The Dynamics of Interparental Conflict, Adolescent Emotional Insecurity, and Adolescent Social Maladjustment: A Parallel Process Latent Growth Curve Analysis

SYNOPSISObjective. This study examined how trajectories of interparental conflict are associated with trajectories of adolescent emotional insecurity and their social maladjustment. Design: Participants were 181 adolescents (M age = 12.64, SD = 0.57; 50.8% female) and their parents, assessed annually for 3 years. Parallel process latent growth curve models were used to examine associations among growth trajectories of interparental conflict, adolescent emotional insecurity, and adolescent social maladjustment. Results: Higher initial levels of interparental conflict were associated with greater increases in adolescent emotional insecurity over time. Increases in interparental conflict over time were associated with concurrent increases in adolescent emotional insecurity. Adolescent emotional insecurity slope was associated with adolescent social maladjustment slope such that increases in interparental conflict corresponded with increases in adolescent social maladjustment through concurrent increases in adolescent emotional insecurity. Conclusions: This study underscores the importance of examining developmental trajectories rather than static assessments of interparental conflict, adolescents’ emotional insecurity, and their social maladjustment, offering insights into how trajectories of these constructs are associated with each other.