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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Parental depression and interparental conflict: children and adolescents' self-blame and coping responses
Jessica M Fear1, Jennifer E Champion, Kristen L Reeslund
1Department of Psychology & Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. jessica.fear@vanderbilt.edu
Abstract:
The present study examined the role of children and adolescents' perceptions of self-blame specific to interparental conflict and children and adolescents' coping behaviors in the context of parental depression as predictors of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in a sample of 108 youth (age 9-15 years old) of parents with a history of depression. Higher levels of current depressive symptoms in parents were associated with higher levels of interparental conflict and higher levels of internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents, and interparental conflict was positively associated with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children/adolescents. Consistent across a series of multiple regression models, children and adolescents' perceptions of self-blame and use of secondary control coping (acceptance, distraction, cognitive restructuring, positive thinking) were significant, independent predictors of both internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
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