Mother–adolescent conflict types and adolescent adjustment: A person-oriented analysis.

Abstract

This investigation was designed to identify dyadic differences in mother-adolescent conflict. In 2 studies (N = 131 and N = 147), adolescents (M = 13.88 and 14.65 years old) described the number of disagreements with mothers during the previous (1 or 3) days, their affective intensity, and perceptions of negativity in the relationship. Cluster analyses yielded 3 unique groups that replicated across studies: (a) placid dyads (50% of Study 1 participants and 36% of Study 2 participants), notable for low disagreement affective intensity and low relationship negativity; (b) explosive dyads (25% of Study 1 participants and 31% of Study 2 participants), notable for high affective intensity; and (c) squabbling dyads (25% of Study 1 participants and 33% of Study 2 participants), notable for frequent conflict. Longitudinal analyses revealed that cluster group membership was stable from 1 year to the next. Follow-up analyses indicated that adolescents in placid dyads had lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors than those in the explosive or squabbling dyads, concurrently and prospectively. (PsycINFO Database Record

Attachment behavior and hostility as explanatory factors linking parent–adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment.

“…Rather, significant variability was evident. Consistent with recent research (e.g., Huey et al, 2017), this points to important individual differences in the stability of parent-adolescent conflict in early adolescence. In addition, the use of latent difference scores re-vealed unique patterns in the relationship between initial values and change for each form of adjustment.…”

“…With this in mind, we investigate the following research questions. First, we seek to replicate previous research (e.g., Huey et al, 2017;Weymouth et al, 2016) by testing whether increases in parent-adolescent conflict with mothers in early adolescence is associated with increases in adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Second, we examine whether adolescent hostility and secure attachment behavior partially explain this link.…”

“…Parent–adolescent conflict is an ubiquitous feature of early adolescence that can play an important developmental role in renegotiating family relationships to support increasing autonomy needs (Branje, 2018). However, frequent and intense conflicts are consistently shown to predict poorer adolescent adjustment across both internalizing and externalizing dimensions (Huey, Hiatt, Laursen, Burk, & Rubin, 2017; Weymouth, Buehler, Zhou, & Henson, 2016). In order to better understand this multiplicity of outcomes, the current study compares two complementary explanations for why increases in parent–adolescent conflict in early adolescence may be associated with adolescent adjustment problems: through the spillover of adolescent hostility and by undermining adolescents’ secure attachment behavior.…”

Parent–Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families: Links to Sociocultural Factors and School‐Age Children's Psychological Adjustment

“…As Bergman (2001) suggests, nonlinear relationships are better understood by simultaneously assessing multiple dimensions of interest. By examining conflict intensity, frequency, and negativity, three groups were identified in a sample of ethnically diverse mother–youth dyads: Placid dyads had low conflict intensity and negativity, explosive dyads had high conflict intensity, and squabbling dyads had frequent and intense conflict (Huey et al, 2017). Compared to placid dyads, youths from both explosive and squabbling dyads had higher behavior problems.…”