Moderation of associations between interparental stress and (mal)adaptation by adolescents' personality: Contrasting differential susceptibility and diathesis–stress models

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to contrast differential susceptibility and diathesis–stress models in examining adolescents' Big Five personality dimensions as moderators of longitudinal associations between interparental stress and (mal)adaptation in emerging adulthood (i.e., self‐efficacy, externalizing and internalizing behavior). Method Data from the large longitudinal Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality and Development were used (475 families, adolescents' Mage = 15.82, SDage = 1.15), with both parents reporting on their interparental stress and mothers reporting on the adolescent's personality and in 2009, and emerging adults reporting on their own (mal)adaptive functioning in 2009 and 2015 and their personality in 2015. Results Multivariate models showed that extraversion, benevolence, emotional stability and imagination were uniquely related to (mal)adaptation across the 6‐year interval. In general, our results exhibited no consistent moderating role for adolescents' personality. Only for girls, high levels of extraversion functioned as a “susceptibility maker” in associations between father's interparental stress and self‐efficacy, and, low levels of emotional stability functioned as a “vulnerability marker” in associations between parents' interparental stress and self‐efficacy. Conclusions The interaction effects as well as their (restricted) generalizability across gender should be replicated before drawing firm conclusions. Adolescents' personality characteristics were important predictors of (mal)adaptation during the transition into emerging adulthood.

A Person-Centered Approach to Resilience and Vulnerability in Emerging Adulthood: Predictions From Parenting and Personality in Adolescence

“…With respect to Big Five personality traits, our results showed that emerging adults in the Competent profile were more emotionally stable during adolescence than those in the Vulnerable profile. This finding is in line with previous work suggesting that greater emotional stability in youth is related to a variety of positive outcomes in adulthood, including lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problems (e.g., Van Eldik et al, 2020) and higher levels of subjective well-being and self-efficacy (e.g., Anglim et al, 2020;Deutz et al, 2021;Gale et al, 2013). Even at low levels of stress, emotional stability seems to be an important individual trait acting as a promotive factor for positive outcomes.…”

“…Empirical findings indicate that children's personality traits can directly shape positive development. For example, higher levels of Big Five personality traits in childhood and adolescence have been related to positive outcomes in adulthood, such as higher subjective well-being (Anglim, Horwood, Smillie, Marrero, & Wood, 2020;Gale, Booth, Mõttus, Kuh, & Deary, 2013), self-efficacy (Deutz et al, 2021), and academic and social competence (Shiner & Masten, 2012) as well as lower internalizing and externalizing problems (Van Eldik, De Haan, Arends, & Prinzie, 2020). In person-centered analyses (Shiner & Masten, 2012), emerging adults characterized by resilience (high stress, good adaptation) showed higher childhood conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, and emotional stability than those characterized by maladjustment (high stress, poor adaptation).…”

Longitudinal association between interparental conflict and risk-taking behavior among Chinese adolescent: Testing a moderated mediation model

“…IPC might signify inadequate family support resources and poor parent-child relationships (Davies et al, 2018;Fosco & Grych, 2010;Mastrotheodoros et al, 2019). This may result in adolescents' risk-taking behavior to help them relieve stresses from IPC (Davies et al, 2016;Eldik et al, 2020).…”

“…Interparental conflict (IPC) is physical aggression or verbal conflict between parents due to disagreement or other reasons (López-Larrosa et al, 2019). More importantly, IPC is associated with negative behavioral outcomes, such as risk-taking behavior (Capaldi et al, 2020;Koçak et al, 2017; van Eldik et al, 2020). However, the detailed mechanism underlying the process remains poorly understood.…”

Adolescent Personality Development as a Longitudinal Marker for Burnout and Happiness in Emerging Adulthood

“…Indeed, emerging adults show considerable heterogeneity in their levels of functioning (Arnett, 2000;Scales et al, 2016). Personality is suggested to be an important factor explaining this heterogeneity in functioning, as certain personality traits may predispose individuals to interpret situations as more negative, resulting in maladaptive functioning (Bakker & De Vries, 2021;Swider & Zimmerman, 2010, Van Eldik et al 2020, or more positive, resulting in adaptive functioning (Garcia, 2011;Ozer & Benet-Martinez, 2006).…”