Pathways between interparental conflict and adolescent psychological adjustment: bridging links through children's cognitive appraisals and coping strategies

Using a three-wave longitudinal design, the present study examined adolescents' cognitive appraisals and coping strategies following exposure to interparental conflict and their long-term symptoms of emotional and behavioral distress. Participants were 252 adolescents (122 boys, 130 girls; ages 11 to 12 years in the 1st year of the study), their parents, and their teachers. Controlling for initial symptom levels (Time 1), the proposed theoretical model linked parent reports of interparental conflict at Time 1 (1999) to children's appraisals of self-blame and threat relating to marital conflict at Time 2 (2000) and their coping strategies as indexed by proactive mediation, avoidance, overinvolvement, and masking behavior at Time 3 (2001). Children's appraisals and coping strategies were in turn related to their internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems, assessed at Time 3. Gender differences were found whereby marital conflict exerted direct effects on boys' coping behavior, while for girls, effects were indirect through their self-blame and threat appraisals. Implications for interventions aimed at ameliorating the effects of interparental conflict on children are discussed. © 2008 Sage Publications