Father and mother harsh parenting and adult romantic relationships over time: Individual behavior during adolescence

The present study examined how father and mother harsh parenting as experienced in middle adolescence impacted individual behavior during late adolescence and subsequent harsh couple interaction with their romantic partner in adulthood using a prospective longitudinal design (n = 117 males, 239 females). Data were collected during home visits by a trained interviewer in which family members completed questionnaires and participated in videotaped structured interaction tasks that were coded by trained observers. We assessed the influence of harsh parenting in adolescence (ages 15 and 16, Time 1) on individual processes (e.g., academic difficulty, substance use, and low self-esteem; age 18, Time 2) and harsh couple interaction in adulthood (ages 29 and 31, Time 3; age 34, Time 4). Father harsh parenting was associated with low self-esteem for sons and daughters and substance use for sons. Mother harsh parenting was associated with academic difficulty for adolescents. Academic difficulty and low self-esteem for daughters were further associated with harsh couple interaction at Time 3, while substance use for adolescents was associated with harsh couple interaction at Time 3, which remained stable through established adulthood. We highlight the unique effects of father and mother harsh parenting on later romantic relationship quality through individual mechanisms in late adulthood, for daughters and sons, in the context of the family system. Understanding these nuances as adolescents approach adulthood have implications for programming and policy aimed at strengthening the parent-child relationship in adolescence to allow for the development of healthy romantic relationships later in life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).