Understanding the dynamics of interparental conflict, adolescents' responses, and adjustment problems: A network analysis.

Grounded in family theories, interparental conflict is conceptualized as a relational process that interacts dynamically with adolescents' responses to interparental conflict and their adjustment problems, potentially forming a negative cycle within the family system. The present study investigated three contemporaneous network models and two cross-lagged panel network models to explore the relationship among the components of interparental conflict (i.e., hostility, constructive, withdrawal, and compliance), adolescents' responses (i.e., scapegoating, mediation, avoidance, father-adolescent coalition, and mother-adolescent coalition), and their adjustment problems (i.e., depression, anxiety, aggression, and deviant behavior). A total of 768 adolescents (Mage = 15.02, SD = 1.57; 49.60% girls) completed the survey. Results indicated that (a) the components of all subsystems are intercorrelated and coalesce into a feedback-based network of family; (b) compliance conflict behaviors are related to coalition with the compliant parent, while other conflict behaviors are related to coalition with the parent without corresponding behavior; and (c) interparental conflict behaviors of fathers and mothers have different associations with adolescents' responses and adjustment outcomes. These findings revealed how negative dynamics are interconnected within the family system, highlighted the distinct nature of different interparental conflict behaviors, and suggested that the gender of parents should be considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).