Friday, September 17, 2010

Adolescents' Perceptions of Interparental Conflict- Part 1

The influence whereby a child's perception is structured can be examined in terms of children's appraisals of interparental conflict and their recognition of parental control. Investigating early adolescents' perceptions of marital conflict across multiple domains is a task that I previously had studied.

It is hypothesized that a significant discrepancy exists among early adolescents' perceptions of the frequency and intensity of conflict, and their perceptions of family stability and perceived threat. More specifically, early adolescents' who do not feel the family stability is threatened by interparental conflict will report at least moderate levels of frequent and intense interparental conflict. It is additionally hypothesized that early adolescents perceiving little threat during interparental conflict will report at least moderalt levels of frequent and intense conflict among their parents. This hypothesis is based on prior research suggesting that because early adolescents' need for autonomy is not ashigh as mid to late adolescents', they may be likely to identify with intense episodes of conflict, yet maintain a protective state of perception regarding the family's stability and its threatening impact of them.

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