Triangulation into Interparental Conflict

1. Triangulation and Parent-Adolescent Relations: Testing Longitudinal Relations in a High School Sample Gregory M. Fosco & John H. Grych Grant Funding Provided By NIMH# MH60294-01 • Triangulation into Interparental Conflict • The act of involving adolescents in conflicts between parents • This may include one parent enlisting the child as an ally against the other parent; children being drawn into or freely entering the conflict; or parents focusing their attention or anger on the child, distracting from their own relationship problems (Buchanan & Waizenhofer, 2001). • Triangulation also is linked with adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems (Grych et al., 2004). • However the impact of triangulation on other dimensions of family functioning is less clear. • Specifically, the impact of triangulation on the parent-adolescent relationship is unexplored. • Spillover Processes • Interparental conflict (IPC) increases the likelihood that problems will arise in the parent-child subsystems. • Conflict between parents may serve to undermine the quality of parenting, including less parental warmth, greater parental withdrawal, and greater parent-adolescent conflict (e.g., Davies et al., 2006; Erel & Burman, 1995; Harold et al, 1997). • These parent-child dynamics place children at risk for more behavior problems and psychological maladjustment (Harold et al., 1997; Katz & Gottman, 1996). • Conflict begets conflict: parents who argue with each other (especially regarding issues of parenting) are more likely to have conflicts with children; they experience more stress and have less spousal support. • Are there other mechanisms through which hostility transfers from interparental to parent-child subsystems? • Triangulation: Bridging Interparental and Parent-Adolescent Hostility? • Triangulation brings children into the interparental subsystem, which may undermine the family hierarchy (Minuchin, 1974). • Adolescents drawn into parental disputes may unwittingly become targets of parental aggression • This process may facilitate further conflict between adolescent and parent • Interparental boundaries may become diffuse • Role confusion: adolescents drawn into interparental conflicts may assume a role in the resolution • Adolescents may resent being drawn into parental arguments • Diffuse interparental boundaries also may alter children’s sense of trust and security in their relationships with parents • The Present Study • This study evaluates the role of triangulation as a mechanism between adolescent exposure to interparental conflict and important parent-adolescent dynamics • By using longitudinal data, it is possible to examine the reciprocal relations between parent-adolescent dynamics and adolescent’s perceptions of being drawn into parental discord • Testing this possibility may illuminate processes that lead conflict between parents to permeate into parent-adolescent relations 1. To examine the relationship between interparental conflict, triangulation, and adolescent perceptions of conflict and relationship quality with mothers and fathers 2. To examine the direction of relations between triangulation and parent-adolescent dynamics Extending the Implications of Triangulation • Longitudinal Evidence for Triangulation as Detrimental in Parent-Adolescent Relations This study provide a first look at how children’s triangulation into parental conflicts impacts the nature of their relationship with their mothers and fathers. Also, this study examines the role of parent-adolescent relationships as predictors that adolescents will be triangulated into conflicts. • Triangulation Increases Parent-Adolescent Conflict Triangulation into parental conflicts was associated with increases in mother-adolescent and father-adolescent conflict. This suggests that triangulation may be a mechanism through which conflict between parents may spill over into the parent-adolescent relationship. • Triangulation Deteriorates Parent-Adolescent Relationships In addition, adolescents who were triangulated at T1 reported deterioration to their relationships with their mothers and fathers. This suggests that parents who enlist their child’s support during conflict with their spouses are undermining the quality of their adolescent’s relationship with them. The Reverse Was Not Also True • Parent-Adolescent Conflict Led to Less Triangulation Conflict with mothers and fathers each uniquely predicted lower levels of triangulation at T2. This may reflect a process through which adolescents withdraw from their parents, or a process through which participation in parental disputes proves aversive. • Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality did not Predict Triangulation Interestingly, adolescents who had close relationships with their parents were no less likely to feel triangulated into parental conflicts. This suggests the direction of effects is unidirectional: triangulation undermines parent-adolescent relationships, but not the reverse. • Within the Context of Triangulation, Mother-Adolescent and Father-Adolescent Relationships Seem at Odds Interestingly, adolescents’ relationships with mothers and fathers had inverse relations over time. That is, conflict with one parent predicted decreases in conflict with the other. Similarly, feeling close to one parent predicted less closeness with the other over time. This raises an interesting family systems question: how does the quality of relationships in one subsystem affect others? These findings suggest complimentarity, such that functioning in one subsystem may be balanced out by functioning in the others. This finding calls for future research to clarify these findings. Limitations and Future Directions • Limited to adolescent self-report only, observational and family assessments would further strengthen the findings • Parent perceptions of their relationships would be valuable in the context of triangulation: do parents recognize changes perceived by their children? • Future research might include a broader assessment of triangulation, especially self-initiated involvement, to understand how it impacts adolescent-parent relations. Introduction Method Discussion Participants and Procedure Demographic Information Measures • Adolescents were recruited from a local high school • Approximately 75% of those invited participated • Surveys were administered during a 90-minute class period • No differences found when comparing retention and attrition • groups on T1 study variables • No difference in ethnicity proportions at T1 and T2 (χ2 (6) = 12.519, p< .10) CPIC: Children’s Perceptions of Interparental Conflict Scale (Grych, Seid, & Fincham, 1992) CTS: Conflict Tactics Scale (Strauss, 1979) IPPA: Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) Results Table 1. Correlations between T1 and T2 Variables Figure 1. Triangulation and Parent-Child Conflict Figure 2. Triangulation and Parent-Child Relations Time 1 Time 2 Time 2 Time 1 Triangulation Triangulation Triangulation Triangulation .61 .61 .48 .48 .31 .21 -.05 .10 -.12 -.12 IP Conflict IP Conflict .06 .26 -.13 -.09 .19 -.04 .37 -.34 M-C Conflict M-C Conflict M-C Relationship M-C Relationship Study Goals .54 .90 .46 -.32 -.22 -.13 -.07 -.12 F-C Conflict F-C Conflict F-C Relationship F-C Relationship .50 .75 .20 -.18