Predicting adolescents' parent–child relationship quality from parental personality, marital conflict and adolescents' personality

Abstract

Longitudinal influences on the relationships between parents and their adolescent children in 175 Austrian families were analysed with data from three measurement points over a time span of 18 years. We investigated the influences of parental personality, marital conflict and adolescents' personality on the father–child and mother–child relationships separately. Inconsistent with previous theories and empirical findings, we found almost no associations between parental personality and parent–child relationships. Marital conflict was associated with only the father–child relationship. Children's personality showed the most consistent associations with the parent–child relationship. Our data support the theory of dynamic interactionism, which postulates an interdependency of personality factors and social relationships.

Keywords::

• Parent–child relationship
• Father–child relationship
• Adolescents' personality
• Parental personality
• Marital conflict

Acknowledgements

The current research was supported by funds from the Oesterreichische Nationalbank [Anniversary Fund, project numbers: 11671 and 13537].