Extension of the Children's Perceptions of Interparental Conflict Scale for use with late adolescents.

Although many studies have documented an association between interparental conflict (IPC) and child outcomes, the relation of specific dimensions of conflict to the adjustment of offspring remains largely unexplored. The Children's Perceptions of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC) was developed by J. H. Grych, M. Seid, and F. D. Fincham (1992) to assess school-aged children's perceptions of several dimensions of IPC. The purpose of the current study was to examine the suitability of the CPIC for use with late adolescents. The factor structure of the CPIC dimensions and indexes of reliability and validity were examined in a sample of 215 participants 17 to 21 years old. The emergent factor structure closely resembled the factor structure found with the younger sample. The CPIC also demonstrated good reliability and external validity. Over the past several decades, empirical support has accumulated for the association between interparental conflict (IPC) and the adjustment of offspring in both divorced and intact families. Correlational and analogue studies have identified negative child outcomes in the areas of behavior problems, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, cognitive competence, and social skills (for reviews, see Amato & Keith, 1991; Emery, 1982; Grych & Fincham, 1990). Fincham (1994) recently drew a distinction between first-generation and second-generation research in this area. He suggested that firstgeneration research, which focuses on documenting the association between IPC and child adjustment and ruling out other variables that might mediate or moderate this association, has been extensive. On the other hand, secondgeneration research, aimed at explaining the mechanisms that may account for the association between IPC and child outcomes, has lagged behind. One of the issues highlighted by Fincham (1994) is the need to assess the rela