Marital conflict and adolescent's psycho-social well-being: Mediation and moderation analysis

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Marital conflict and adolescent's psycho-social well-being: Mediation and moderation analysis

Nino Kitoshvili

Abstract

The research relevance is determined by the direct impact of marital conflicts on the psycho-emotional state of a child, particularly a teenager. The study aims to identify the variables capable of influencing the relationship between the tendency of marital conflict and the psycho-social well-being of children, and to determine the mediating and moderating role of the identified variables. The study was conducted in several stages. The first stage of the study identified variables capable of influencing the relationship between marital conflict and adolescents' psycho-social well-being. The second stage of the study analysed the mediating and moderating nature of the mentioned variables using a questionnaire. Results emphasize the ability to influence certain aspects of marital relations in Georgian society on various aspects of the lives of its members. The research found that the parents' financial situation, the feeling of their and their children's psycho-social support and the change in the functioning of the parents' family in Georgia derives from the family conflict index and is reflected in the deterioration of the adolescent's psycho-social well-being. As for the parenting style, which did not acquire a mediating and moderating role in the research, it can be related to the cultural peculiarity and defined as the interest of future research. On the one hand, it contributes to the expansion of theoretical knowledge in the field of family psychology, and on the other hand, it provides important information for the use of research results, which is one of the first steps forward for the study of the family and the use of therapeutic purposes

Keywords: family; children; family functioning; parenting styles; psychosocial support о

Анотація

psychosocial well-being of adolescents family

Ніно Кітошвілі

Актуальність дослідження зумовлено тим, що подружні конфлікти безпосередньо впливають на психоемоційний стан дитини, зокрема підлітка.

Мета роботи полягала у виявленні змінних, здатних вплинути на зв'язок між схильністю до подружніх конфліктів і психо соціальним благополуччям дітей, а також визначити посередницьку та модераційну роль ідентифікованих змінних. Досягнення поставлених завдань відбувалося в кілька етапів. Насамперед визначено змінні, здатні вплинути на зв'язок між подружнім конфліктом і психосоціальним благополуччям підлітків. На другому етапі розроблено інструмент дослідження (опитувальник) для ідентифікованих змінних, а потім проаналізовано, як ці змінні здатні опосередковувати та модерувати психо соціальний стан дітей. Отримані результати підкреслюють здатність подружніх відносин у грузинському суспільстві впливати на різні аспекти життя його членів. Дослідження показало, що фінансове становище батьків, відчуття психосоціальної підтримки їх і їхніх дітей і зміни у функціонуванні батьківської сім'ї в Грузії походять від індексу сімейних конфліктів і відображаються на погіршенні психосоціального благополуччя підлітків. Щодо стилю виховання, який не набув у дослідженні посередницької та модераційної ролі, то його можна пов'язати з культурною особливістю та визначити як завдання для майбутніх досліджень. Стаття має теоретичне (сприяє розширенню теоретичних знань у галузі сімейної психології) та практичне застосування (дає важливу інформацію для використання результатів дослідження, що є одним із перших кроків уперед для вивчення сім'ї та використання в терапевтичних цілях)

Ключові слова: сім'я; діти; функціонування сім'ї; стилі виховання; психосоціальна підтримка

Introduction

Marital relationship is a prerequisite for the changing and developing processes of humanity. It plays a crucial role in the process of sharing values with children, forming their interests, and supporting their socialization. Marital relationship, in turn, determines the level of satisfaction of family members, and therefore, marital conflict reduces the psychosocial well-being of its members, especially adolescent children.

An improved marital relationship significantly influences the well-being of the child (Chakraborty, 2023). Aside from the internal family resources of the family, the state also has to support and aid the family. According to Article 24 of the Code on the Rights of the Child

of Georgia (2019), the parent is obliged to take care of the child and, as necessary, to participate in the child support programs offered by the state. Considering this, the state, according to the law, should create family support services, addressing the individual needs of the child. Currently, the number of family support and prevention programs in Georgia and access to them are limited. Furthermore, the effects of inter-parental conflict on children's well-being are understudied, which may put more and more children's well-being at risk (Gong et al., 2023). Hence, the research relevance is determined by their care and the effectiveness of the planned measures. The study aims to address these challenges. Research suggests that adolescents' diminished well-being is not unconditionally related to marital conflict, just as marital conflict does not directly reflect adolescent's psycho-social well-being. As J. Zhu et al. (2022) and Q. Gong et al. (2023) believe, there are variables in this process that disrupt and/or intensify this relationship. Therefore, to prevent the negative consequences of marital conflict and to deal with its harmful consequences, it is necessary to identify the variables capable of this influence and to study them. When searching for variables capable of influencing the relationship between marital conflict and adolescent children's psycho-social conflict, it is necessary to address the relationship between parents (an indicator of conflict) (Alelishvili et al., 2019; Guevara et al., 2021). Finding the probable cause in the research process will make it easier for the family researcher, and the therapist to choose the therapeutic direction and support the psycho-social welfare of the adolescent. The study aims to determine the variables capable of influencing the relationship between the marital conflict rate and the psycho-social well-being of adolescent children, as well as to conduct a moderation and mediation analysis. The study seeks to determine in what cases the relationship between the indicator of the conflict between husband and wife in the family and the well-being of the child changes.

Literature review

Conflict is an integral part of every family, and it is difficult to define its causes, however, it is necessary to predict and prevent the consequences. In some cases, the family successfully manages to overcome the conflict, yet sometimes the negative reflection of the conflict on the family members becomes unavoidable. Marital conflict and disagreements are a source of stress for children, increasing the risk of developing emotional and behavioural problems (van Dijk et al., 2020).

According to D.H. Olson and Y. Lavee (1989), marital conflict is related to the imbalance between cohesion/tight- ness and adaptability. Cohesiveness refers to the strength of the bond between family members, and adaptability refers to the family's ability to adapt its structure to the needs of the family. Relationships, roles, and rules adapt to situational and or developmental needs. Imbalance is defined by very high and very low levels of cohesion/tightness and adaptability, when (even by agreement) roles are constantly changing, there is a clear leader and, conversely, neither roles change nor there is a leader in the family. This imbalance causes discomfort, which becomes a source of conflict, the severity of which determines the change in family functionality; parent-child relationship style; parenting style; and the quality of support, and all this, in turn, affects the well-being of children. Hence, D.H. Olson (2000) notes that maintaining a balanced tension and adaptability between spouses is essential to promote the welfare of the family and its members, which will balance the existing roles and make the decision-making process in the family more flexible. M.E.P. Seligman's (2011) theory of well-being (PERMA) distinguishes five interrelated dimensions of good family relations, including a positive relationship and the potential to reinforce each other. According to the theory (PERMA), well-being is defined as positive emotion; engagement; relationships; a sense of meaning, and accomplishment. Psycho-social well-being in adolescence is determined by many factors, however, most of them are related to family relationships, finances, the presence of support, and generally a favourable environment, which provides an adolescent with an opportunity for self-realization and development (Guevara et al., 2021). An important determinant of the psycho-social well-being of a teenager is family and marital relations. In a family with a harmonious atmosphere and no parent conflicts, the child is more likely to have a good emotional state, while marital conflicts are a prerequisite for negative behaviour and significant issues in the child's development. If the family harmony is disrupted, the child's development is worsened and delayed stage-by- stage (Hess, 2022). According to J. Zhu et al. (2022), the identified variables capable of influencing the relationship between marital conflict and child well-being are more or less common in all societies, however, the strength of their impact depends on the cultural and social context in which the family lives.

Q. Gong et al. (2023) believe that the change-invariance of family functioning during parental conflict determines the impact of marital conflict on children's well-being. Furthermore, if the function (especially, the father) of the family has not changed and it is still able to meet the needs of the child, it is unlikely that the marital conflict will harm the children. D. Tsela etal. (2022) emphasize, that parenting style has a significant impact on the child's development. It is possible to distinguish several parenting styles: Laziness (lack of discipline); hyperactivity (authoritarian discipline, aggression, etc.), and excessive verbalization (excessive verbal activity, instructions, reprimands). A high index in all three directions is associated with a problematic parenting style since effective feedback implies timeliness, systema- ticity, moderate intensity, and moderate severity. As noted by R.S. Mistry and L. Elenbaas (2021), financial stability and security are subjective factors, and the perception of the family's financial situation is determined not particularly by the amount of income, but by the perception thereof by family members. It can mediate and moderate marital conflict and adolescent psycho-social well-being (Ying et al., 2023). A feeling of psycho-social support from family members; a child's faith in parental support; the exchange of positive emotions from the relationship, communication, and the parent's ability to resolve conflict are positively related to the child's well-being (EPB, IPB), which may depend on marital conflict (Dominick, 2018). According to Q. Gong et al. (2023), the extent to which the negative consequences of marital conflict affect the child depends, among other things, on the child's gender, age, education, ethnicity, and quality of parent-child relationship.

Materials and methods

Initially, at the stage of the desk research, based on a review of the available scientific literature on the variables capable of influencing the relationship between marital conflict and psycho-social well-being of the adolescent, the variables capable of influencing the relationship between marital conflict and the psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child were determined: parenting style, family functioning, family financial income, psycho-social support, and demographic data. The next stage of the research employed a questionnaire method to study the moderating and mediating role of variables capable of influencing the relationship between the indicator of marital conflict and the psycho-social well-being of adolescent children. A pilot study was conducted in the second stage of instrument standardization. The pilot study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of the questionnaire developed during the research. The pilot study selected 31 families (couples/ husbands) and their teenage children. A total of 31 teenagers. The research included 93 participants. The selection of research participants was non-probable, available. The characteristics of the target group were precisely observed (Bujang et al., 2022). The survey was conducted in a face- to-face interview format at a location convenient for the subjects. Before assessing the reliability of the self-administered questionnaire, the study measured the construct validity of the scales by establishing convergent validity. Convergent validity was assessed by comparing the results of a pilot study on the respondents (husband and wife) with the answers given to similar, adapted questionnaires for two of the five scales developed (wife-husband conflict and family functioning scale) in the study (Panjikidze, 2014; Shanava, 2016), providing similar results. These scales were selected based on their importance in the study. Other existing methods are excessively complicated and were not suitable for this study. The obtained correlation of convergent validity is satisfactory (r = .34; .49), which implies that in the case of verification on a large sample, it will provide better results.

Out of 6 scales of the questionnaire developed for parents, 5 scales were developed in the research process, and their separate and unified reliability (a = .842) was confirmed by the pilot study. The reliability of the questionnaire created for children was not confirmed in the pilot study data analysis (a = .49), therefore, provisions needed to be reformulated, and re-piloting was deemed necessary. According to the data of the research conducted within the repilot of provisions, the reliability index of both scales (psycho-social support and well-being) and subscales, together and separately, was high (a = .894). In addition, with factor analysis, study goal achievability was determined (Bujang et al., 2022). In the process of study methodology standardization, the factor analysis required a different distribution of statements in the sub-scales and, in some cases, changing the names of the scales in contrast to the reviewed literature. This is determined by the cultural peculiarity, which, to some extent, contributes to the research novelty. At this stage of research, an influential variable identification method was developed, which helped in the study of the influential variables and their role in the adolescent's psycho-social satisfaction in the family. Furthermore, the research hypotheses were formed, and the moderating-mediating role of the research aspects was verified in the third study stage.

Research hypotheses:

H. 1.1.: The level of the mother's marital conflict tendency determines the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H. 1.2.: The level of the father's marital conflict tendency determines the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H.2.1.: The level of the mother's functioning in the family plays the role of a mediator between the level of the mother's marital conflict tendency and the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H.2.2.: The level of the father's functioning in the family plays the role of a mediator between the level of the father's marital conflict tendency and the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H.3.1. Mother's parenting style has a moderating effect on the relationship between the mother's marital conflict tendency level and the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H.3.2. Father's parenting style has a moderating effect on the relationship between the father's marital conflict tendency level and the adolescent child's psycho-social well-being level;

H.4.1. The mother's perception of the family's financial situation has a moderating effect on the relationship between the mother's marital conflict tendency level and the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H.4.2. The father's perception of the family's financial situation has a moderating effect on the relationship between the father's marital conflict tendency level and the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H.5.1. Mother's perception of psychosocial support in the family has a moderating effect on the relationship between the mother's marital conflict tendency level and the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child;

H.5.2. The father's perception of psycho-social support in the family has a moderating effect on the relationship between the father's marital conflict tendency level and the level of psycho-social well-being of the adolescent child.

SPSS Process macro models 1 and 4 were used to determine the mediation and moderating effect (Regorz, 2023).

At the final study stage, a hypothesis-verification study was conducted in Spring 2023, on 167 families, living in Georgia, a total of 501 people, 167 mothers, 167 - fathers, and their teenage children aged 11-18 years, participated in the research. Most of the married couples participating in the research are from Tbilisi, and the age of the majority of the interviewed parents is 30-45 years. Most of the respondent parents have higher education, are employed, have more than one child and most of them live only with their child/children. As for the age and gender of the children, both genders and age categories (11-14 and 15-17 years) are more or less equally represented in the sample. Participants in this phase of the study filled out a printed copy of the standardized self-report questionnaire from the first stage of the study, accompanied by an “informed consent form”. Participation in the study was voluntary, and all respondents were informed in advance of the purpose of the study, the details of the instructions for completing the questionnaire, and their right to skip unwanted questions and/or opt out of the study process. In the process of finding respondents, purposeful, accessible sampling and “snowballing” methods were used. A prerequisite for joining the study was a married couple with at least one adolescent child. In the case of several children of the mentioned age, only one child participated, and the parents expressed their position on the proposed provisions for the child participating in the study. Participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with the content of each statement in the questionnaire on a 1-5-point scale. Recommendations regarding the step-by-step validation of the received questionnaires were provided (Bujang et al., 2022).

Results

Hypotheses were formulated and validated during the research process. Following a comprehensive analysis of the research data, an investigation into the interrelationships among the variables was undertaken to assess the primary research hypotheses. The outcomes of this analysis disclosed the following. According to the results of the regression analysis, all four variables, the feeling of psycho-social support of both spouses; family functioning; the perception of the financial situation, and the feeling of the presence of psycho-social support by the child may have (in both parents) a mediating function between marital conflict and the adolescent's psycho-social well-being. The regression analysis also showed that the mother's and father's parenting styles did not stem from the conflict indicator. This implies that it could only have a moderating role (H.3.1. and H.3.2.), as the study shows, the regression analysis rejected several hypotheses, (H.4.1., H.4.2., H.5.1. and H.5.2), formed the basis for the verification of two hypotheses (H.2.1. and H.2.2) and raised the assumptions of the mediating role of parents' financial perception and perception of parents and children's psycho-social support, which was verified in the next step. In the mediation analysis of the variables, it was found that in the case of the mother and the father, the level of functioning of the family of the parents implied by the hypothesis performs a strong mediating function between the marital conflict and the child's psycho-social well-being. However, in the case of the father, there is a more pronounced presence of indirect mediation when compared to the mother (Tables 1 and 2).

Table 1. The mediating role of the mother's family functioning