Woonsituatie, Ouderlijke Conflicten en Probleemgedrag bij Adolescenten na Scheiding

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that a parental divorce and the interparental conflicts that often accompany it are related to internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in adolescents. Adolescents’ residential arrangement may play a role in this post-divorce problem behavior, as some studies indicate that children who live in shared residence arrangements function better than those who do not. This study examined whether there is an association between interparental conflict and internalizing and externalizing problem behavior, and whether residential arrangements play a moderating role in this. A cross-sectional data set was used from the research project ‘Waar hoor ik thuis?’. Adolescents between 11 and 19 years old (M = 14.34, SD = 1.88) participated in this study (N = 141). This study shows that higher levels of parental conflict are associated with more internalizing problem behaviors, but this relationship is not found for externalizing problem behaviors. Yet, there is no significant difference between residential arrangement and problem behavior. Finally, shared residence arrangements played a moderating role in the association between interparental conflicts and adolescent internalizing problem behavior. However, this was not the case for externalizing problem behavior. Many other factors may play a role in the association between parental conflict and problem behavior, like the quality of family relationships, the daily coordination and organization, the distance between the homes of the parents, the sense of belonging of adolescents and the socioeconomic status of the family. This can be investigated in further research.