Difficulties in Regulating Emotions as Moderators of Interparental Conflict and Young Adult Children’s Mental Well-Being

Abstract

This study investigated the degree to which emotion regulation difficulties moderate the negative association between interparental conflict (i.e., parents’ demand/withdraw patterns and symbolic aggression) and young adults’ mental well-being. Participants included 171 young adults (18–28 years old) from intact families who completed an online survey. Using confirmatory factor analysis and SEM, results indicated when young adults have great difficulty in regulating emotions, perceptions of interparental conflict do not significantly predict mental health symptoms. However, fewer difficulties in regulating emotions actually magnify the negative effects of witnessing interparental conflict on young adults’ mental well-being. Hence, while successful emotion management is important for everyday functioning, heightened regulation abilities may simultaneously contribute to young adults’ awareness of the harmful impact of family discord.

Keywords:

• Aggression
• Demand/Withdraw
• Emotion
• Mental Well-Being
• Parent Conflict

Notes

^[1] The original sample included 40 participants from divorced families, bringing the initial total to 211 participants. Since adults from divorced families report higher frequencies of parental DM/W patterns and aggression than those from intact families (Schrodt & Afifi, 2007; Schrodt & Ledbetter, 2007), and because there was an inadequate number of participants from divorced families to conduct appropriate statistical comparisons, these participants were removed from further analyses.