ABSTRACT
Overt and covert conflict across two parental dyads (biological mother and biological father, biological mother and stepfather) in the same family were examined in relation to emerging adults’ mental health (i.e., perceived stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety) and aggression (i.e., relational aggression, verbal hostility). In this study, the results from dominance analyses and relative weight analyses revealed the most important interparental conflict variable related to males’ mental health and aggression was conflict between biological mothers and stepfathers (particularly covert). For females, conflict between biological parents (especially covert) was most important to mental health, while conflict between mothers and stepfathers was more strongly related to females’ aggression (particularly overt for verbal hostility and covert for relational aggression).
Acknowledgments
Bakhtiari, F. (PI). Interparental conflict in stepfamilies and its impact on emerging adults’ well-being. Thesis Research Award. Office of Research and Graduate Studies, California State University, Northridge. Funded for $1,000 in Spring 2015.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).