Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality as an Intervening Variable on Adolescent Outcomes among Families at Risk: Dyadic Analyses

The purpose of this study was to examine mother and adolescent reports of relationship quality over time and to test whether mother-adolescent relationship quality intervened with the known association between maternal depressive symptoms and higher levels of adolescent externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors using actor-partner interdependence modeling. Data were from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect and included a sample of 278 mother-adolescent dyads at risk for child maltreatment. Results revealed that mothers and adolescents reported high-quality relationships at ages 12 and 14. Mother and adolescent reports of relationship quality were also interdependent such that one's perception of relationship quality significantly influenced the other's report of relationship quality. Importantly, mother-adolescent relationship quality significantly intervened in the association between maternal depressive symptoms and adolescent externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. These findings have implications for family interventions with mothers and adolescents to strengthen relationship quality.