Interparental Aggression and Adolescent Adjustment: The Role of Emotional Insecurity and Adrenocortical Activity

Adrenocortical deviations and adverse clinical outcomes in children and adolescents exposed to interparental intimate partner violence: A systematic review

Childhood exposure to interparental intimate partner violence (i-IPV) is a pervasive form of child maltreatment, posing major public health concerns and elevating risks for enduring adverse clinical and developmental consequences. However, assessing the full spectrum of clinical effects is challenging, potentially leading to inconsistent identification of children in need of early intervention. This systematic review aimed to identify hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis dysfunction following i-IPV exposure, elucidating the underlying biopsychobehavioural mechanisms and predicting adverse outcomes. We searched Embase, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO for peer-reviewed studies from infancy through adolescence, screened reference lists and conducted forward searches. Analysis of 23 publications (N = 1848) revealed associations between i-IPV and altered adrenocortical function from early childhood, influenced by FKBP5 haplotype, parental caregiving and offspring emotional insecurity. Results showed that the adrenocortical stress response may predict internalising and externalising problems, childhood asthma, impaired executive function and poor academic performance. Nonetheless, inconsistencies in findings between studies suggest methodological heterogeneity and potential bias. Identifying biomarkers such as cortisol can enhance prediction and mechanism-based intervention efforts but long-term studies with a common theoretical and methodological framework are needed for comprehensive understanding. Integrating biological, emotional, and behavioural assessments could potentiate trauma services and research, ultimately improving outcomes for affected children.

Interparental Violence and Early Adolescents' Adjustment Problems in China: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model of Parental Warmth and Emotional Insecurity

This study analyzed the relationships between exposure to interparental violence and adolescents' adjustment problems. It also explored the mediating role of emotional insecurity and the moderating role of parental warmth in these relationships. Five hundred and seventy-eight early adolescents from three migrant primary schools and one public school in Beijing participated in this survey, reporting on their perceived interparental violence, emotional insecurity, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. The results revealed that emotional insecurity partially mediated the association between interparental violence and all three indicators of adjustment problems, with stronger mediating effects on PTSS and internalizing problems than on externalizing problems; parental warmth buffered the association between emotional insecurity and internalizing/externalizing problems. This study adds insights to present literature on how interparental violence contributes to different aspects of adolescents' adjustment problems in the Chinese context.

A hypothetic model for examining the relationship between happiness, forgiveness, emotional reactivity and emotional security

The ultimate goal of life is happiness, according to Plato. Perhaps the most critical questions in the life of human beings have been on happiness and processes that affect happiness. The present study was planned during the COVID-19 pandemic; perhaps human beings are most needed for happiness. The original hypothetical model and the findings constitute the powerful and different aspects of the present study. This study determined a hypothetical model to examine the relationships among happiness, forgiveness, emotional reactivity, and emotional security. The participant group of the study consists of a total of 916 individuals from Turkey, 617 women, and 299 men. The age scale of the participants is between 18-25. Participants completed the Heartland Forgiveness Scale, the Emotional Security Scale, the Emotional Reactivity Scale, and the Oxford Happiness Scale. Mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes' (2017) process macro. According to the proposed model in the study, emotional reactivity mediates the relationship between forgiveness and happiness. As the individual's forgiveness increases, their emotional reactivity decreases, and as the emotional reactivity decreases, the individual's level of happiness increases.

The Association between Interparental Conflict and Youth Anxiety: A Three-level Meta-analysis

Anxiety in youth has been found to be a risk factor for the development of psychological problems and psychiatric symptoms in adulthood. Interparental conflict is considered an important factor in the emergence of symptoms of youth anxiety because conflicts between parents negatively affect parent-child and sibling relationships. Whereas some meta-analyses have investigated the association between interparental conflict and youth anxiety, the exact roles of certain moderators in this association are still not fully clear. Based on the PRISMA method, the present study used a three-level meta-analysis to obtain reliable estimates of effect sizes and examined a range of moderators (sample, publication, study design and outcome, and assessment characteristics). After a systematic search for articles published before September 2020, the present study identified 38 studies, with 12,380 young people and 222 effect sizes. The analysis revealed a significant positive association between interparental conflict and youth anxiety. Moreover, the present study found a significant moderating effect of interparental conflict variable. More specifically, youth anxiety was more strongly associated with parents' use of overt conflict style than with their use of cooperative conflict style. Study design was also found to be a significant moderator of the association between interparental conflict and youth anxiety. This association was smaller in longitudinal than in cross-sectional studies. Finally, the present results demonstrated that informant of interparental conflict was a significant moderator. A stronger correlation between these two variables was found when interparental conflict was reported by children than by parents. The results support the growing consensus that interparental conflict should be addressed when treating youth anxiety.

Effects of the interparental relationship on adolescents' emotional security and adjustment: The important role of fathers

We examined the mediational roles of multiple types of adolescents' emotional security in relations between multiple aspects of the interparental relationship and adolescents' mental health from ages 13 to 16 (N = 392). General marital quality, nonviolent parent conflict, and physical intimate partner violence independently predicted mental health. Security in the father-adolescent relationship, over and above security with the mother and security in regard to parent conflict, mediated the link from general marital quality to adolescents' mental health. With 2 exceptions, paths were stable for boys and girls, biological- and stepfathers, and Anglo- and Mexican Americans. The findings reveal the need to expand the traditional foci on parent conflict and relationships with mothers to include general marital quality and relationships with fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record

Interparental Conflict Relative to Suicidal Ideation in Chinese Adolescents: The Roles of Coping Strategies and Meaning in Life

The aim of this study was to explore the paths between interparental conflict and Chinese adolescents’ suicidal ideation. Altogether 931 adolescents (M_age = 17.84, SD = 0.77, females = 531) completed the Dyadic Consensus Scale, Self-Report Coping Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation questionnaires. Mediation analyses were conducted, focusing on the relations between interparental conflict and suicidal ideation along with coping styles and a sense of meaning in life. The results showed that interparental conflict indirectly predicted adolescents’ suicidal ideation via three mediators: coping-approach strategies, presence of meaning, and the joint serial effects of coping-approach strategies and presence of meaning in Chinese adolescents. In addition, boys were more likely to be at risk for suicidal ideation than girls, so were 10th graders compared to 11th graders. These findings supported a combined distress-to-meaninglessness line of thinking along with the use of coping-approach strategies to depress self-harm ideation. Generally, interparental conflict should be kept out of youngsters’ immediate vicinity as a preventive measure of suicidal ideation.