Interparental Conflict and Family Cohesion

Abstract

Family environment is related to characteristics of adolescents’ personal development and social interactions. Although potentially different for males and females, decreased family cohesion and increased interparental conflict can inadvertently provide family environments that are associated with increased feelings of loneliness, which may be associated with problems in adolescents’ social interactions (i.e., social anxiety and social avoidance). Analyses of responses from 124 late adolescents revealed that feelings of loneliness were related to perceived levels of interparental conflict for males and females and decreased family cohesion for females. Furthermore, late adolescents’ feelings of social anxiety and social avoidance were related to their feelings of loneliness. The findings in this study show how deteriorated family systems may provide contexts that are associated with adolescents’ feelings of loneliness as well as their ability to engage in social interactions outside of the family system.

Family Relationships and Suicide Ideation: The Mediating Roles of Anxiety, Hopelessness, and Depression in Adolescents

“…For example, Johnson, et al, and Maccoby (29,30) demonstrated that low family cohesion was related to feelings of exclusion, isolation, and loneliness for females. Since this study did not aim to investigate gender differences, our findings must be interpreted cautiously.…”

Effects of a Brief Psychoeducational Intervention for Family Conflict: Constructive Conflict, Emotional Insecurity and Child Adjustment

“…Aspects of the parent-child relationship have been frequently studied, with many studies focusing on parent-child conflict or parenting style (Steinberg and Morris 2001). A large number of studies have examined the effect of marital (interparental) conflict on children's adjustment, consistently demonstrating the relationship between marital conflict and adjustment over time (e.g., Fincham 1994;Grych et al 2004;Johnson et al 2001), including findings that children's emotional insecurity about interparental conflict mediate adjustment (Cummings et al 2006). The risk for developing problems associated with marital conflict is present for all families, including non-clinical families (Cowan et al 1996).…”

Internet Gaming Disorder Behaviors in Emergent Adulthood: a Pilot Study Examining the Interplay Between Anxiety and Family Cohesion

“…H 2 : It was hypothesized that higher levels of family cohesion would buffer (i.e., negatively moderate) the effect of anxiety on IGD symptoms over time (Kaur & Kearney 2013;Ibanez et al 2015;Johnson et al 2001;Priest & Denton, 2012).…”