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Interparental Discord and Adolescent Adjustment Trajectories: The Potentiating and Protective Role of Intrapersonal Attributes
Author(s) -
Davies Patrick,
Windle Michael
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8624.00340
Subject(s) - intrapersonal communication , psychology , developmental psychology , temperament , depressive symptoms , interpersonal communication , clinical psychology , personality , cognition , social psychology , psychiatry
This prospective study of 360 adolescent – mother dyads examined whether associations between marital discord and trajectories of adolescent depressive symptoms and delinquency varied as a function of three intrapersonal attributes: temperament, childhood behavior problems, and perceived family support. Difficult temperament (i.e., dysrhythmicity, poor task orientation) potentiated the effects of marital discord on adolescent trajectories of adjustment, whereas heightened perceptions of family support protected adolescents from the adverse effects of marital discord. Adolescents with behavior problem histories were initially less vulnerable to marital discord; however, the high levels of depressive symptoms exhibited by adolescents with childhood behavior problems persisted over time only when they were exposed to elevated marital discord. The effects of the moderators differed in terms of duration and course.