The interactive effects of marital conflict and divorce on parent – adult children’s relationships.

Yu, T., Pettit, G. S., Lansford, J. E., Dodge, K. A., & Bates, J. E. (2010). The interactive effects of marital conflict and divorce on parent – adult children’s relationships. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 282-292.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00699.x

Abstract: This study examines main effect and interactive models of the relations between marital conflict, divorce, and parent-adult child relationships, and gender differences in these relations. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of a community sample (N = 585). Parental marital conflict and divorce were measured from age 5 through age 17. Mother-child and father-child relationship quality at age 22 was assessed in terms of Closeness-Support and Conflict-Control. Results indicate that both marital conflict and divorce were associated with poorer quality of parent-adult child relationships. Divorce moderated the link between marital conflict and subsequent negativity in mother-child relationships, with the estimated effects being stronger in continuously married families than in divorced families, especially for women.