time points. Although conflict exposure at certain times can be debilitating in the moment, children are known to be quite resilient when conflict is reported less often (Toll, Song, & Jordans, 2013); it is the repeated exposure of conflict, particularly with mothers, that can be especially consequential to adolescent functioning (Bradford, Vaughn, & Barber, 2008).

Authors

• Olivia Smith, University of Texas at Dallas
  Presenting Author

• Megan Adelson, The University of Texas at Dallas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jackie A Nelson, University of Texas at Dallas
  Non-Presenting Author