Intraindividual differences in adolescent threat appraisals and anxiety associated with Interparental conflict

Abstract

Objective This study examined within‐ and between‐person associations among interparental conflict (IPC), threat appraisals, temperament, and anxiety to evaluate how these risk processes unfold at the daily level in adolescence. Background Adolescence is a developmental period of increased risk for anxiety, and exposure to IPC in the home elevates this risk. Specifically, adolescents who perceive IPC as threatening are at particularly high risk for anxiety, yet less is known about how characteristics of the adolescent (temperamental effortful control and dispositional levels of anxiety), as well as characteristics of the family (usual IPC), may temper this risk pathway. Method The sample included 151 adolescents and their caregivers who completed baseline surveys and 21 daily surveys. Longitudinal mixed models were used to test within‐ and between‐person associations between IPC and threat appraisals, and threat appraisals and anxious mood, including moderators of effortful control, dispositional anxiety, and usual IPC. Results On days when IPC was higher than usual adolescents perceived more threat, and on days when adolescents perceived more threat they had higher levels of anxious mood. Within‐person links between IPC and threat appraisals were moderated by usual IPC and adolescent dispositional anxiety levels. The within‐person link between situational threat and anxious mood was moderated by dispositional anxiety levels. Conclusion The results underscore the importance of considering individual differences in within‐person effects of IPC and threat appraisals on adolescent daily anxiety.

The moderating effect of marital conflict on the relationship between social avoidance and socio-emotional functioning among young children in suburban China

“…The effect of marital conflict on child development can be direct or indirect. As a direct source of influence, parental conflict may increase negative emotions, emotional insecurity, threat appraisal, self-blaming attribution, and internalizing and externalizing problems in children at different ages ( Davies et al, 2018 ; Philbrook et al, 2018 ; El-Sheikh et al, 2019 ; Fosco and Lydon-Staley, 2019 ; Hibel and Mercado, 2019 ; Adare et al, 2021 ; Craft et al, 2021 ; de Silva Aryanne et al, 2021 ; Xu et al, 2021 ; Lee et al, 2022 ; MacNeill and Fosco, 2022 ; Sloan et al, 2022 ). For example, as young as 5–8 months of age, infants were found to display increased negative emotions, as measured by cortisol reactivity, after exposure to parental conflict ( Hibel and Mercado, 2019 ).…”