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PSI CHI: The International Honor Society in Psychology

The International Honor Society in Psychology

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Parental Support Mediates the Link Between Marital Conflict and Child Internalizing Symptoms

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by Kayla Duncan and Farrah Hughes - Francis Marion University


We tested whether the relation between marital conflict and child functioning may be mediated by two important factors: (a) decreases in parental support and (b) lack of authoritative parenting. The present sample consisted of 111 married couples and their adolescent children. We tested a multiple mediator model by using bootstrapping procedures in which support and authoritativeness were evaluated simultaneously as potential mediators. We found that the relation between marital conflict and child internalizing symptoms appears to be mediated by parental support, but not by authoritative parenting. Our findings revealed that parental support was a mediator only for fathers. We outline some empirical and clinical implications of these findings and offer suggestions for future research.


Summer 2011 | Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research (Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 80), published by Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology (Chattanooga, TN). Copyright, 2011, Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology. All rights reserved.


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