Developmental processes are embedded in social contexts, such as with family members. Adolescent development involves significant reorganization of the parent‐adolescent relationship, which is fundamental to the continued psychosocial development of both the adolescent and the parent. In this article, we introduce the model of parent‐adolescent dyads as temporal interpersonal emotion systems (TIES), which specifies the emotion‐related processes at multiple time scales that are implicated in the psychosocial development of both individuals. Building off our previous work, we outline study designs to examine development in parent‐adolescent TIES, which will lead to important new directions in research on developing adolescents and parents.

Several aspects of mother–child relationships are associated with children's internalizing problems. We examined longitudinal associations between mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems in middle childhood. Specifically, we examined whether conflict and children's internalizing problems predict each other longitudinally in a sample of children from 3rd through 6th grade (N = 1,364) and their mothers using a cross-lagged panel model with random intercepts. In line with expectations, we found stable between-family differences in both mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems. Contrary to expectations, we did not find that mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems showed significant cross-lagged associations. However, mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems had correlated errors at each wave, indicating that these two constructs covary with each other concurrently at multiple times across development, independent of stable between-family associations (i.e., as one increases, so does the other, and vice versa). The results of this study point to the importance of using statistical approaches that can disentangle between-family differences from within-family processes. In future studies, shorter time scales (e.g., weeks or months) may better capture dynamic associations between parent–child conflict and internalizing problems.

Despite the high incidence of sexual assault, doubt about allegations is common.Previous research suggests that victims expressing positive or no emotion are perceived as less credible than those expressing negative emotions. However, little is known about which specific negative emotional expressions contribute to credibility in this context. In two studies (N = 623), participants read a date rape vignette. The alleged victim's statement was paired with a picture of a female person expressing either shame, sadness, or no emotion. Participants rated the credibility of her account and completed a measure of rape myth acceptance. Controlling for rape myth acceptance, allegations were perceived as more credible when accompanied by an expression of shame versus sadness (a negative, low arousal control condition). It is critical to be aware of the shame-credibility bias in this context to intervene and support those who have experienced sexual assault.