Abstract

The link between interparental conflict and adolescents’ maladjustment has been well established among European Americans; however, relatively few studies examine these relationships in Chinese societies. This study used longitudinal data from the Taiwan Youth Project (TYP), an on-going longitudinal panel research project focused on adolescent development, in order to examine the relationship between interparental conflict and depressive symptoms and externalizing problem behaviors of adolescents. In addition, this study examined parental warmth as a mediating variable for the relationship between interparental conflict and adolescents’ maladjustment. The results showed that interparental conflict predicted depressive symptoms among adolescents two years later. Mediation analysis indicated that parental warmth partially mediated the relationship between interparental conflict and depressive symptoms. However, findings indicated that there was no direct effect between interparental conflict and adolescent externalizing behaviors two years later; rather, the association was indirect through the mediating variable of overall parental warmth. Thus, overall parental warmth fully mediated the relationship between interparental conflict and subsequent externalizing behaviors. These results yield valuable information for clinical intervention and further research.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Marriage and Family Therapy

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2015-07-01

Document Type

Dissertation

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd7931

Keywords

interparental conflict, depressive symptoms, externalizing behavior problem, adolescents, spillover effect, maternal warmth, paternal warmth

Language

english

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