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Are Adolescents’ Mutually Hostile Interactions at Home Reproduced in Other Everyday Life Contexts?

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Abstract

Children involved in mutually hostile interactions at home are at risk of experiencing adjustment problems in other everyday life contexts. However, little is known about whether the pattern of mutual hostility at home is reproduced by high-conflict youths in other interpersonal contexts. In this study, we examined whether adolescents involved in mutually hostile interactions with their parents encounter similar mutually hostile interactions in other interpersonal contexts. We used a longitudinal design, following mid-adolescents over 1 year (N = 2,009, 51 % boys, Mage = 14.06, SD = 0.73). The adolescents were 7th and 8th grade students in a mid-sized town in Sweden. The results showed that the youths involved in mutual hostility at home were more likely to be involved in mutual hostility at school and in their free-time. A longitudinal relationship between mutual hostility at home and mutual hostility in other contexts was confirmed. Being involved in mutually hostile interactions at home at Time 1 increased adolescents’ likelihood of getting involved in mutually hostile interactions with peers at school and in free-time at Time 2. Overall, the results point to the important role played by experiencing mutual hostility at home in maladaptive behaviors across everyday settings.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the adolescents who participated in the study, as well as to Metin Özdemir for precious advice and comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Author contributions

TAT participated in the design of the study, performed the statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript; HS conceived the study, participated in its design and coordination, and helped to draft the manuscript.

Ethical standards

The authors of this article have no interests that might influence the research. APA ethical standards were respected during both the collection and treatment of the data. The manuscript does not report on clinical studies or patient data. All participants gave their informed consent prior to participation in the study. We do not see any conflict on ethical grounds.

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  1. Center for Developmental Research, School of Law, Psychology and Social work, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden

    Tatiana Alina Trifan & Håkan Stattin

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  1. Tatiana Alina Trifan
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Correspondence to Tatiana Alina Trifan.

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Trifan, T.A., Stattin, H. Are Adolescents’ Mutually Hostile Interactions at Home Reproduced in Other Everyday Life Contexts?. J Youth Adolescence 44, 598–615 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0204-x

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