Adolescent-Mother Attachment and Dyadic Affective Processes: Predictors of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms.

Given that adolescence is a critical period for socioemotional development, marked by shifting dynamics in the parent-child relationship, parent-adolescent dyadic regulation may serve as a key mechanism linking the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship to adolescent mental health. The current study investigated two dyadic regulatory processes during mother-adolescent conflictual interactions as interpersonal mechanisms underlying the link between adolescent-mother attachment security and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms: (a) mutual engagement in positive affect (i.e., dyadic positivity) and (b) mutual engagement in re-coordination following relational mismatches (i.e., dyadic repair). Eighty-six adolescents (Mage = 13.3 years, SD = 0.6, 37% girls) and their mothers participated. Path models revealed that attachment security was associated with greater engagement in dyadic positivity and repair. Moreover, the indirect effect of attachment security on adolescents' symptoms (i.e., internalizing symptoms at age 13 and externalizing symptoms at age 14) was significant via dyadic positivity, but not dyadic repair. Dyadic positivity during mother-adolescent conflictual interactions may be one interpersonal process that underlies the link between a secure child-mother attachment and mental health during adolescence.

Early Mother-Child Interaction Flexibility Predicts Adolescent Psychological Adjustment.

Although greater mother-child interaction flexibility has been linked with overall better adjustment within early childhood and adolescence, whether this link persists across the two developmental periods remains unknown. This longitudinal study examined mother-toddler flexibility in affective and behavioral exchanges as predictors of adolescents' externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Sample included 128 families with their 33-month-old toddlers (52% female), of whom 67 returned in adolescence (M age = 13.25 years, SD = 0.59). Greater affective flexibility during play and behavioral flexibility during snack predicted fewer parent-reported externalizing (but not internalizing) symptoms ten years later, controlling for the positivity-negativity of mother-toddler interactions, early-childhood adjustment, and mother-adolescent flexibility. The findings highlight the unique, prospective role of early-life caregiving flexibility in mitigating adolescents' behavioral problems.

Fathers' marital conflict and children's socioemotional skills: A moderated-mediation model of conflict resolution and parenting.

Marital conflict is common in many families. The effects of marital conflict may often spill over to parent-child dyads and affect children's development via their parenting practices. However, couples handle their marital conflict in different ways, and conflict resolution strategies may play a role in children's outcomes. Although mother-reported marital conflict has been a primary focus in most prior studies, little is known about fathers' perspectives. To that end, we examined the mediating effect of fathers' parenting in the association between the frequency of marital conflict and mother-reported children's socioemotional skills in preschool, as well as the moderating role of father constructive conflict resolution frequency in the association between father reports of the frequency of the marital conflict and parenting. Results indicate that father parenting warmth and parenting stress mediated the association between the frequency of marital conflict and children's socioemotional skills. We also found that father reports of the frequency of the marital conflict was positively associated with involvement and negatively associated with warmth at higher levels of constructive conflict resolution frequency. Fathers who reported higher constructive conflict resolution frequency showed higher father involvement and warmth. Finally, the moderated-mediation analysis revealed that, after accounting for mothers' parenting variables, father warmth was the moderated mediator, such that there was a negative indirect effect between the frequency of marital conflict and children's socioemotional skills through father warmth at average and higher levels of constructive conflict resolution frequency. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Youth coping and cardiac autonomic functioning: Implications for social and academic adjustment.

Extending literature on youth coping and stress physiology, this two-wave longitudinal study examined independent and interactive roles of youth coping with daily stressors (i.e., peer, academic) and cardiac autonomic functioning in subsequent social and academic adjustment across the transition to middle school. Our sample consisted of 100 typically developing youth (10-12 years old at Time 1, 53 boys, 43% ethnic minorities) who reported on their coping strategies in response to peer and academic stress. Youth participated in laboratory tasks (i.e., baseline, mother-youth conversations about youth's actual peer and academic challenges) during which sympathetic and parasympathetic activities were recorded, and cardiac autonomic functioning indicators were derived. Youth, mothers, and teachers reported on various aspects of youths' social and academic adjustment at Times 1 and 2. Results revealed that, for both peer and academic domains, greater use of engagement coping strategies was prospectively linked with better adjustment 7 months later, but only among youth who exhibited higher (greater sympathetic-parasympathetic coactivation) but not lower (limited coactivation, or coinhibition) cardiac autonomic regulation at baseline. Findings suggest that a match between more engagement coping behaviors and greater cardiac autonomic capacity to coactivate the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches is linked with better social and academic adjustment.

Reciprocal associations between adolescent peer relationships and sleep.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the bidirectional associations of adolescent peer experiences and sleep/wake problems during early adolescence. DESIGN: The study used a two-wave longitudinal design. SETTING: Participants were recruited from a small urban community in the Midwestern United States. PARTICIPANTS: At T1, participants included 100 adolescents (53% boys; mean age = 11.05 years, SD = 0.33) and their mothers (96% biological), and 78 teachers (62% female). At T2, 89 adolescents and their mothers returned; 76 teachers participated. The racial/ethnic composition of the sample of adolescents and mothers included 57%-63% European American and 43%-37% racial/ethnic minorities (e.g., African American, Hispanic/Latino). MEASUREMENTS: At both waves, adolescents reported on their sleep quality (sleep/wake problems). Adolescent-, mother-, and teacher-reported peer victimization were composited at each wave, and a composite for positive peer relationships included adolescent-reported friendship quality; adolescent-, mother-, and teacher-reported friends' prosociality; and mother- and teacher-reported peer acceptance. RESULTS: Findings from cross-lagged panel models revealed some support for reciprocal associations such that T1 positive peer relationships predicted fewer T2 sleep problems and T1 sleep problems predicted less positive peer relationships at T2. However, only T1 sleep problems predicted more peer victimization at T2, controlling for T1 peer victimization, with the effect driven by adolescent-reported peer victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide new insight for prevention and intervention efforts regarding the potential protective function of positive peer relationships in reducing sleep problems, as well as the need to address sleep problems as a means to promote more positive peer relationships and less peer victimization over time.

Adolescent coping with academic challenges: The role of parental socialization of coping.

INTRODUCTION: How youth cope with academic challenges has important implications for their academic outcomes. The contributions of parental involvement have been relatively well-established; however, few, if any studies have investigated the role of parental socialization of academic coping (i.e., coping suggestions) in shaping youth coping with academic challenges. METHODS: Using a community sample from the United States, we utilized a multi-informant, longitudinal design to investigate the prospective association between parental socialization of academic coping and adolescent coping with academic challenges. Adolescent gender was also examined as a moderator of associations. Participants included 86 two-parent families (54% boys; 38-52% ethnic minorities). At Time 1, mothers and fathers reported on their problem-solving, help-seeking, and disengaged coping suggestions in response to three hypothetical academic challenge scenarios (i.e., forgetting about or performing poorly on an assignment, difficulties managing academic demands). At Times 1 and 2, adolescents reported on their coping strategies (e.g., strategizing, help-seeking, escape) in response to academic challenges. RESULTS: Father-reported problem-focused suggestions were associated with youths' more adaptive coping (e.g., strategizing, help-seeking) over time. Interestingly, father-reported disengaged suggestions were associated with less maladaptive coping over time. Further, adolescent gender moderated associations linking mothers' and fathers' problem-focused suggestions and fathers' help-seeking and disengaged suggestions with adolescent coping over time. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, fathers' coping suggestions were associated with more adaptive coping for girls as compared with boys. Findings highlight the role of parental socialization of coping, particularly fathers' role, in the academic domain.

Linking Parental Monitoring and Psychological Control with Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adolescence: The Moderating Role of Vagal Tone.

The present study investigated baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as moderator of the prospective association between parenting (i.e., monitoring knowledge, psychological control) and internalizing symptoms among typically developing adolescents across the transition to middle school. Gender differences in the aforementioned association were tested as an exploratory aim. At Time 1 (5th grade), participants included 100 young adolescents (53% boys; 57% European American; Mage = 11.05 years, SD = 0.33) and their mothers (Mage = 41.25 years, SD = 6.22; 96.0% biological). At Time 2 (6th grade), 89 adolescents and their mothers returned. To address study aims, a multi-informant, multi-method, longitudinal design was used. At Time 1, mothers reported on monitoring knowledge and psychological control, and adolescents' baseline RSA was measured during a resting baseline period. At Times 1 and 2, adolescents reported on three indices of internalizing symptoms (depressive symptoms, social anxiety, loneliness and social dissatisfaction). Results from multiple regression analyses revealed that higher levels of psychological control predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms and loneliness over time. Further, among boys, lower baseline RSA exacerbated the link between maternal psychological control and higher levels of depressive symptoms and loneliness, whereas higher baseline RSA attenuated the effect. Overall, our findings for boys were consistent with prior evidence of lower baseline RSA as a risk factor and higher baseline RSA as a protective factor against psychopathology. Findings contribute to the growing literature on biopsychosocial interactions and youth mental health.

Cardiac autonomic functioning and post-traumatic stress: A preliminary study in youth at-risk for PTSD.

The identification of robust, psychophysiological markers of trauma-related distress is critical for developing comprehensive, trauma-informed, mental health assessments for youth. Thus, the present study examined the clinical utility of cardiac autonomic balance (CAB) and cardiac autonomic regulation (CAR), two composite indices of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. We hypothesized that CAB/CAR would more reliably index post-traumatic stress (PTS) responses compared to measuring the parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) and sympathetic (i.e., pre-ejection period; PEP) nervous systems in isolation. Our sample was comprised of 88 diverse, low-income youth (40.9% African-American and 36.4% White; 60.5% girls; Mage = 12.05 years; SDage = 1.57) who are at increased risk for adversity-exposure. RSA and PEP were measured during a 5-minute baseline period and 5-minute parent-child conflict discussion task. Adolescent-caregiver dyads completed a clinician-administered measure of the youth's lifetime trauma-exposure and current PTS. CAB represented the difference between RSA and PEP, while CAR was the summation of RSA and PEP. Analyses revealed that sympathetically-oriented CAB reactivity uniquely (a) indexed PTS, especially in the context of elevated trauma, and (b) distinguished between those with and without PTSD. Findings highlight the translational promise of using physiological markers that account for the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system.

The "Heart" of depression during early adolescence.

This study examined the concurrent associations linking youths' parasympathetic nervous system activity, specifically baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSAR; vagal withdrawal), with youth depression risk in a community sample of young adolescents. Youth gender was examined as a moderator of associations. Participants included 100 youth (53% boys; M age = 11.05 years, SD = 0.33; 43% ethnic minorities), along with their mothers and teachers. Youth and mothers participated in a laboratory protocol involving a peer problem-solving conversation, during which youths' physiological activity was measured. Youth reported on their depressive symptoms. Teachers reported on youth depression risk via internalizing symptoms and emotion regulation (e.g., emotion lability/negativity). Results from regression analyses revealed that youths' vagal withdrawal during the mother-youth peer problem conversation was associated with lower youth-reported depressive symptoms. Further, gender moderated the associations linking youth baseline RSA and RSAR with youth depression risk. Specifically, among girls but not boys, higher baseline RSA was associated with lower depressive symptoms and emotion lability/negativity, and higher RSAR (i.e., vagal withdrawal) was linked with lower internalizing symptoms. Findings contribute to the relatively small literature linking youth parasympathetic functioning with depression risk, and point to specific implications for girls.

The link between maternal sleep and permissive parenting during late adolescence.

Utilizing a multi-method design, the present study examined the association between maternal sleep, assessed via actigraphy and self-reports, and permissive parenting (e.g. lax, inconsistent discipline) during adolescence, as well as the extent to which this association differed by mothers' race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. The sample was comprised of 234 mothers (M age = 41.76 years, SD = 6.25; 67% European-American, 31% African-American, 2% other race/ethnicities) and 237 adolescents (113 boys, 124 girls; M age = 15.80 years, SD = 0.80; 66% European-American, 34% African-American). Mothers' sleep duration (actual sleep minutes) and quality (sleep efficiency, latency, long wake episodes) were assessed using actigraphy. Mothers also reported on their sleep problems and adolescents reported on mothers' permissive parenting behaviours. Results revealed that actigraphy-based longer sleep duration and shorter sleep latency were associated with lower levels of permissive parenting. Further, mothers' race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status moderated the association between actigraphy-based sleep quality (i.e. sleep efficiency, long wake episodes) and permissive parenting. Specifically, a negative association between sleep efficiency and permissive parenting was evident only for African-American mothers. In addition, a positive association between more frequent night wakings and permissive parenting was evident only for mothers from lower socioeconomic status households. The findings highlight the benefits of longer and higher-quality sleep for reducing the risk of permissive parenting, especially among ethnic minority mothers and mothers from lower socioeconomic status households.

Electrodermal Reactivity Moderates the Prospective Association Between Peer Victimization and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescence.

The present study examined whether skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) moderated prospective associations linking peer victimization with externalizing behaviors and depressive symptoms across the transition to middle school. Participants included 123 early adolescents (M age = 12.03 years at T1; 50% male; 58.5% European Americans, 35% African Americans, 6.5% of other races/ethnicities). At Time 1, SCLR was measured in the context of peer-evaluative challenges, and early adolescents and teachers reported on peer victimization. At Time 1 and Time 2, early adolescents and parents reported on depressive symptoms and externalizing behaviors, respectively. SCLR moderated prospective associations between peer victimization and depressive symptoms, such that both adolescent- and teacher-reported peer victimization predicted higher Time 2 depressive symptoms more strongly at lower levels of SCLR compared to higher levels of SCLR. SCLR did not moderate the prospective association between peer victimization and externalizing behaviors. Results of the present study suggest that low reactivity in the inhibitory dimension of the sympathetic nervous system may increase vulnerability to depressive symptoms in the context of peer victimization, whereas higher reactivity may operate as a protective factor.

Sleep and mental health: the moderating role of perceived adolescent-parent attachment.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated whether the effects of sleep duration and quality on adolescent adjustment were moderated by perceived attachment to mothers and fathers. DESIGN: The study used a cross-sectional design. SETTING: Participants were recruited from small town and semirural communities in Alabama. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 106 adolescents (mean age=13.61 years, SD=.73; 55% girls; 28% African American, 72% European American) and their parents. MEASUREMENTS: Sleep duration (minutes) and sleep quality (efficiency, number of long wake episodes) were derived using actigraphy, and subjective sleep/wake problems were derived with adolescent reports. Adolescents also reported on perceived attachment to mothers and fathers, internalizing symptoms, and self-esteem. Mothers and fathers reported on externalizing behaviors. RESULTS: Path model analyses indicated that perceived attachment to parents moderated relations between adolescents' sleep quality and their adjustment. For externalizing symptoms and self-esteem, adolescents at greatest risk for maladjustment were those who reported poor quality sleep (ie, more sleep/wake problems, lower sleep efficiency) coupled with less secure attachment to parents. Conversely, adolescents who experienced better actigraphy-based sleep quality (ie, higher sleep efficiency, fewer long wake episodes) in conjunction with more secure attachment to parents experienced the lowest levels of anxiety symptoms. Less secure attachment was associated with high levels of anxiety symptoms independent of sleep quality. Similar patterns of associations emerged for attachment to mothers and fathers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of examining the conjoint influence of sleep and adolescent-parent relationships toward explication of adolescent's mental health.

Parental social coaching promotes adolescent peer acceptance across the middle school transition.

The present study investigated longitudinal associations between behavioral and cognitive dimensions of parental social coaching (i.e., advice about how to behave or think about peer challenges) and young adolescents' peer acceptance, and whether such associations are moderated by youths' social skills. Time 1 (T1) participants included 123 young adolescents (M age = 12.03 years; 50% boys; 58.5% European American). Parents gave open-ended reports about their social coaching to hypothetical peer stress scenarios, which were coded from low to high quality on behavioral and cognitive dimensions. Parents and teachers reported on adolescent prosocial behavior (i.e., social-behavioral skills), and adolescents reported on their social appraisals and social self-efficacy (i.e., social-cognitive skills). At T1 (before the first year of middle school) and Time 2 (approximately 10 months later, after the first year of middle school), parents and teachers rated adolescent peer acceptance. Analyses revealed that parents' prosocial behavioral advice and benign cognitive framing independently predicted adolescents' higher peer acceptance prospectively (controlling for earlier levels of peer acceptance). Furthermore, adolescent social skills moderated links between coaching and peer acceptance. Specifically, adolescents with higher, but not lower, social-cognitive skills became more accepted in the context of higher-quality coaching, supporting a "capitalization" pattern, such that these youth may be better able to utilize coaching suggestions. Results underscore the utility of parents' behavioral advice and cognitive framing for adolescent peer adjustment across the middle school transition and suggest that optimal social-coaching strategies may depend in part on adolescent social skill level. (PsycINFO Database Record

Custom-fit Parenting: How Low- and Well-Accepted Young Adolescents Benefit from Peer-related Parenting.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated whether longitudinal associations between peer-related parenting behaviors (facilitation of peer interactions, social coaching about peer problems) and peer adjustment were moderated by young adolescents' peer status. DESIGN: Participants included 123 young adolescents (M age = 12.03 years; 50% boys; 58.5% European American) at Time 1. At Time1 (summer before the middle school transition), parents reported on their facilitation of peer interaction opportunities and coaching strategies to a hypothetical peer exclusion situation; teachers reported on youth peer acceptance. At Times 1 and 2 (spring after the middle school transition), youth reported on peer adjustment (friendship quality, loneliness, peer victimization). RESULTS: Peer acceptance (pre-middle school transition) moderated prospective associations between peer-related parenting and peer adjustment, yielding two patterns of associations. Parental facilitation predicted better friendship quality and lower levels of loneliness over time among youth with high peer acceptance, but not among youth with low peer acceptance. In contrast, parental social coaching predicted better friendship quality among youth with low peer acceptance, but lower friendship quality among youth with high peer acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: Not all forms of positive peer-related parenting are equally beneficial for all youth. Well-accepted youth may have the social opportunities to take advantage of parental facilitation, whereas low-accepted youth may have greater social needs and benefit from support in the form of social coaching. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the literatures on peer-related parenting and peer adjustment.

Parental management of peers and autonomic nervous system reactivity in predicting adolescent peer relationships.

The present study examined sympathetic and parasympathetic indices of autonomic nervous system reactivity as moderators of the prospective association between parental management of peers via directing of youths' friendships and peer adjustment in a sample of typically developing adolescents. Participants included 246 adolescents at Time 1 (T1) [47% boys; 66% European American (EA), 34% African American (AA)] and 226 adolescents at Time 2 (T2; 45% boys; 67% EA, 33% AA). Adolescents were approximately 16 and 17 years old at T1 and T2, respectively. To address study aims, a multiinformant, multimethod longitudinal design was utilized. Skin conductance level (SCL) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were measured during a baseline period and challenge task (star-tracing). Reactivity was computed as a difference score between the task and baseline period. Results from path models revealed that higher levels of mother-reported parental directing predicted decreases in adolescent-reported peer rejection and friends' deviant behavior from T1 to T2 at relatively low levels of physiological arousal in response to challenge (i.e., low SCL reactivity, RSA augmentation). Further, exploratory analyses indicated that directing was associated with decreases in friends' deviant behavior and peer rejection particularly among boys who exhibited lower levels of physiological arousal, but increases in friends' deviant behavior among boys who exhibited higher levels of arousal reflected in RSA withdrawal only. Overall, findings are consistent with prior studies revealing the benefits of parental behavioral control for underaroused youth, contributing to the growing literature on the interplay of parenting and physiological factors in the adolescent peer domain. (PsycINFO Database Record

Community violence concerns and adolescent sleep.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to examine links between concerns about community violence and objective and subjective sleep parameters in an adolescent sample. Sex was considered as a moderator of effects. DESIGN: The study used a cross-sectional design. PARTICIPANTS: The community-based sample included 252 adolescents (53% girls) with an average age of 15.79 years (SD = 0.81) from the Southeastern United States. The sample included 34% African American and 66% European American adolescents from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. MEASUREMENTS: Adolescent-reported community violence concerns were assessed using a composite of 3 separate subscales that measured perceived community safety and threats of community and school violence. Sleep duration and quality were assessed using actigraphy, and subjective sleep problems and daytime sleepiness were measured with subscales of the School Sleep Habits Survey. RESULTS: Community violence predicted lower sleep efficiency, more long-wake episodes, and more sleep/wake problems and sleepiness. Sex-related moderation effects revealed that girls in the sample were more vulnerable to the effects of violence concerns on their objective sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the role of community violence concerns on adolescents' sleep, revealing that greater community violence concerns are linked with lower levels of actigraphy-based and subjective reports of sleep quality, particularly for adolescent girls. Consideration of the mechanisms by which violence concerns may affect sleep is discussed.

Are They Listening? Parental Social Coaching and Parenting Emotional Climate Predict Adolescent Receptivity.

Associations linking parenting emotional climate and quality of parental social coaching with young adolescents' receptivity to parental social coaching were examined (N = 80). Parenting emotional climate was assessed with adolescent-reported parental warmth and hostility. Quality of parental social coaching (i.e., prosocial advice, benign framing) was assessed via parent-report and behavioral observations during a parent-adolescent discussion about negative peer evaluation. An adolescent receptivity latent variable score was derived from observations of adolescents' behavior during the discussion, change in adolescents' peer response plan following the discussion, and adolescent-reported tendency to seek social advice from the parent. Parenting climate moderated associations between coaching and receptivity: Higher quality coaching was associated with greater receptivity in the context of a more positive climate. Analyses suggested a stronger association between coaching and receptivity among younger compared to older adolescents.

Perceived discrimination and youths' adjustment: sleep as a moderator.

Adolescents' sleep duration was examined as a moderator of the association between perceived discrimination and internalizing (anxiety, depression) and externalizing symptoms. Participants were 252 adolescents (mean: 15.79 years; 66% European American, 34% African American) who reported on their perceived discrimination (racial and general) and adjustment. Sleep duration was measured using actigraphy. Moderation effects were evident. The lowest levels of internalizing symptoms were observed for adolescents with longer sleep duration in conjunction with lower levels of perceived racial discrimination. Further, general perceived discrimination was associated more strongly with externalizing behaviours for youth with shorter versus longer sleep. Findings highlight the importance of sleep as a bioregulatory system that can ameliorate or exacerbate the effects of discrimination on youths' adjustment.

Permissive Parenting, Deviant Peer Affiliations, and Delinquent Behavior in Adolescence: the Moderating Role of Sympathetic Nervous System Reactivity.

The present study examined two measures of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity as moderators of the indirect path from permissive parenting to deviant peer affiliations to delinquency among a community sample of adolescents. Participants included 252 adolescents (M = 15.79 years; 53 % boys; 66 % European American, 34 % African American). A multi-method design was employed to address the research questions. Two indicators of SNS reactivity, skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) and cardiac pre-ejection period reactivity (PEPR) were examined. SNS activity was measured during a baseline period and a problem-solving task (star-tracing); reactivity was computed as the difference between the task and baseline periods. Adolescents reported on permissive parenting, deviant peer affiliations, externalizing behaviors, and substance use (alcohol, marijuana). Analyses revealed indirect effects between permissive parenting and delinquency via affiliation with deviant peers. Additionally, links between permissive parenting to affiliation with deviant peers and affiliation with deviant peers to delinquency was moderated by SNS reactivity. Less SNS reactivity (less PEPR and/or less SCLR) were risk factors for externalizing problems and alcohol use. Findings highlight the moderating role of SNS reactivity in parenting and peer pathways that may contribute to adolescent delinquency and point to possibilities of targeted interventions for vulnerable youth.

Coping responses moderate prospective associations between marital conflict and youth adjustment.

Children's engaged coping responses to family conflict were examined as moderators of the prospective association between marital conflict in middle childhood and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence. Youth and their mothers participated in 4 waves of data collection (1-year intervals from Time 1 [T1] to Time 3 [T3]; 5-year interval between T3 and Time 4 [T4]). The final analytic sample included 304 participants (51% boys; 66% European American, 34% African American). Participants were approximately 8 and 16 years old at T1 and T4, respectively. A multi-informant, longitudinal design was used to address study aims. Mothers reported on marital conflict (T1 to T3) and externalizing problems (T1 to T4); youth reported on coping responses to family conflict (T3) and internalizing symptoms (T1 to T4). Primary (e.g., problem solving) and secondary (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) engaged coping were computed as proportion scores (out of all coping responses). Toward identifying unique effects, path models controlled for internalizing when predicting externalizing symptoms, and vice versa. Primary and secondary engaged coping emerged as moderators. In the context of marital conflict, higher levels of secondary engaged coping protected against, whereas lower levels of secondary engaged coping increased risk for, externalizing problems. Conversely, lower levels of primary and secondary engaged coping protected against, whereas higher levels of primary and secondary engaged coping increased risk for, internalizing symptoms in the context of marital conflict. Findings contribute to the small literature on the moderating role of coping in the context of marital conflict, providing further insight into the prediction of unique externalizing and internalizing symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record