Marital quality, parenting, and adolescent internalizing problems: A three-wave longitudinal study

Abstract

The present 3-wave, 3-year longitudinal study examined direct and indirect associations between marital quality, parenting, and adolescent internalizing problems, taking into account bidirectional associations between these concepts. Data were used from 428 Dutch families, consisting of 2 biological parents and 2 adolescents with mean ages of 13.4 and 15.2 years (at Time 1). Results from structural equation modeling analyses showed that low marital quality at Time 1 was directly related to adolescent internalizing problems at Time 2 in oldest siblings. However, support was not found for any indirect associations through parenting or for longitudinal associations from adolescent internalizing problems to parents' marital quality. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding the mechanism by which marital quality is related to adolescent internalizing problems.