Abstract
This study investigated the relation between parent–adolescent conflict and adolescents’ depressive symptoms from a dynamic systems framework. Two aspects of conflict were examined: the intensity of conflict and the predictability of dyadic conflict (i.e., the extent to which parents and adolescents follow a predictable pattern in their conflict behaviors) during parent–adolescent interactions. Using a clinical sample of 26 adolescents with depression diagnoses and their parents, we conducted a state space grid analysis to capture the predictability of changes in observer-coded dyadic conflict during a conflict negotiation task. The intensity of conflict was measured using the total observed conflict score and adolescents’ and parents’ self-reports on their conflict behaviors post-discussion. A regression analysis was conducted to examine the moderation effect of the predictability of dyadic conflict on the relationship between the intensity of conflict and adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Results showed that the moderation effect was significant, such that adolescents’ and parents’ conflict behaviors were positively associated with depressive symptoms when parent–adolescent conflict dynamics were more organized and predictable. Findings suggest the importance of understanding the dynamic and dyadic patterns of parent–adolescent interaction when examining the relationship between family processes and adolescent depression.
Highlights
-
This study investigated the relation between parent–adolescent conflict and adolescents’ depression.
-
Adolescents’ depressive symptoms were positively associated with their conflictual behaviors in interactions with parents.
-
More conflict behaviors were related to more depressive symptoms when parent–adolescent conflict interaction pattern is more predictable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Austin, P. C., & Steyerberg, E. W. (2015). The number of subjects per variable required in linear regression analyses. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(6), 627–636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.12.014.
Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., Segal, Z. V., Abbey, S., Speca, M., Velting, D., & Devins, G. (2004). Mindfulness: a proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11(3), 230–241. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bph077.
Bloomquist, M. L., Giovanelli, A., Benton, A., Piehler, T. F., Quevedo, K. & Oberstar, J. (2016). Implementation and evaluation of evidence-based psychotherapeutic practices for youth in a mental health organization. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(11), 3278–3292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0479-5.
Brewer, J. A., Mallik, S., Babuscio, T. A., Nich, C., Johnson, H. E., Deleone, C. M., Minnix-Cotton, C. A., Byrne, S. A., Kober, H., Weinstein, A. J., Carroll, K. M., & Rounsaville, B. J. (2011). Mindfulness training for smoking cessation: results from a randomized controlled trial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 119(1–2), 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.05.027.
Chi, T. C., & Hinshaw, S. P. (2002). Mother–child relationships of children with ADHD: The role of maternal depressive symptoms and depression-related distortions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 4, 387–400. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015770025043.
Cummings, E. M., Koss, K. J., & Davies, P. T. (2015). Prospective relations between family conflict and adolescent maladjustment: security in the family system as a mediating process. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(3), 503–515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9926-1.
Dahl, R. E., & Gunnar, M. R. (2009). Heightened stress responsiveness and emotional reactivity during pubertal maturation: implications for psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 21(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409000017.
Dishion, T. J. (2016). An evolutionary framework for understanding coercion and aggression. In T. J. Dishion & J. Snyder (Eds.), Oxford handbook of coercive relationship dynamics: Basic mechanisms, developmental processes, and intervention applications (pp. 53–68). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Dishion, T. J., Forgatch, M., Van Ryzin, M., & Winter, C. (2012). The nonlinear dynamics of family problem solving in adolescence: the predictive validity of a peaceful resolution attractor. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, 16(3), 331–352.
Dishion, T. J., Nelson, S. E., Winter, C. E., & Bullock, B. M. (2004). Adolescent friendship as a dynamic system: entropy and deviance in the etiology and course of male antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32(6), 651–663. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JACP.0000047213.31812.21.
Ehrlich, K. B., Cassidy, J., & Dykas, M. J. (2011). Reporter discrepancies among parents, adolescents, and peers: adolescent attachment and informant depressive symptoms as explanatory factors. Child Development, 82(3), 999–1012.
Essau, C. A., Lewinsohn, P. M., Seeley, J. R., & Sasagawa, S. (2010). Gender differences in the developmental course of depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 127(1–3), 185–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2010.05.016.
Fosco, G. M., Van Ryzin, M. J., Connell, A. M., & Stormshak, E. A. (2016). Preventing adolescent depression with the family check-up: examining family conflict as a mechanism of change. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(1), 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000147.
Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2015). The seven principles for making marriage work. 2nd Edition New York, NY: Harmony.
Granic, I., & Hollenstein, T. (2003). Dynamic systems methods for models of developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 15(3), 641–669. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579403000324.
Granic, I., O’Hara, A., Pepler, D., & Lewis, M. D. (2007). A dynamic systems analysis of parent–child changes associated with successful “real-world” interventions for aggressive children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35(5), 845–857. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9133-4.
Gunlicks‐Stoessel, M. L., & Powers, S. I. (2008). Adolescents’ emotional experiences of mother–adolescent conflict predict internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18(4), 621–642. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2008.00574.x.
Hammen, C. (2009). Adolescent depression: stressful interpersonal contexts and risk for recurrence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(4), 200–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01636.x.
Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford publications.
Hollenstein, T. (2007). State space grids: analyzing dynamics across development. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(4), 384–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025407077765.
Hollenstein, T. (2013). State space grids: Depicting dynamics across development. New York, NY: Springer. 10.1007/978-1-4614-5007-8.
Hollenstein, T., Granic, I., Stoolmiller, M., & Snyder, J. (2004). Rigidity in parent—child interactions and the development of externalizing and internalizing behavior in early childhood. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32(6), 595–607. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JACP.0000047209.37650.41.
Hughes, E. K., & Gullone, E. (2008). Internalizing symptoms and disorders in families of adolescents: a review of family systems literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(1), 92–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2007.04.002.
Irwin, D. E., Stucky, B., Langer, M. M., Thissen, D., DeWitt, E. M., Lai, J. S., & DeWalt, D. A. (2010). An item response analysis of the pediatric PROMIS anxiety and depressive symptoms scales. Quality of Life Research, 19(4), 595–607. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9619-3.
Kemp, C. J., Lunkenheimer, E., Albrecht, E. C., & Chen, D. (2016). Can we fix this? Parent–child repair processes and preschoolers’ regulatory skills. Family Relations, 65(4), 576–590. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12213.
Lamey, A., Hollenstein, T., Lewis, M. D., & Granic, I. (2004). GridWare (version 1.1). [Computer software]. http://statespacegrids.org.
Larson, R., & Richards, M. H. (1994). Divergent realities: The emotional lives of mothers, fathers, and adolescents. New York, NY: BasicBooks.
Laursen, B., Coy, K. C., & Collins, W. A. (1998). Reconsidering changes in parent‐child conflict across adolescence: a meta‐analysis. Child Development, 69(3), 817–832. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06245.x.
Levoy, E., Lazaridou, A., Brewer, J., & Fulwiler, C. (2017). An exploratory study of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for emotional eating. Appetite, 109, 124–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.029.
Lewis, M. D., Lamey, A. V., & Douglas, L. (1999). A new dynamic systems method for the analysis of early socioemotional development. Developmental Science, 2(4), 457–475. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7687.00090.
Lobo, F. M., & Lunkenheimer, E. (2020). Understanding the parent-child coregulation patterns shaping child self-regulation. Developmental Psychology, 56(6), 1121–1134. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000926.
Lougheed, J. P., Main, A., & Helm, J. L. (2020). Mother–adolescent emotion dynamics during conflicts: associations with perspective taking. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(5), 566–576. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000632.
Lunkenheimer, E. S., Olson, S. L., Hollenstein, T., Sameroff, A. J., & Winter, C. (2011). Dyadic flexibility and positive affect in parent–child coregulation and the development of child behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 23(2), 577–591. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457941100006X.
Mastrotheodoros, S., Van der Graaff, J., Deković, M., Meeus, W. H., & Branje, S. (2020). Parent–adolescent conflict across adolescence: trajectories of informant discrepancies and associations with personality types. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(1), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01054-7.
Melby, J. N., Conger, R. D., Book, R., Rueter, M., Lucy, L., & Repinski, D. (1998). The Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales. 5th ed. Ames, IA: Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, Iowa State University. Unpublished manuscript.
Moed, A., Gershoff, E. T., Eisenberg, N., Hofer, C., Losoya, S., Spinrad, T. L., & Liew, J. (2015). Parent–adolescent conflict as sequences of reciprocal negative emotion: Links with conflict resolution and adolescents’ behavior problems. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(8), 1607–1622. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0209-5.
Mojtabai, R., Olfson, M., & Han, B. (2016). National trends in the prevalence and treatment of depression in adolescents and young adults. Pediatrics, 138(6), e20161878 https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1878.
Ohannessian, C. M., & de Los Reyes, A. (2014). Discrepancies in adolescents’ and their mothers’ perceptions of the family and adolescent anxiety symptomatology. Parenting, 14(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2014.870009.
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42(1), 185–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273170701341316.
Prinz, R. J., Foster, S., Kent, R. N., & O’Leary, K. D. (1979). Multivariate assessment of conflict in distressed and nondistressed mother‐adolescent dyads. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 12(4), 691–700. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1979.12-691.
Restifo, K., & Bögels, S. (2009). Family processes in the development of youth depression: Translating the evidence to treatment. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(4), 294–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.02.005.
Rueter, M. A., Scaramella, L., Wallace, L. E., & Conger, R. D. (1999). First onset of depressive or anxiety disorders predicted by the longitudinal course of internalizing symptoms and parent-adolescent disagreements. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56(8), 726–732. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.56.8.726.
Shannon, C. E., & Weaver, W. (1949). The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Sheeber, L. B., Davis, B., Leve, C., Hops, H., & Tildesley, E. (2007). Adolescents’ relationships with their mothers and fathers: Associations with depressive disorder and subdiagnostic symptomatology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(1), 144–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.116.1.144.
Smith, L. B., & Thelen, E. (2003). Development as a dynamic system. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(8), 343–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00156-6.
Thelen, E., & Smith, L. B. (1998). Dynamic systems theories. In Damon, W. & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (pp. 563–634). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Van der Giessen, D., Hollenstein, T., Hale, W. W., Koot, H. M., Meeus, W., & Branje, S. (2015). Emotional variability in mother-adolescent conflict interactions and internalizing problems of mothers and adolescents: dyadic and individual processes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(2), 339–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9910-9.
Yap, M. B., Schwartz, O. S., Byrne, M. L., Simmons, J. G., & Allen, N. B. (2010). Maternal positive and negative interaction behaviors and early adolescents’ depressive symptoms: Adolescent emotion regulation as a mediator. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20(4), 1014–1043. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00665.x.
Funding
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health Award Number UL1TR000114.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Minnesota’s research ethics committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
The results of this study were submitted to the Society for Research on Adolescence 2020 Biennial Meeting but were not presented due to the cancelation of this conference.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, J., Buchanan, G.J.R., Piehler, T.F. et al. The Relationship Between Parent-Adolescent Conflict Dynamics and Adolescent Depression. J Child Fam Stud 31, 2535–2544 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02318-w
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02318-w