Parents' marital functioning and adolescent psychopathology.

Parents' marital functioning and adolescent psychopathology were investigated in 2 studies. The first study compared parents' marital satisfaction, conflict over childrearing, affective communication, and traditional role orientation in matched samples of psychiatric inpatient and control-group adolescents. The second study examined associations between specific dimensions of marital functioning and adolescent depression severity, suicidal ideation, and social adjustment in a larger sample of adolescent inpatients. In Study 1, parents of inpatients reported less marital satisfaction and more conflicts over childrearing than parents of control-group adolescents. In Study 2, marital conflicts over childrearing were associated with a less active or involved father-adolescent relationship and more severe school behavior and spare time problems. Marital functioning was not associated with depression severity or suicidal ideation.