Interparental Relationship Discord and Adolescent Psychopathology in a United States Probability Sample

TL;DR

This study finds that conflict between parents is linked to higher rates of mental health issues in teenagers.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on how parental discord relates to clinical psychopathology in U.S. adolescents.

Findings

Higher interparental discord is associated with increased general psychopathology in adolescents.

Parental conflict shows small but significant links to internalizing and externalizing disorders.

Associations were observed with several specific mental health disorders in teens.

Abstract

Exposure to interparental conflict and poor parental relationship adjustment (i.e., interparental relationship discord) has been associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms throughout childhood and later life. However, the degree to which interparental relationship discord is associated with clinical levels of psychopathology in adolescents remains unclear. The association between parents’ report of interparental relationship discord and mental disorders in adolescents was investigated in the National Comorbidity Survey–Adolescent Supplement, a United States probability sample of 13-17-year-old adolescents and their parents (N = 4,112 dyads). A hierarchical framework, consisting of 16 specific disorders, latent dimensions of internalizing and externalizing disorders, and a latent dimension of general psychopathology, was employed. Greater interparental relationship discord demonstrated small but significant associations with higher levels of general psychopathology and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, as well as with several specific disorders. Overall, results are consistent with the perspective that interparental relationship discord may increase risk for clinical levels of psychopathology in adolescents.

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