The Interrelationships among Marital Hostility, Parental Depression, Compromised Parenting Behaviors, and Youth Maladjustment: A Mediated Model

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among marital hostility, parental depressive affect, compromised parenting behaviors, and youth maladjustment. Youth perceptions of compromised parenting behaviors (i.e., harsh behavioral control, psychological intrusiveness, inconsistency, lower acceptance, and less knowledge of the youth’s friends and activities) were examined as potential mediators of the associations between marital hostility, parental depressive affect, and youth externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Questionnaire and observational data were collected from 416 mothers, fathers, and a 6^th grade youth. There was evidence that marital hostility and parental depressive affect were related to youth outcomes both directly and indirectly through compromised parenting behaviors, but results differed for mothers and fathers.