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Interparental Aggression and Adolescent Adjustment: The Role of Emotional Insecurity and Adrenocortical Activity

  • The Impact of Community and Family Violence on Adolescents
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Abstract

Adolescents exposed to interparental aggression are at increased risk for developing adjustment problems. The present study explored intervening variables in these pathways in a community sample that included 266 adolescents between 12- and 16-years-old (M = 13.82; 52.5 % boys, 47.5 % girls). A moderated mediation model examined the moderating role of adrenocortical reactivity on the meditational capacity of their emotional insecurity in this context. Information from multiple reporters and adolescents’ adrenocortical response to conflict were obtained during laboratory sessions attended by mothers, fathers and their adolescent child. A direct relationship was found between marital aggression and adolescents’ internalizing behavior problems. Adolescents’ emotional insecurity mediated the relationship between marital aggression and adolescents’ depression and anxiety. Adrenocortical reactivity moderated the pathway between emotional insecurity and adolescent adjustment. The implications for further understanding the psychological and physiological effects of adolescents’ exposure to interparental aggression and violence are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant R01 MH57318 from the National Institute of Mental Health awarded to Patrick T. Davies and E. Mark Cummings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA

    Kathleen N. Bergman & E. Mark Cummings

  2. University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Patrick T. Davies

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  1. Kathleen N. Bergman
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  2. E. Mark Cummings
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  3. Patrick T. Davies
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Correspondence to Kathleen N. Bergman.

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Bergman, K.N., Cummings, E.M. & Davies, P.T. Interparental Aggression and Adolescent Adjustment: The Role of Emotional Insecurity and Adrenocortical Activity. J Fam Viol 29, 763–771 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9632-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9632-3

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