Longitudinal typologies of perceived parent-child conflict and their correlates in adolescence

Children and Youth Services Review 98 (2019) 132–142

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Children and Youth Services Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth

Longitudinal typologies of perceived parent-child conflict and their correlates in adolescence

T

Jeong Jin Yu Department of Psychology, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden

A R T I C LE I N FO

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Parent-child conflict Youth smoking General growth mixture modeling

The present study was designed to uncover longitudinal trajectory classes of perceived parent-child conflict that followed distinct developmental courses across late childhood and adolescence and their antecedents and outcome of smoking. Data were obtained from a large, nationally representative sample of two age cohorts, who were 2844 fourth graders (first wave, Mage = 9.86, SD = 0.35) and 3449 eighth graders (first wave, Mage = 13.79, SD = 0.42), surveyed at five and six time points, respectively, separated by a one-year interval in South Korea. Although the majority of the youth reported low to moderate levels of parent-child conflict, four and three trajectory groups were identified for the younger and the older cohorts, respectively. The younger cohort with higher levels of aggression, depressed mood, or academic stress in grade four was likely to belong to latent classes characterized by higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict, whereas the older cohort with higher levels of aggression and household income in grade eight was likely to be assigned to a latent subgroup with higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict. Overall, youth in latent classes characterized by lower levels of perceived parent-child conflict over time had a lower likelihood of smoking. These findings highlight the heterogeneous developmental pathways of perceived parent-child conflict throughout childhood and adolescence and suggest that higher conflict in parent-child relationships could result in ramifications for adolescent tobacco use. Thus, family-based programs to prevent smoking initiation in young people may incorporate interventions to address parent-child conflict.

1. Introduction Past research has found developmental changes in conflict within parent-child relationships during late childhood and adolescence. Although complete consensus does not yet exist on the issue, overall, parent-child conflict appears to be increasing or more intense in middle adolescence (15 to 17 years) than in early (12–14 years) or late adolescence (18–20 years). For example, several studies have longitudinally shown that the level of conflict between parents and children increases from early to middle adolescence and then declines from middle to late adolescence (De Goede, Branje, & Meeus, 2009; Marceau, Ram, & Susman, 2015; McGue, Elkins, Walden, & Iacono, 2005; Parra, Oliva, & Reina, 2015; Van Doorn, Branje, & Meeus, 2011; Whiteman, McHale, & Crouter, 2011). By differentiating between conflict rate and conflict affect, meta-analysis results suggest that parent-child conflict increases in affective intensity in the transition between early and middle adolescence, while it generally decreases in rates throughout adolescence (Laursen, Coy, & Collins, 1998). Although this study is based primarily on cross-sectional results, it does paint a more detailed and nuanced picture of parent-child conflict during adolescence.

2. Heterogeneity in developmental trajectories of parent-child conflict during adolescence The research cited above has advanced our understanding of normative developmental changes in parent-child conflict over late childhood and adolescence, but it is unlikely for all parent-child dyads to follow similar developmental trends (Laursen et al., 1998; McGue et al., 2005). Bearing, therefore, these considerations in mind, Trentacosta et al. (2011) identified four distinct developmental trajectories of mother-son conflict, where three of the trajectory groups showed some decreases in conflicts from middle childhood through midadolescence, while one group maintained high and stable levels of conflict. Similarly, Castellani et al. (2014) identified three classes of mother-adolescent hostile relationships from middle to late adolescence: high decreasing (7.6%); medium increasing (23.3%); and low stable (69.1%). These studies have highlighted the necessity of identifying separate subgroups with different trajectories of parent-youth interactions over time, which may have different predictors and outcomes. However, none of the aforementioned studies, including even ones assuming a single average growth curve, utilized samples of East Asian youth who tend to

E-mail address: [email protected]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.12.026 Received 17 August 2018; Received in revised form 25 December 2018; Accepted 25 December 2018 0190-7409/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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subscribe to the Confucian value of filial piety characterized by obedience to and respect for parental authority and gratitude for parental care, which might predict less frequent and intense parent-child conflict during adolescence. On the other hand, values of individual assertiveness and autonomous individuality that characterize Western societies have gradually permeated South Korean society (e.g., Yu, 2011). Given that no research exists in this area, the present study is an attempt to uncover heterogeneous developmental pathways of children's perceptions of parent-child conflict from late childhood to adolescence (i.e., fourth through eighth grades and eighth grade through one year of high school graduation) in South Korea.

association between the child's depressed mood and perceptions of parent-child conflict. 6. Child academic stress and parent-child conflict Academic issues are a major cause of distress among children and adolescents (Brković, Keresteš, & Levpušček, 2014; Lehman & Repetti, 2007; Repetti, 1996; Smetana, 1989). Parents and children argue more frequently about grades and schoolwork from late childhood through adolescence (Brković et al., 2014; Renk, Liljequist, Simpson, & Phares, 2005; Smetana, 1989) and children with high academic stress are likely to go awry and may become more demanding, oppositional, argumentative, or aggressive with their parents (Repetti, 1996). Indeed, children who experienced greater academic stress at school reported having more aversive interactions with parents at home later in the day (Lehman & Repetti, 2007; Repetti, 1996). Parents may become punitive or critical in response to their child's tacit requests for emotional support and children who feel unworthy or unsuccessful in school may color their perceptions of their interactions with their parents in a negative way (Repetti, 1996). In the Korean context, Confucian values emphasizing academic achievement and scholarly endeavor still provide a guiding set of principles and it is not surprising that excessive academic demands and pressures are common stressors that Korean children and adolescents confront (Lee & Larson, 2000; Yu, 2010). With this in mind, it was hypothesized that Korean youth who experienced higher levels of academic stress would be likely to belong to trajectory groups characterized by higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict.

3. Correlates of developmental trajectories of parent-child conflict Adolescents' negative emotions and perceived stress may instigate more frequent and intense parent-adolescent conflict. Indeed, the role of the child in affecting parent-child interaction or child-driven effects on parent-child relationships have been well supported (e.g., Repetti, 1996; Yu, 2010). The current study was motivated by a desire to better understand if and how adolescent children's maladjustment, such as aggression, depression, and academic stress, is associated with longitudinal trajectories of their perceived parent-child conflict across the developmental periods from late childhood through early adolescence and from middle through late adolescence. 4. Child aggression and parent-child conflict Bell (1968) was among the first to draw attention to the child's effects on parental behavior. Upper-limit control is evoked in response to hyperactive behavior in a child, whereas lower-limit control is activated in reaction to inhibitive behavior in a child. Thus, children who behave in an impulsive, aggressive way are likely to elicit negative reactions from parents, which in turn may lead to more coercive, hostile parentchild interchanges. Although relatively little empirical work has been done on the predictive role of the child's aggression in producing parent-child conflict, the child's expression of anger or aggressiveness is likely to trigger parental negative affect and thus contributes to a destructive cycle of aversive parent-child interactions (Hofer et al., 2013; Steeger & Gondoli, 2013; Urbain-Gauthier & Wendland, 2017). The present study attempted to extend the literature by implementing a sequential design to examine whether the child's aggression would be linked to a latent subgroup characterized by higher perceived parentchild conflict.

7. Child gender and parent-child conflict In addition to adolescents' psychological functioning, demographic variables such as child gender may be associated with differing longitudinal patterns of perceived parent-child conflict. The fact that boys tend to exhibit more externalizing and disruptive behaviors than girls across the childhood and adolescent years might lead to the expectation that boys might perceive greater conflict with their parents during these periods than might girls (Bongers, Koot, van der Ende, & Verhulst, 2003). In contrast, the evidence that girls are at greater risk than boys for developing internalizing symptoms during the transition to adolescence might lead to the hypothesis that adolescent girls might report more conflict with their parents than might adolescent boys (Bongers et al., 2003). However, empirical evidence is relatively lacking and at best inconclusive. Adolescent-parent conflict has been found to be greater for girls than for boys (Laursen, 1995; McGue et al., 2005), but just the opposite has been found in other studies (e.g., Brković et al., 2014). On the other hand, several other studies have found no gender differences in parent-adolescent conflict relations (De Goede et al., 2009; Parra et al., 2015; Steeger & Gondoli, 2013). In any case, because of the lack of empirical and theoretical foundations, it is difficult to formulate specific hypotheses about how child gender matters for developmental patterns of parent-child conflict. The present study sought to address these underresearched questions without any clear hypothesis.

5. Child depressed mood and parent-child conflict Youth with depressed mood may not regulate their negative affect as effectively in many circumstances. Researchers have found that depressed adolescents are likely to rely more on maladaptive interpersonal strategies, such as avoidance and hostility, and less on adaptive interpersonal strategies, such as reappraisal and cognitive restructuring, when coping with relationship stressors (Brière, Archambault, & Janosz, 2013; Garber, Braafladt, & Zeman, 1991; Garber, Braafladt, & Weiss, 1995). As Bell (1968) theorized, adolescents who exhibit depressive symptoms may have a great need for parental support and reassurance to relieve their emotional suffering, but parents' sympathetic attitude toward their children may fade away (Brière et al., 2013; Steeger & Gondoli, 2013). Indeed, empirical work has suggested that the parents' frustrations and irritations likely contribute to the context of conflictural parent-child interchanges (Brière et al., 2013; Steeger & Gondoli, 2013). Some researchers report that adolescent depressive symptoms longitudinally predict perceived conflict with parents (Brière et al., 2013; Steeger & Gondoli, 2013), but others report that depressive symptomatology in adolescence is not predictive of parent-child conflict one year later (Sheeber, Hops, Alpert, Davis, & Andrews, 1997). The present study sought to address a possible

8. Family income and parent-child conflict Parent-child conflict may be precipitated or exacerbated by a lack of parental financial support. The family stress model describes a process whereby family economic pressure leads to parents' depressed mood, which in turn disrupts both marital relationships and parenting, which in turn likely spill over into parent-child interactions (Conger et al., 1992). A host of studies have found support for model, although most of them are cross-sectional (see Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010). Based on this model, it may be that family income is a source of parent-child conflict. 133

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9. Parent-child conflict and youth smoking

11. Material and methods

It has been well documented that a poor and conflictive parent-child relationship increases risk for adolescents exhibiting internalizing or externalizing behaviors (Burt, McGue, Krueger, & Iacono, 2005; Klahr, McGue, Ianoco, & Burt, 2011; Smokowski, Bacallao, Cotter, & Evans, 2015). A recent meta-analysis regarding the association between parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent maladjustment also confirms this finding (Weymouth, Buehler, Zhou, & Henson, 2016). Theoretically, social bond theory contends that adolescents with strong bonds with their parents are less likely to engage in deviant behavior (Hirschi, 1969). It therefore seems reasonable to predict that greater parent-child conflict is associated with a greater likelihood of smoking initiation among adolescents. However, only a few cross-sectional studies have found an association of parent-child conflict with youth smoking (Piko & Balázs, 2012; Simons-Morton et al., 1999) and very little is presently known about the longitudinal association between them, with one longitudinal study reporting no association between parent-child quarrels and smoking experimentation during early adolescence (White, 2012). Thus, additional longitudinal research would be required to fill the gap in the literature. It is during adolescence that the vast majority of smokers begin their habitual behavior (Morris, 2012; Paavola, Vartiainen, & Puska, 2001). Cigarette smoking was found to be associated with a wide range of serious adverse health outcomes and to be a stable habit. However, the negative consequences of cigarette smoking may not become apparent until later life, which could interfere with smoking cessation efforts. Thus, it is important to prevent the initiation of smoking and promote smoking cessation among youth. According to the self-medication hypothesis, adolescents are apt to initiate smoking as a means of regulating negative affect associated with distress or of escaping difficult conditions (Gehricke et al., 2007; Wills, Sandy, & Yaeger, 2002). Therefore, it was expected that adolescents reporting conflicted relationships with parents would be more likely to smoke cigarettes.

11.1. Participants The data used in the present study come from Korea Youth Panel Survey, a sample of 2844 fourth graders (first wave, Mage = 9.86, SD = 0.35) and 3449 eighth graders (first wave, Mage = 13.79, SD = 0.42) surveyed each year between 2004 and 2008 (i.e., 5 time points) and between 2003 and 2008 (i.e., 6 time points). A multistage, stratified cluster sampling method and multiple steps of weighting adjustments were used to ensure a nationally representative sample. Permission was sought to approach the selected schools. Response rates for schools initially selected for possible participation were 81.0% for the younger cohort and 66.3% for the older cohort. Response rates of students in schools that agreed to participate were 96.4% for the younger cohort and 93.3% for the older cohort. All students in the selected classes were invited to participate in the study and students completed self-administered questionnaires. Parental permission for students to participate was obtained prior to survey administration. Parents of the children also were asked to provide demographic information by phone. Families participating in the study were compensated with a gift certificate at every wave of data collection. The overwhelming majority of the sample lived with two biological parents (95.4% of fourth graders and 93.0% of eighth graders) at Wave 1. Average family income of the younger and older cohorts was 3,021,400 won (SD = 1,765,180) or US$2638 per month in 2004 and 2,997,100 won (SD = 2,169,200) or US$2498 per month in 2003.1 The data used in the present study are publicly available (http://archive.nypi.re.kr/ contents/siteMain.do). A high proportion of the younger cohort (n = 2267, 79.7%) completed all five waves of the study and they did not differ from those with incomplete data over time on parent-child conflict or smoking. While the subjects who completed all waves (M = 298.96, SD = 166.61) had a lower monthly income than those with missing data (M = 315.62, SD = 211.31; F(1, 2764) = 3.96, p < .05), the effect size associated with this difference was negligible (η2 = 0.00). A lesser but still significant percentage of the older cohort (n = 2448, 71.0%) provided all six waves of data. Subjects who provided complete data across time and those who did not provide complete data did not differ in smoking, but the former (M = 2.31, SD = 0.77; M = 2.29, SD = 0.75; M = 2.20, SD = 0.67; M = 2.20, SD = 0.67) reported significantly lower levels of parent-child conflict at W1 (F(1, 3447) = 12.55, p < .001), W2 (F(1, 3183) = 25.16, p < .001), W3 (F(1, 3123) = 6.63, p < .05), and W4 (F(1, 3119) = 6.16, p < .05) than the latter (M = 2.42, SD = 0.83; M = 2.45, SD = 0.80; M = 2.28, SD = 0.69; M = 2.27, SD = 0.75). However, the effect sizes were all negligible (η2s = 0.00, 0.01, 0.00, 0.00). Like the younger cohort, the subjects in the older cohort with complete data across time (M = 289.94, SD = 191.95) were from households with lower monthly income than those with missing data (M = 324.23, SD = 267.97; F(1, 3239) = 16.60, p < .001), but the effect size was small (η2 = 0.01).

10. The current study Using a representative national sample from South Korea, this research charted longitudinal trajectories of perceived parent-child conflict in two different developmental stages from late childhood to early adolescence and from middle to late adolescence, covering longer periods of time to describe the bigger picture. The first goal of the current study was to identify subgroups with different growth trajectories of adolescents' perceptions of parent-child conflict using annual assessments from Grade 4 to Grade 8 and from Grade 8 to one year after graduation. Aside from these analyses, it was expected that the majority of younger and older cohorts would fall into a trajectory of increasing and decreasing conflict, respectively, based on previous studies. The second goal was to investigate correlates of trajectory group membership to account for potential heterogeneity in developmental course of conflict between parent and child throughout late childhood and adolescence. High levels of aggression, depression, academic stress, and lower levels of household income were expected to be associated with subgroups of youth who reported higher levels of conflict with their parents (see Fig. 1). In addition, the effect of child gender was examined in relation to parent-child conflict. The third and final goal was to examine the association between parent-child conflict trajectory groups and adolescent smoking and it was hypothesized that latent subgroups with higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict would be linked to a greater likelihood of smoking than those with lower levels of perceived parent-child conflict across adolescence.

12. Measures Measures for the present study were all developed by researchers at the National Youth Policy Institute in Seoul, Korea and were utilized in prior studies, where empirical evidence of validity has been generated (e.g., Han & Grogan-Kaylor, 2013; Jun & Choi, 2013; Kim & Lee, 2013; 1

The average household income on the basis of the annual average price index for calendar year 2015 (= 100) for South Korean households with two or more family members was ₩3,650,000 per month in 2004 and ₩3,570,000 per month in 2003, respectively. Retrieved from http://www.index.go.kr/unify/ idx-info.do?idxCd=4024. 134

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Aggression Depressed Mooda Academic Stress Adolescent Gender Household Income

Latent Trajectory Class

Smoking at Grade 8/After High School

Linear Slope

Intercept

Quadratic Slope

0 1

1 1

Grade 4/8 Parent-Child Conflict

1

1

1

Grade 5/9 Parent-Child Conflict

0 1 2

3

4

5

4 9

Grade 7/11 Parent-Child Conflict

Grade 6/10 Parent-Child Conflict

1

16

Grade 8/12 Parent-Child Conflict

25

Post-High School Parent-Child Conflict

Fig. 1. Path diagram of general growth mixture model. Notes:aCovariate for the younger cohort. bCovariate for the older cohort. The younger cohort was unavailable for the sixth wave of panel data and thus each cohort was analyzed separately.

items (e.g., “I worry about schoolwork,” “I am not interested in schoolwork and struggle to catch up with it,” “I get stressed by poor school grades,” “I get stressed out about homework or exams,” and “I get stressed out because schoolwork bores me.”) scored on a five-point Likert scale (1 = very untrue, 5 = very true) at the initial assessment. Cronbach alphas were 0.78 for the younger cohort and 0.72 for the older cohort.

Yu, 2016; Yu & Park, 2017). 12.1. Parent-child conflict Participants' perceptions of conflict with their parents were measured with five items (“I am often verbally abused by parents,” “I am often severely beaten by parents,” “I am under stress because my parents and I have arguments,” “I am under stress because my parents meddle in everything I do,” and “I am under stress because my parents and I are not on the same wavelength.”) rated on a five-point Likert scale (1 = never, 5 = almost always). Cronbach alphas ranged from 0.75 to 0.81 across assessment points for younger cohort and from 0.79 to 0.81 for the older cohort.

12.5. Smoking Participants were asked whether they had smoked cigarettes in the past 12 months (yes/no) at their last assessment. 12.6. Household income

12.2. Aggression Parents reported their monthly household incomes for 2003 or 2004 (i.e., at baseline).

Participant self-report of aggression was measured at baseline by five items (e.g., “I may hit others when I feel annoyed,” “I will hit back at a person who hits me,” “When I am angry, I feel like throwing objects,” “Sometimes I cannot suppress an impulse to hit other people,” and “I lose my temper whenever I get angry.”) answered on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Cronbach alphas for the younger and older cohorts were 0.71 and 0.72, respectively.

12.7. Adolescent gender Adolescent gender was coded 0 for males and 1 for females. 13. Plan of analysis All models were estimated with the full information maximum likelihood (FIML) algorithm implemented in Mplus version 7 to deal with missing data (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012). FIML directly estimates parameters on the basis of all available raw data and is known to be unbiased and efficient (Enders, 2001; Larsen, 2011; Little, Jorgensen, Lang, & Moore, 2014; Messer & Natarajan, 2008; Wang & Bodner, 2007). The three-step manual approach was undertaken to analyze the sequential data (Asparouhov & Muthén, 2014; Vermunt, 2010). Firstly, unconditional latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) was used to investigate developmental changes in perceived parent-child conflict. The fit indices used to evaluate model fit were chi-square test (χ2), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). Nonsignificant chi-square values indicate good fit to the data, although the chi square test tends to be sensitive to large sample size (Teo, Tsai, & Yang, 2013). CFI and TLI values > 0.95 and RMSEA

12.3. Depressed mood Children's self-report of depressed mood was assessed at baseline with six items (“I am not interested in anything at all,” “I worry about everything.” “Sometimes I feel very anxious without any reason,” “Sometimes I feel very lonely without any reason,” “Sometimes I feel very sad and gloomy without any reason,” and “Sometimes I feel suicidal without any reason.”) measured on a five-point Likert-type scale (1 = not at all; 5 = very much). Cronbach's alpha was 0.79. No information was collected on baseline of depressed mood from the older cohort. 12.4. Academic stress Participant self-report of academic stress was assessed using five 135

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values < 0.05 indicate good fit (Hu & Bentler, 1999; Teo et al., 2013). Lower BIC values indicate better model fit when comparing models (Burnham & Anderson, 2004). Significant chi-square difference values between models indicate a more complex model is preferred, whereas nonsignificant chi-square difference values indicate a more parsimonious model is preferred (Teo et al., 2013). Secondly, unconditional general growth mixture modeling (GGMM) was conducted to determine an appropriate number of latent subclasses of youth with qualitatively discrete developmental trajectories of perceived parent-child conflict across time. The following statistics were adopted for model comparison: Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), BIC, sample-size-adjusted Bayesian information criterion (SABIC), entropy, Lo-Mendell-Rubin likelihood test (LMR), and bootstrap likelihood ratio test (BLRT). Lower values on information-based fit indices such as AIC, BIC, and SABIC are indicative of better model fit (Berlin, Williams, & Parra, 2014; Wang & Bodner, 2007). Entropy assesses whether individuals are classified into a single class and ranges from 0.00 to 1.00, with values closer to 1.00 reflecting more precise class assignment (Berlin et al., 2014; Wang & Bodner, 2007). Likelihood ratio tests such as LMR and BLRT compare a K0-class model with a K−1-class model and a small p-value indicates that the K0-class model fits the observed data better than the K−1-class model (Berlin et al., 2014; Wang & Bodner, 2007). Thirdly, after finding an optimal solution, conditional GGMM was performed to identify baseline covariates (i.e., aggression, depressed mood, academic stress, gender, and family income) measured at Wave 1 that improved model fit and were associated with class membership or growth parameters. Lastly, a distal outcome (i.e., smoking at the final assessment) was regressed on the latent class membership.

(Ds = 0.08, t = 9.64, p < .001) and the quadratic (Dq = 0.00, t = 8.47, p < .001) factors were significant, indicating considerable individual differences in linear and quadratic change in perceived parent-child conflict across time. 14.2. Unconditional GGMM 14.2.1. The younger cohort (fourth through eighth grade) A series of unconditional models (i.e., no covariates) with different numbers of classes were compared to identify the optimal number of latent trajectory classes of perceived parent-child conflict. In these models, the slope and quadratic variances were unconstrained, whereas the intercept variances were fixed. The information criterion indexes are presented in Table 2. Although the five- or six-class models fit the data better than the four-class model, these models identified classes with few subjects (e.g., 1.3% or 0.08% of the sample); thus, the fourclass solution was selected as optimal (Berlin et al., 2014; King, Li, & Hser, 2017; Muthén & Asparouhov, 2015; Uher et al., 2010). 14.2.2. The older cohort (eighth grades through one year after high school) To select a best fitting model, the information criterion indexes from a series of models with no covariates were compared (see Table 2). The four-class model seemed to provide the best fit for the subjects, yet two latent classes closely overlapped. The three-class solution was therefore deemed the most appropriate one because of its distinct, non-redundant classes and parsimony (Berlin et al., 2014; King et al., 2017). 14.3. Conditional GGMM

14. Results

14.3.1. The younger cohort (fourth through eighth grade) A robust stability in the four-class model was evidenced by compatibility between the four-class conditional and unconditional GGMM in terms of the latent class structure and class probabilities. The model identified “high-decreasing” (Class 1, 3.6%; Ms = −1.13, t = −1.98, p < .05; Mq = 0.20, t = 1.36, ns), “high-stable” (Class 2, 15.2%; Ms = −0.19, t = −0.73, ns; Mq = 0.03, t = 0.47, ns), “moderatestable” (Class 3, 31.1%; Ms = −0.01, t = −0.09, ns; Mq = 0.05, t = 1.54, ns), and “low-increasing (Class 4, 50.2%; Ms = .32, t = 4.83, p < .001; Mq = –.03, t = –1.58, ns)” subgroups with distinctive trajectories of perceived parent-child conflict from late childhood through early adolescence (see Fig. 2). It should be noted, however, that there were very slight rises or declines, albeit statistically significant, in the trajectories, which appeared to be linear over time. The “high-decreasing” class had the highest level of perceived parent-child conflict at baseline followed by slight decline. Both the “high-stable” and “moderate-stable” classes showed little change during the transition to early adolescence. The “low-increasing” class served as the reference group and began with the lowest rate of perceived parentchild conflict which increased slightly. When compared to the “low-increasing” trajectory, higher levels of aggression at baseline were associated with significantly increased probability of being in all other trajectory classes. Relative to the “lowincreasing” group, higher depressed mood at baseline increased the probability of membership in the “high-stable” class and higher academic stress increased likelihood of belonging to the “high-stable” and “moderate-stable” classes (see Table 3).

Table 1 shows means, standard deviations, correlations, and percentages of missing values for each variable for the younger and older cohorts. 14.1. Unconditional LGCM 14.1.1. The younger cohort (fourth through eighth grade) Although an unconditional linear model of perceived parent-child conflict fit to the data quite well, χ2(10) = 146.37, p < .001; CFI = 0.94; TLI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.069; 90% CI = 0.060, 0.079; BIC = 27,476.27, a quadratic term significantly improved the fit, χ2(6) = 77.84, p < .001; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.065; 90% CI = 0.052, 0.078; BIC = 27,439.56; Δχ2(4) = 68.53, p < .001. Hence, the quadratic model was used for subsequent analyses. A significant and positive linear slope mean (Ms = 0.11, t = 8.81, p < .001) and a nonsignificant quadratic slope mean (Mq = 0.00, t = 0.74, ns) indicated linear growth in perceived parent-child conflict from fourth through eighth grade. Significant linear (Ds = 0.10, t = 5.19, p < .001) and quadratic (Dq = 0.01, t = 6.62, p < .001) slope variances reflected substantial heterogeneity in rates of change in perceived parent-child conflict over time. 14.1.2. The older cohort (eighth grades through one year after high school) Unconditional linear model of perceived parent-child conflict demonstrated a good fit to the data, χ2(16) = 173.00, p < .001; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.053; 90% CI = 0.046, 0.061; BIC = 35,249.45. However, adding a quadratic term resulted in a statistically significant improvement in fit, χ2(12) = 75.98, p < .001; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.039; 90% CI = 0.031, 0.048; BIC = 35,185.01; Δχ2(4) = 97.01, p < .001. Therefore, the quadratic model was retained for subsequent analyses. Significant and negative linear (Ms = −0.03, t = −3.81, p < .001) and quadratic (Mq = −0.00, t = −2.29, p < .05) slope means reflected an accelerating decline in perceived parent-child conflict from eighth grade to one year of high school graduation. The variances of the slope

14.3.2. The older cohort (eighth grades through one year after high school) The three-class conditional and unconditional GGMM produced similar results in terms of the patterns of growth trajectories and class probabilities. As shown in Fig. 3, the three-class solution identified three distinct latent class subgroups: “high-quadratic (Class 1, 9.0%; Ms = –.77, t = –2.86, p < .01; Mq = .16, t = 2.88, p < .01),” “highstable (Class 2, 7.9%; Ms = –.11, t = –.75, ns; Mq = .03, t = 1.66, p < .10),” and “moderate-quadratic (Class 3, 83.0%; Ms = .04, t = 2.66, p < .01; Mq = –.01, t = –5.47, p < .001),” classes. As in the 136

137

0.41⁎⁎⁎ – 0.50⁎⁎⁎ 0.41⁎⁎⁎ 0.41⁎⁎⁎ 0.36⁎⁎⁎ 0.17⁎⁎⁎ – 0.25⁎⁎⁎ 0.11⁎⁎⁎ 0.05⁎⁎ −0.08⁎⁎⁎ 2.33 0.77 7.65

– 0.52⁎⁎⁎ 0.44⁎⁎⁎ 0.37⁎⁎⁎ 0.36⁎⁎⁎ 0.33⁎⁎⁎ 0.31⁎⁎⁎ – 0.44⁎⁎⁎ 0.12⁎⁎⁎ 0.03† −0.01 2.34 0.79 0

1. Parent-child conflict W1 2. Parent-child conflict W2 3. Parent-child conflict W3 4. Parent-child conflict W4 5. Parent-child conflict W5 6. Parent-child conflict W6 7. Aggression W1 8. Depressed mood W1a 9. Academic stress W1 10. Smoking W5/W6b 11. Household income W1c 12. Adolescent genderd M SD % Missing

0.33⁎⁎⁎ 0.45⁎⁎⁎ – 0.52⁎⁎⁎ 0.46⁎⁎⁎ 0.42⁎⁎⁎ 0.14⁎⁎⁎ – 0.22⁎⁎⁎ 0.10⁎⁎⁎ 0.01 −0.06⁎⁎ 2.22 0.68 9.39

3 0.27⁎⁎⁎ 0.29⁎⁎⁎ 0.42⁎⁎⁎ – 0.51⁎⁎⁎ 0.43⁎⁎⁎ 0.10⁎⁎⁎ – 0.17⁎⁎⁎ 0.11⁎⁎⁎ 0.00 −0.03† 2.21 0.69 9.51

4 0.22⁎⁎⁎ 0.24⁎⁎⁎ 0.36⁎⁎⁎ 0.47⁎⁎⁎ – 0.52⁎⁎⁎ 0.11⁎⁎⁎ – 0.15⁎⁎⁎ 0.11⁎⁎⁎ 0.01 −0.07⁎⁎⁎ 2.17 0.71 14.24

5 – – – – – – 0.10⁎⁎⁎ – 0.15⁎⁎⁎ 0.06⁎⁎ 0.01 0.00 2.07 0.65 17.86

6 0.33⁎⁎⁎ 0.18⁎⁎⁎ 0.15⁎⁎⁎ 0.14⁎⁎⁎ 0.10⁎⁎⁎ – – – 0.27⁎⁎⁎ 0.10⁎⁎⁎ 0.00 0.07⁎⁎⁎ 3.02 0.76 0

7 0.18⁎⁎⁎ 0.08⁎⁎⁎ 0.07⁎⁎ 0.05⁎ 0.04⁎ – 0.14⁎⁎⁎ – – – – – – – –

8 0.21⁎⁎⁎ 0.10⁎⁎⁎ 0.09⁎⁎⁎ 0.08⁎⁎⁎ 0.05⁎ – 0.14⁎⁎⁎ 0.25⁎⁎⁎ – 0.05⁎⁎ −0.02 0.06⁎⁎ 3.10 0.73 0

9 0.02 0.00 0.06⁎⁎ 0.01 0.05⁎ – 0.01 0.03 0.05⁎⁎ – −0.01 −0.30⁎⁎⁎ – – 17.86

10 0.02 0.00 −0.01 0.02 0.03 – 0.00 −0.05⁎ −0.04⁎ −0.00 – −0.01 299.71 216.92 6.03

11

−0.06⁎⁎ −0.04⁎ −0.03 0.01 0.00 – −0.07⁎⁎⁎ 0.05⁎ −0.02 −0.03 −0.02 – – – 0

12

1.73 1.80 1.93 2.14 2.18 – 2.55 2.11 2.25 – 302.14 –

M

0.71 0.73 0.74 0.77 0.79 – 0.82 0.83 0.86 – 176.52 –

SD

0 4.82 6.08 11.71 13.92 – 0 0.14 0 13.92 2.74 0.14

% Missing

b

Depressed mood was not measured for the older cohort. Dummy coded, 0 = no, 1 = yes, W5 for the younger and W6 for the older cohorts. c It indicates average monthly household income in ten thousand won. d Dummy coded, 0 = male, 1 = female; The values above the diagonal indicate 4th through 8th grades (the number ranged from 2340 to 2844), while those beneath the diagonal represent 8th grades through 1st year of post-high school education (the number ranged from 2636 to 3449). † p < .10. ⁎ p < .05. ⁎⁎ p < .01. ⁎⁎⁎ p < .001.

a

2

1

Variable

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations for study variables.

J.J. Yu

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Table 2 Test statistics for models. No. of classes Younger cohort 1 2 3 4 5 6 Older cohort 1 2 3 4 5 6

AIC

BIC

SABIC

Entropy

LMR p value

BLRT p value

28,048.05 27,063.91 26,775.91 26,573.32 26,429.35 26,303.14

28,113.53 27,153.21 26,889.02 26,710.24 26,590.08 26,487.69

28,078.58 27,105.55 26,828.65 26,637.16 26,504.29 26,389.19

0.76 0.81 0.84 0.87 0.87

< 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.05 < 0.10 < 0.05

< 0.001 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

35,092.82 34,910.16 34,816.39 34,766.98 34,734.66 34,694.27

35,185.01 35,026.93 34,957.74 34,932.92 34,925.18 34,909.37

35,137.35 34,966.56 34,884.66 34,847.13 34,826.68 34,798.16

0.75 0.77 0.77 0.79 0.69

< 0.001 0.17 < 0.01 < 0.10 0.55

< 0.001 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

14.4. GGMM with binary outcomes

younger cohort, the trajectories appear to be straight because of only slight increases or decreases in the growth rates of parent-child conflict. The “high-quadratic” class exhibited the highest level of perceived parent-child conflict at baseline followed by a slight downturn and then a slight rise. The “high-stable” class reported a moderate to high level of perceived parent-child conflict. The “moderate-quadratic” class was set up as the reference class and was characterized by the lowest but moderate level of perceived parent-child conflict at baseline followed by a slight increase, then a slight leveling off. Relative to the “moderate-quadratic” class, higher levels of both aggression and household income at baseline were associated with greater likelihood of being in the “high-quadratic” class (see Table 3).

14.4.1. The younger cohort (fourth through eighth grade) As a final step, the binary distal outcome (i.e., smoking at grade 8) was regressed on latent trajectory classes. Approximately, 5.2% of the Wave 5 sample reported having smoked during the 12 months, but the subgroups significantly differed in the probability of smoking. The “high-decreasing” trajectory group had the highest estimated probabilities for smoking at grade eight (0.11), followed by the “moderatestable” (0.06), “low-increasing” (0.05), and “high-stable” (0.04) trajectory groups. Significant thresholds were found for “high-decreasing,” 2.07, t = 4.19, p < .001, “moderate-stable,” 3.19, t = 8.56, p < .001,

Fig. 2. Latent trajectories of perceived parent-child conflict from fourth through eighth grade (covariates included). 138

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Table 3 Multinominal logistic regression for covariates onto class membership.⁎ Younger cohort Predictor

Class 1 (high-decreasing)

Aggression Depressed mood Academic stress

Class 2 (high-stable)

Class 3 (moderate-stable)

Est.

SE

Est.

SE

Est.

SE

0.94 0.33 0.36

0.29⁎⁎ 0.23 0.25

0.78 0.35 0.50

0.09⁎⁎⁎ 0.10⁎⁎⁎ 0.11⁎⁎⁎

0.54 0.14 0.36

0.07⁎⁎⁎ 0.07 0.07⁎⁎⁎

Older cohort Predictor

Class 1 (high- quadratic)

Aggression Household income

Class 2 (high-stable)

Est.

SE

Est.

SE

0.67 0.00

0.16⁎⁎⁎ 0.00⁎⁎⁎

0.35 0.00

0.27 0.00

Note. Class 4 (low-increasing) and Class 3 (moderate-quadratic) are set up as the reference group for the younger and older cohorts, respectively. ⁎ p < .05. ⁎⁎ p < .01. ⁎⁎⁎ p < .001.

“low-increasing,” 2.98, t = 21.21, p < .001, and “high-stable,” 3.19, t = 8.56, p < .001.

probabilities of smoking 1 year after graduation (0.69), followed by the “high-quadratic (0.35),” and “moderate-quadratic (0.20)” trajectory groups. The thresholds for “high-stable,” −0.79 t = −2.18, p < .05, “high-quadratic,” 0.62, t = 3.09, p < .01, and “moderate-quadratic,” 1.42, t = 19.69, p < .001, were all statistically significant.

14.4.2. The older cohort (eighth grades through one year after high school) Binary logistic regression was performed to test whether the distal outcome (i.e., smoking 1 year after graduation) varied among the latent classes in the model. While 23.2% of the Wave 6 sample reported smoking in the previous 12 months, the probability varied substantially across the classes. The “high-stable” trajectory group had the largest

Fig. 3. Latent trajectories of perceived parent-child conflict from eighth grade through one year post-high school (covariates included). 139

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15. Discussion

rather than the reference class where levels of perceived parent-child conflict were lower than those of the other classes. While this finding does not support Bell's (1968) position that children's withdrawn and anxious behaviors activate lower limits of parental tolerance such as parental support and encouragement, it is commensurate with some prior research showing the prospective effect of adolescent depressive symptoms on perceptions of conflict with parents (Brière et al., 2013; Steeger & Gondoli, 2013). The present study does not, however, provide insights into mechanisms of how adolescent depressed mood leads to subsequent greater perceived parent-child conflict. It could be adolescents' depressive symptoms contributing to their maladaptive interpersonal strategies or perceptions of their relationships with their parents or parental negative reactions to their child's depressive symptoms. These areas would seem to be promising for future research. Unlike the older cohort whose academic stress was not related to its latent group membership, the younger cohort who reported greater academic stress at baseline was likely to belong to the high-stable or the moderate-stable subgroups compared to the reference group who reported the lowest parent-child conflict scores (Brković et al., 2014; Renk et al., 2005; Smetana, 1989). Late adolescents might employ more effective coping strategies than early adolescents for dealing with academic stress or reframing a situation in a constructive way. By contrast, early adolescents might be more likely than late adolescents to directly and overtly seek parental support for academic stress or to make bids for parental attention, thus creating more conflict (Lehman & Repetti, 2007; Repetti, 1996). Alternatively, when early adolescents experienced academic-related stress, their perceptions of their parents' behavior toward them might be colored by their feelings of failure (Repetti, 1996). Adolescent gender was not significantly associated with the class membership for either the older or the younger cohorts. It appears that adolescents' psychological adjustment, rather than their gender, plays a greater role in predicting the class trajectory of perceived parent-child conflict. As will be discussed later in more detail, it will be interesting to see whether future longitudinal studies replicate the current findings or extend the investigation into four parent-child dyads (e.g., motherdaughter). Contrary to the family stress model positing that economic hardship has deleterious effects on parent-child relationships (Conger et al., 1992), adolescents from high-income families at eighth grade were more likely to be in the high-quadratic class characterized by higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict across the waves in comparison to the reference class. A possible interpretation of these results would be that youth from affluent families are left in a vulnerable position because of isolation from their parents and parental pressure for academic success (Luthar & Becker, 2002; Luthar & Latendresse, 2005). Parents of higher socioeconomic status tend to be fully occupied with their work, less available to their children, but have higher expectation for their children's academic performance (J. -F & Yu, 2016; Luthar & Becker, 2002; Luthar & Latendresse, 2005; Yu, 2010). Extending these arguments to late adolescents in South Korea where gaining admission to prestigious colleges is one of the most significant achievements (Lee & Larson, 2000; Yu, 2010), those with higher household income might perceive greater pressure from their parents to excel academically, which might contribute to perceptions of greater conflict with their parents.

15.1. Identification of heterogeneity in developmental trajectories of parentchild conflict The first aim of this study was to identify heterogeneous classes of youth who followed distinct trajectories of change in perceived conflict with parents. The results showed that approximately half of the younger cohort (“low-increasing,” i.e., reference class) reported lower levels of conflict with their parents that rose very slightly across fourth through eighth grades. This is largely in line with previous studies conducted in the Western context (e.g., McGue et al., 2005). The other half of the participants were classified into the three different latent classes based upon similar patterns of growth trajectories. The two latent classes (“high-stable” and “moderate-stable”) showed little change over time but differed in their baseline levels of perceived parent-child conflict, whereas the remaining (“high-decreasing”) started at higher levels and exhibited a very slight decrease over time. Thus, the present findings support the need for identifying multiple patterns of developmental changes in perceived parent-child conflict in the transition to adolescence (Brković et al., 2014; Castellani et al., 2014; Trentacosta et al., 2011). Similarly, the older cohort was spread across the three latent groups, which varied substantially in their growth trajectories from eight grade to one year post-high school graduation. The vast majority (83%, “moderate-quadratic,” i.e., reference class) started out with moderate baseline levels of perceived parent-child conflict, albeit lower than the rest, and exhibited a very slight increase followed by a very slight decrease. These results largely echo previous ones reported in the Western context suggesting that as children move into late adolescence, they report less conflict with their parents (e.g., Castellani et al., 2014). The remaining two latent trajectory classes differed in their baselines and growth over time: one group with highest baseline perceived parent-child conflict followed by a very slight decline and then a very slow increase (“high-quadratic”) and another with less high baseline perceived parent-child conflict followed by little change (“highstable”). Again these findings, together with those of the younger cohort, draw attention to the presence of latent subgroups with different longitudinal patterns in perceived parent-child conflict over late childhood and late adolescence (Brković et al., 2014; Castellani et al., 2014; Trentacosta et al., 2011). 15.2. Baseline covariates on the developmental trajectories of parent-child conflict The second goal was to identify baseline covariates of the latent class membership for both the younger and the older cohorts to seek to understand why some subgroups of youth follow specific latent trajectories of conflictive parent-child relationships. For the younger group, those in all other classes reported higher levels of aggression at fourth grade than those in the reference class whose perceived parentchild conflict was consistently low over the measurement time points. In a similar manner, the older cohort who reported higher levels of aggression at eighth grade were more likely to belong to the highquadratic class relative to the reference class whose levels of perceived parent-child conflict stayed lower than those of the other groups. Thus, these findings align with previous theory and research suggesting the significant role of child aggression in negative parent-child interchanges (Bell, 1968; Hofer et al., 2013; Steeger & Gondoli, 2013; Urbain-Gauthier & Wendland, 2017) and add new knowledge to the limited literature on the longitudinal association between adolescent aggression and conflictive parent-child relationships. It is unfortunate that the present data contain no baseline levels of depressed mood in the older cohort, but it was found that adolescents who reported greater depressed mood at fourth grade (i.e., younger cohort) were more likely to be the members of the high-stable class

15.3. The developmental trajectories of parent-child conflict and youth smoking The third and final goal of the current investigation was to examine which subgroups of youth would be more susceptible to smoking based on latent class trajectories of perceived parent-child conflict. For the younger cohort, those in high-decreasing class reported the highest odds of smoking at grade eight, followed by those in the moderatestable class, then those in the low-increasing (reference) class, and 140

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finally those in the high-stable class. These results are generally in accord with the hypothesis that youth following trajectories of higher levels of perceived parent-child conflict would be more likely than those following trajectories of lower levels of perceived parent-child conflict to smoke cigarettes (Hirschi, 1969; Weymouth et al., 2016). This is one of the first studies to longitudinally examine the association between conflictual parent-child relationships and the probability of youth smoking, corroborating the findings from previous cross-sectional studies (Piko & Balázs, 2012; Simons-Morton et al., 1999). Also commensurate with the self-medication hypothesis whereby individuals may self-medicate with cigarettes to offset negative affect or distress, youth experiencing difficult relationships with their parents appeared to be at greater risk for cigarette smoking (Gehricke et al., 2007; Wills et al., 2002). For the older cohort, those classified into the high-stable class had the greatest likelihood of smoking at one year after graduation, followed by those classified into the high-quadratic class, and lastly those classified into the moderate-quadratic (reference) class. These results are similar to those of the younger cohort and generally support the hypothesis, but less straightforward is the interpretation of the strongest association between being a member of the high-stable class and smoking. Because youth in the high-stable class reported consistently lower levels of parent-child conflict, but a higher odds of smoking than those in the high-quadratic class, it seems counter to the hypothesis and is open to various interpretations. However, it should be noted that there are multiple other dimensions of parent-child relationships (e.g., support, warmth) or psychosocial factors (e.g., self-control), not included in the current study, which might account for this association. For example, adolescents in the high-stable class might suffer from a lack of parental support or experience difficulties adjusting to college. Future research should not only replicate these findings with youth in different countries and other methodologies, but expand our understanding of how adolescents with conflictual relationships with their parents are at a greater risk of smoking later in life.

therefore be fruitful to extend the present investigation by considering four separate parent-child dyads (e.g., father-son). 15.5. Practical implications The findings of the present study suggest noteworthy practical implications for different groups of youth. First, given the present evidence that youth with higher levels of aggression, depressed mood, or academic stress were more likely to be in conflictive relationships with their parents, parents and practitioners should be mindful of these risk factors and further develop proactive rather than reactive or punitive parenting to prevent or reduce parent-child conflict. For example, aggressive children are likely to initiate and intensify aversive behaviors and parents should anticipate likely problems, be alert and watchful, and intervene early. Second, on the basis of the present findings that higher family income was related to greater perceived parent-child conflict during late adolescence, clinicians or practitioners should not underestimate parent-adolescent relationship problems in high-income families. Because high-income parents tend to be hesitant or ambivalent to seek professional help for parenting issues and rather to keep family problems confidential (Luthar & Latendresse, 2005), clinicians or practitioners may be alert to parent-adolescent conflict that high-income families may experience. Third, the present findings suggest that experiencing higher conflict in parent-child relationships could result in ramifications for adolescent tobacco use; thus, family-based programs to prevent smoking initiation in young people may incorporate interventions to address parent-child conflict. Conflict of interest There is no conflict of interest. References Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. (2014). Auxiliary variables in mixture modeling: Three-step approaches using Mplus. Structural Equation Modeling, 21, 329–341. Bell, R. Q. (1968). A reinterpretation of the direction of effects in studies of socialization. Psychological Review, 75, 81–95. Berlin, K. S., Williams, N. A., & Parra, G. R. (2014). An introduction to latent variable mixture modeling (part 1): Overview and cross-sectional latent class and latent profile analyses. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 39, 174–187. Bongers, I. M. B., Koot, J. M., van der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2003). The normative development of child and adolescent problem behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 179–192. Brière, F. N., Archambault, K., & Janosz, M. (2013). Reciprocal prospective associations between depressive symptoms and perceived relationship with parents in early adolescence. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 58, 169–176. Brković, I., Keresteš, G., & Levpušček, M. P. (2014). Trajectories of change and relationship between parent-adolescent school-related conflict and academic achievement in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 34, 792–815. Burnham, K. P., & Anderson, D. R. (2004). Multimodel inference: Understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociological Methods and Research, 33, 261–304. Burt, S. A., McGue, M., Krueger, R. F., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). How are parent-child conflict and childhood externalizing symptoms related over time? Results from a genetically informative cross-lagged study. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 145–165. Castellani, V., Pastorelli, C., Eisenberg, N., Gerbino, M., Giunta, L. D., Ceravolo, R., & Milioni, M. (2014). Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems. Journal of Adolescence, 37, 647–658. Conger, R. D., Conger, K. J., Elder, G. H., Jr., Lorenz, F. O., Simons, R. L., & Whitbeck, L. B. (1992). A family process model of economic hardship and adjustment of early adolescent boys. Child Development, 63, 526–541. Conger, R. D., Conger, K. J., & Martin, M. J. (2010). Socioeconomic status, family processes, and individual development. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 685–704. De Goede, I. H. A., Branje, S. J. T., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2009). Developmental changes in adolescents' perceptions of relationships with their parents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 75–88. Enders, C. K. (2001). The performance of the full information maximum likelihood estimator in multiple regression models with missing data. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61, 713–740. Garber, J., Braafladt, N., & Weiss, B. (1995). Affect regulation in depressed and nondepressed children and young adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 93–115. Garber, J., Braafladt, N., & Zeman, J. (1991). The regulation of sad affect: An information-

15.4. Strengths and limitations There are several strengths to the present study. The study findings are based on a nationally representative multiwave sample of South Korean youth from two age groups. Longitudinal data were collected between grades four and eight and between grade eight and one year after finishing high school, thus making it possible to study the continuous developmental pattern of perceived parent-child conflict from late childhood through late adolescence. In addition, the present study utilized the sophisticated statistical method of GGMM to identify unobserved subgroups of youth following distinct developmental pathways with unique covariates and leading to smoking. Nonetheless, some limitations of this study should be noted. First, the present research relied on youth self-reported data; thus, future research with both parent and adolescent reports and/or other methods (e.g., observations) would more accurately describe trajectories of parent-child conflict and their associated correlates. Relatedly, the impact of parental characteristics on parent-child conflict needs to be assessed in future work. Second, although the measures used in the present study have been utilized in past studies, they have not been cross-validated with different populations; thus, future research would need to use specifically targeted and well-validated measures. For example, more precise and differentiated measures of parent-child conflict, such as rate and affective intensity, would offer more nuanced and in-depth insights (Laursen et al., 1998). On a related note, smoking in the present study was recorded in a simple yes/no format and thus multiple aspects of smoking behavior (e.g., frequency) should be considered in future studies. Third, mothers and fathers were subsumed under the term parents in the present study, but mothers and fathers may form qualitatively different relationships with their children over different developmental stages (Laursen et al., 1998; Yu & Ko, 2013). It would 141

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