Bidirectional Associations between Youth Adjustment and Mothers’ and Fathers’ Coparenting Conflict

Research demonstrates significant associations between coparenting conflict and child adjustment problems. However, the implications of youth adjustment for coparenting, especially during youth’s adolescence, remain poorly understood. Addressing several gaps in the literature, this study examines the longitudinal trajectory of mothers’ and fathers’ reported coparenting conflict from youth ages 10–17 and tests bidirectional associations between youth social anxiety, hostility, risktaking behaviors, and mothers’ and fathers’ coparenting conflict. Participants include 757 mothers, fathers, and youth in twoparent families (M youth age = 11.28, SD= 0.49; 53% female) who participated in 5 waves of data collection when youth were in the 6th to 9th grades. Multilevel growth curve models revealed significant non-linear change in mothers’ and fathers’ coparenting conflict, such that coparenting conflict declined through youth’s transition to adolescence, leveled off in early adolescence, and declined in the mid-late adolescent years. Cross-lagged models showed significant positive associations between youth social anxiety and hostility and coparenting conflict at the following time point, but coparenting conflict did not predict later youth adjustment problems in these domains. There were significant bidirectional associations between mother-reported coparenting conflict and youth risk-taking behaviors; the associations between coparenting conflict and risktaking were not significant for fathers. The findings demonstrate that investigating longitudinal associations between youth adjustment and coparenting conflict may provide new insights into the role of child effects for mothers’ and fathers’ coparenting experiences. Keywords Coparenting conflict

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Work Title Bidirectional Associations between Youth Adjustment and Mothers’ and Fathers’ Coparenting Conflict
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Elizabeth M. Riina
  2. Jin-kyung Lee
  3. Mark E. Feinberg
Keyword
  1. Coparenting conflict
  2. Youth adjustment
  3. Adolescent development
  4. Bidirectional associations
  5. Mother-father differences
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Publication Date June 2, 2020
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01262-6
Deposited August 12, 2022

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Updated
  • Added Creator Elizabeth M. Riina
  • Added Creator Jin-kyung Lee
  • Added Creator MARK E FEINBERG
  • Added Riina et al. Bidirectional Associations 2020.pdf
  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publisher, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Coparenting conflict Youth adjustment Adolescent development Bidirectional associations Mother-father differences
    • Coparenting conflict, Youth adjustment, Adolescent development, Bidirectional associations, Mother-father differences
    Publisher
    • Journal of Youth and Adolescence
    Publication Date
    • 2020
    • 2020-06-02
  • Renamed Creator Mark E. Feinberg Show Changes
    • MARK E FEINBERG
    • Mark E. Feinberg
  • Updated