Family conflict and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior: Protective factors.

Author(s)

Diana Formoso, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Nancy A. Gonzales, Arizona State University
Leona S. Aiken

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2000

Publication Title

American Journal of Community Psychology

Volume

28

Issue/Number

2

First Page

175

ISSN

0091-0562

Last Page

199

Abstract/Excerpt

The current investigation examined whether the positive association of family conflict to adolescent depression and conduct problems is attenuated by maternal, paternal, and peer attachment, and maternal and paternal monitoring, within a low-income, multiethnic sample of 284 adolescents. Parental attachment and monitoring moderated the link from family conflict to conduct problems but not depression; the relationships among family conflict, the hypothesized protective factors, and conduct problems were further modified by adolescent gender but not ethnicity. In general, higher levels of the hypothesized protective factors attenuated the relationship between family conflict and conduct problems for girls but exacerbated this relationship for boys. These findings suggest that, in general, parental attachment and monitoring served as protective factors for girls while serving as additional risk factors for boys in conflictual families.

DOI

10.1023/A:1005135217449

NSUWorks Citation

Formoso, D., Gonzales, N. A., Aiken, L. S. (2000). Family conflict and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior: Protective factors.. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(2), 175-199.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/135