Abstract
Literature supports that marital, parental, and coparental subsystems impact the development of children. However, investigations into the correlation between these subsystems are still scarce in the national context. The objective was to evaluate the associations of marital, parenting, and coparenting with internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children. An explanatory, quantitative, and cross-sectional study was carried out with 200 participants (100 men and 100 women) who lived with their 4-18-year old children. A questionnaire comprised of six scales was used. The results show congruence between parents’ perception regarding the presence of symptoms in children. Marital adaptability and coparental approval were predictive of internalizing symptoms; coparental competition, children’s exposure to coparental conflict, parental intrusiveness, coparental approval, and parental supervisory behaviors were predictive of externalizing symptoms. These findings indicate the interdependence between these variables and reinforce the premise that family interventions should focus on the entire family system.
Keywords:
Adolescent; Child; Family relations; Signs and symptoms