NCJ Number
224863
Journal
Journal of Early Adolescence Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2008 Pages: 503-527
Date Published
November 2008
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relation between conflict resolution styles in parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent delinquency.
Abstract
Results show that combinations of the conflict resolution styles that adolescents and parents use in their conflicts are related to adolescent delinquency, which corresponds to theories emphasizing bidirectional and interdependence in parent-adolescent relationships. The combination of conflict engagement by both adolescents and mothers was found to be significantly related to delinquency. However, this combination was not found to be significantly related to delinquency in adolescent-father relationships. Adolescents revealed higher levels of delinquency when they reported higher levels of conflict engagement and when fathers reported higher levels of withdrawal. Higher levels of withdrawal might be viewed as disengagement, lack of involvement, and little or no attempt to work conflicts out. A consistent finding in this study was the relation of adolescent conflict engagement in the relationship with both mothers and fathers and adolescent delinquency, even after controlling for number of conflicts and conflict affect. Adolescent conflict engagement was found to be significantly related to delinquency either as a main effect or in interaction with a style of the parent. This indicates that adolescents who use ineffective conflict resolution style characterized by attack, display of anger, and impulsiveness tend to be more delinquent. The results stress the interdependence of adolescents and parents in conflict resolution and demonstrate the need for investigating combinations of adolescents’ and parents’ conflict resolution styles. Data were collected from 284 Dutch adolescents and their parents. Tables, figures, and references