Longitudinal links between marital quality and prosocial behavior in adolescence : the mediating roles of coparenting and adolescents' emotion regulation and sympathy

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The aim of the present research was to examine the longitudinal relations between marital quality and adolescents' prosocial behavior toward different targets via coparenting and adolescents' emotion regulation and sympathy. This study also explored an alternative reverse model. The sample consisted of 654 mothers, fathers, and their adolescents (M age = 12.4 years at T1; 50.4% females) who participated in the Flourishing Families Project conducted in two cities in the U.S. The results demonstrated that mothers' and fathers' perceived marital quality was positively associated with adolescents' emotion regulation via mothers' perceptions of fathers' coparenting, which in turn predicted adolescents' prosocial behavior toward strangers and family. Adolescents' emotion regulation was also positively related to their prosocial behavior toward strangers, friends, and family via sympathy. Mothers' perceived marital quality was directly linked to adolescents' prosocial behavior toward strangers and family. The results of the reverse model indicated that adolescents' prosocial behavior toward strangers and friends was positively associated with their sympathy, which in turn predicted mothers' and fathers' coparenting via adolescent emotion regulation. In turn, mothers' and fathers' coparenting was positively related to mothers' and fathers' marital quality. Adolescents' prosocial behavior toward family was also related to mothers' and fathers' coparenting via adolescent emotion regulation, which in turn predicted mothers' and fathers' perceived marital quality. There were no child gender differences in the study models. Discussion focused on the roles of mothers' perceptions of fathers' coparenting and adolescents' emotion regulation and sympathy.