Abstract

1. Jeffrey Cookston San Francisco State University Kaitlyn M Fladeboe San Francisco State University Method Abstract Results Measures Interparental conflict.Interparental conflict was measured through a 15-item adapted version of the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict scale (Grych, Seid, & Fincham, 1992). Following a logical method, the 51-items were reduced to 15 that assessed frequency, intensity, resolution, perceived threat, and coping efficacy. An overall parental conflict score was created as the average of all 15 items across, where higher scores indicated more interparentalconflict. Cronbach’s Alphas for parental conflict of .82, .83, and .87 for waves 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Interparental conflict affects adolescent adjustment by threatening the emotional security of the child (Davies & Cummings, 1994). The present study examines the trajectory of interparentalconflict over time within families with an adolescent child and explains such changes as a function of family type, ethnicity, gender of adolescent, and adolescent age. The sample included 394 adolescents and their families who identified as either European-American or Mexican-American in ethnicity and where some fathers were stepparents. Participants were interviewed three times between 7th and 10thgrade. Results showed a significant decline in interparental conflict over time for all families, with higher initial mean levels of conflict for Mexican-American and stepfamilies. There was no difference in gender or age for initial levels of conflict, and the families of girls declined in conflict most quickly. Our results provide new information about change in rates of interparental conflict in families with adolescents and provide a framework for future research predicting interparental conflict. First, to assess change over time with the fewest constraints on our model, we estimated a growth model for each separate cohort based on the number of academic semesters between times of measurement. For example, the slope factor for cohort one was weighted 0 at Wave 1, 1 at Wave 2, and 3 at Wave 3, while Cohort 4 was weighted .5 at Wave 1, 2.5 at Wave 2, and 3.5 at Wave 3. This least constrained model showed a good fit to the data, X2 (4) = 18.975, p < .001, CFI = .96. Next, because we did not anticipate that the cohorts would be different from one another in growth as a function of the differences in time between assessments, we fixed the growth factors between the cohorts, and estimated an unconditional growth model for parent conflict. This more constrained model showed a good fit to the data, X2 (1) = 16.52, p < .001, CFI = .96 and a chi-square difference test revealed that the added constraints did not change the fit of the model, X2 difference (3) = 2.46, p > .25. We estimated two indicators of growth: an intercept factor representing initial level at time 1, and a slope factor representing change over time. The estimated mean level of parental conflict at time 1 was significantly different from zero (M = 26.56, p < .0001) and families varied in their initial levels of conflict (V = 25.21, p < .0001), and the estimated average rate of change over each year suggested a significant decline over time with significance variance between participants (M = -.23, p = .025, V = 1.06, p = .057). Predicting change over time in interparentalconflict. To test our hypotheses, we estimated a growth model of interparental conflict over time with predictors of family type, gender of adolescent, ethnicity of parent, and age of child. The model had a good fit, X2 (5) = 19.21, p = .002, CFI = .96. Inconsistent with our first hypothesis, initial mean levels of conflict were significantly higher for Mexican-American families compared to European American families. Supporting our second hypothesis, stepfamilies had higher initial mean levels of conflict compared to intact families. There was no difference in gender or age for initial levels of conflict. Concerning rate of change of parental conflict over time, there were no significant pathways for ethnic group, family type, or age on rate of decline. However, the average rate of decrease in family conflict was greater for the families of girls than boys. These findings suggest that families report different levels of conflict when children are in the 7th grade and that on average interparental conflict declines from 7th to 10th grade (although some families do remain stable in their levels of conflict or may increase). Our results also show that Mexican-American and stepfamilies tend to report higher levels of conflict when their child is a younger adolescent compared to European-American and intact families. Additionally, conflict levels decrease more rapidly over time in families with a daughter. Describing and predicting changes in interparental conflict across early adolescence: A latent curve model analysis Tables and Figures Introduction Previous research has established that witnessing conflict between one’s parents can have negative effects on child development (Grych & Fincham, 2001). According to the emotional security hypothesis, children may interpret marital discord as threatening to the stability of the family, thus hindering the child’s ability to regulate emotions and behavior and leading to greater negative emotionality (Davies & Cummings, 1994). While the relationship between interparental conflict and adjustment has been well established, less in known about changes in interparental conflict across time. Identifying if (or how) interparental conflict changes may have important implications for children of all ages, and in particular for the development of adolescents. According to recent study, older adolescents who reported more interparental conflict showed sensitized emotional responses to stress (Lucas-Thompson, 2012) Additionally, this trajectory may differ based on demographic characteristics of the family or child. Thus, the present study predicts change over time in interparental conflict within families with an adolescent child and explains such changes as a function of family type, ethnicity, gender of adolescent, and adolescent age. Previous research suggests Mexican American families may have less interparental conflict. The value of familism, or strong identification of individuals with their family, tends to be a protective factor for Mexican-American families (Sabogal, Marin, Otero-Sabogal, Marin, & Perez-Stable, 1987). Accordingly, we predict that Mexican-American families will exhibit less initial conflict than European-American families. Previous research has also shown that levels of interparental conflict tend to be higher for stepfamilies compared to intact families and may have a more negative impact on children (Bray, 1999; Fine, 2001). Some additional sources for conflict in stepfamilies have been observed (e.g., biological parent feeling divided between stepparent and child, child support issues, and differential parenting styles; Fine, 2001). Therefore, more information regarding changes in interparental conflict overtime may be particularly beneficial to stepfamilies. In accordance, we next predict that stepfamilies will also exhibit increased initial conflict compared to intact families. Discussion • Previous research has established that witnessing interparental conflict can be detrimental to the social and emotional development of children. In particular, adolescence is a critical age for socioemotional development and establishment of interpersonal relationships, thus determining the trajectory of interparental conflict during this period of time is of particular importance. • In accordance with previous research and our hypothesis, stepfamilies with early adolescent children exhibited higher initial levels of interparental conflict. These findings are not surprising given that stepfamilies typically have increased rates of interparentalconflict. In contrast to our hypothesis that Mexican-American families would exhibit lower levels of conflict due to the cultural value of familism, Mexican-American families also showed higher levels of interparental conflict initially. However, we did not include familism in our model to determine its protective role so it is unclear whether familism plays a role in interparentalconflict. While family structure and ethnicity predicted higher initial levels of interparental conflict, they were not predictive of change over time, and all families showed a similar pattern of decline across adolescence. This pattern is similar to that of parent-child conflict, which has been shown to decline across adolescence, suggesting that overall family conflict may decline over adolescence. • In addition to examining ethnicity and family structure as predictors, future studies should also include income because economic hardship may be a possible stressor and additional source of interparental conflict. • Ultimately, this study identifies some important predictors of interparental conflict among families with early adolescent children, and provides a basis for future research examining the trajectory of interparental conflict and its effect on child development. Figure. Final unstandardized estimates for the growth model of interparental conflict with predictors. Only statistically significant paths are displayed. *p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001. Method Participants Participants were 392 families of Mexican-American (N = 193) and European-American (N = 199) ancestry drawn from the Parents and Youth Study (http://pays.sfsu.edu/). All families had a child in the 7th grade at the start of data collection, with a mean age of 12.9 at Wave 1, 14.4 at Wave 2, and 16.0 at Wave 3 and the sample was 48% male. Due to attrition, there were significantly fewer Mexican-American and stepfamilies at Wave 3 compared to Wave 1. However, there was no significant difference for gender of adolescent between waves. Procedure Families were recruited from two sites in the southwest United States, and were eligible if they were of either European-American or Mexican-American ancestry and were living with a biological mother and either a biological father or stepfather. Once consent was obtained, a team of researchers either came to the home to conduct separate interviews with each family member or family members travelled to a data collection facility. Families were interviewed in person in the 7th grade, by telephone in either the 8th or 9th grade, and again in person in the 10th grade. Data were collected in four cohorts using a cohort sequential design. Acknowledgement We are very grateful to the families who participated in the Parents and Youth Study. To learn more about our lab or download the poster with references, visit http://online.sfsu.edu/devpsych/fair/.