| dc.description.abstract | Objective: Research has shown that both divorce and interparental conflicts have a positive impact on the development of internalizing problems of adolescents. However, the influence of family structure remains unclear. Therefore, this study examines the association between family structure, interparental conflicts and internalizing problem behavior in adolescents. Method: The sample of this study consists of 887 students from intact and divorced families, with a mean age of 13.25 years (SD= 1.06). The correlation between family structure and internalizing problems was determined with a Mann-Whitney U test. Additionally, the Spearman’s rho correlation was used to determine the association between interparental conflict and internalizing problems. Finally, the interaction effect between family structure and interparental conflict mullon internalizing problems was measured by a multiple regression analysis. Results: Adolescents from divorced families show significant more internalizing problems than adolescents from intact families. Moreover, interparental conflict is significantly positively correlated with internalizing problem behavior. Lastly, the interaction between family structure and interparental conflicts has a significant effect on internalizing problems in adolescents. Conclusion: This research shows that adolescents from divorced families have more internalizing problems than adolescents from intact families. Furthermore, more interparental conflicts correlate with a higher degree of internalizing problems in adolescents. Finally, this study shows that the association between interparental conflict and internalizing problem behavior is stronger for adolescents from intact families than adolescents with divorced parents. This finding emphasizes the importance of the influence of interparental conflicts on adolescents from intact families, rather than for adolescents from divorced families. | |
