The Longitudinal Relationship Between Parental Conflict and Adolescents' Aggressive Behavior in China: The Mediating Role of Poor Family Functioning

ABSTRACT It has been demonstrated that there is a link between parental conflict and aggressive behavior. However, whether there exists a reciprocal longitudinal relation between them needs to be examined. In this longitudinal study, we tested the reciprocal impacts of parental conflict and aggressive behavior, considering the role of poor family functioning in these two aspect. Three measurements were conducted on 540 adolescents ( M age = 12.57, SD = 0.68) in China, with a 6‐month interval for each measurement. The first measurement was conducted in September 2022, the second in March 2023, and the third in September 2023. Adolescents' perception of the interparental conflict scale, family assessment device functioning scale, and direct and indirect aggression scale were used. Parental conflict at Waves 1 and 2 positively predicted poor family functioning and aggressive behavior at Waves 2 and 3, respectively. Poor family functioning at Waves 1 and 2 positively predicted aggressive behavior at Waves 2 and 3, while aggressive behavior at Waves 1 and 2 positively predicted poor family functioning at Waves 2 and 3. These results indicated the reciprocal relationship between poor family functioning and aggressive behavior. Additionally, the mediation analysis revealed that poor family functioning at Wave 2 serves as a mediator in the unidirectional association between parental conflict at Wave 1 and aggressive behavior at Wave 3. These findings indicated that poor family functioning partially accounts for the unidirectional predictive relationship between parental conflict and aggressive behavior over time. Consequently, the results provide valuable insights for reducing aggressive behavior.