| Abstract: | The present study examined the 1st-year postdivorce functioning of young adolescents and the role of interparental conflict and adolescent sex as mediating variables for divorce effects. Ninety-six adolescents were assigned to one of eight groups based on parent's marital status, interparental conflict (high vs. low), and adolescent sex. Teacher-completed measures and behavioral observations were used to assess social and social withdrawal behavior, cognitive functioning, and externalizing problems. Marital status did not exert a significant main effect on any of the dependent measures, and sex of adolescent did not serve as a mediating variable. Interparental conflict exerted a significant main effect on social and social withdrawal behavior and, for cognitive functioning, interacted with marital status such that adolescents from divorced, high-conflict homes performed less well than other adolescents. The relative roles of divorce and interparental conflict in adolescent functioning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
