The Impact of Parental Conflict on the Academic Resilience of High School Students

Authors

  • Yishan Huang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61173/2twv0d39

Keywords:

Parental conflicts, academic resilience, high school students

Abstract

High school is a period when students are under tremendous academic pressure. The family environment, especially the relationship between parents, plays a crucial role in the development of teenagers. This study aims to systematically review the existing literature and explore the pathways and key factors of parental conflict on the academic resilience of high school students. This research indicates that destructive parental conflicts can increase students’ emotional stress, consume cognitive resources, and thereby undermine their academic resilience. However, three factors significantly moderated this relationship: the types of the conflict, including destructive and constructive conflicts, the student’s own coping strategies, and social support from the school and peers. The negative impact of constructive conflicts is minimal, while effective coping strategies and adequate support can buffer the detrimental effect of destructive conflicts. Understanding these dynamic relationships is crucial for parents, educators and psychological counselors to provide targeted support for high school students.

References

[1] S. A. Alva, “Academic invulnerability among Mexican- American students: The importance of protective resources and appraisals”, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 13, pp. 18-34, 1991.

[2] S. Doh Fia, “Efficacy of integrative behavioural couples therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy in reducing conflict and violence-related marital distress”, European Scientific Journal, Vol. 16, p. 66, 2020.

[3] E. M. Cummings and P. T. Davies, Marital conflict and children: An emotional security perspective, New York, NY: Guilford Press, 2010.

[4] M. C. Goeke-Morey, E. M. Cummings, G. T. Harold, and K. H. Shelton, “Categories and continua of destructive and constructive marital conflict tactics from the perspective of U.S. and Welsh children”, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 17, pp. 327-338, 2003.

[5] E. M. Cummings, M. C. Goeke-Morey, and L. M. Papp, “Couple conflict, children, and families: It’s not just you and me, babe”, in Couples in conflict: Classic edition, A. Booth, A. C. Crouter, M. L. Clements, T. Boone-Holladay, Eds. New York, NY: Routledge, 2016, pp. 117-148.

[6] K. L. Coln, S. S. Jordan, S. H. Mercer, “A unified model exploring parenting practices as mediators of marital conflict and children’s adjustment”, Child Psychiatry and Human Development, Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 419-429, 2013.

[7] E. Morales and F. Trotman, Promoting Academic Resilience in Multicultural America: Factors Affecting Student Success, New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2004.

[8] C. N. Espinoza, M. Goering, S. Mrug, “Inter-parental conflict and empathy in early adolescence as predictors of dating violence perpetration in adolescence and adulthood”, Journal of Research on Adolescence, pp. 1–13, 2024.

[9] R. Giallo, M. Seymour, A. Fogarty, M. Feinberg, D. Christensen, D. Gartland, et al., “Trajectories of interparental conflict and children’s emotional-behavioural functioning at 10- 11 years: an Australian population-based study”, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol. 31, 2022.

[10] Y. Deng, X. Li, “Early Interparental conflict, couple relationships, and depression among rural older adults in China: a latent growth model”, Journal of Adult Development, pp. 1–15, 2024.

[11] D. Ronaghan, T. Gaulke, J. Theule, “The association between marital satisfaction and coparenting quality: a metaanalysis”, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 38, pp. 236-245, 2024.

[12] A. M. Monteleone, C. Marchetto, G. Cascino, M. Criscuolo, M. Carfagno, M. C. Castiglioni, et al., “The bidirectional connection between family functioning and psychopathology: a network analysis in a large sample of adolescents with anorexia nervosa and their parents”, Family Process, pp. 1-13, 2024.

[13] D. He, G. Niu, Y. Hu, K. Song, Z. Zhou, C. Fan, “The relationship between parental conflict and adolescent cyberbullying: the roles of parent-child attachment and core selfevaluation”, Current Psychology, Vol. 43, pp. 8230-8240, 2023.

[14] A. Siffert, B. Schwarz, “Parental conflict resolution styles and children’s adjustment: children’s appraisals and emotion regulation as mediators”, Journal of Genetic Psychology, Vol. 172, No. 1, pp. 21-39, 2011.

[15] G. Ran, X. Niu, Q. Zhang, S. Li, J. Liu, X. Chen, and J. Wu, “The Association between Interparental Conflict and Youth Anxiety: A Three-level Meta-analysis”, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2021.

[16] M. Zeidner, “Does test anxiety bias scholastic aptitude test performance by gender and sociocultural group?”, Journal of Dean&Francis Yishan Huang Personality Assessment, Vol. 55, pp. 145-160, 1990.

[17] W. M. van Eldik, A. D. de Haan, L. Q. Parry, P. T. Davies, M. P. C. M. Luijk, L. R. Arends, P. Prinzie, “The interparental relationship: Meta-analytic associations with children’s maladjustment and responses to interparental conflict”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 146, No. 7, pp. 553-594, 2020.

[18] P. T. Davies, M. J. Martin, and M. L. Sturge- Apple, “Emotional security theory and developmental psychopathology”, in Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 1. Theory and method, 3rd ed., D. Cicchetti, D. J. Cohen, Eds. Wiley, 2016, pp. 199-264.

[19] Y. Sökmen, “The role of self-efficacy in the relationship between the learning environment and student engagement”, Educational Studies, Vol. 47, pp. 19–37, 2021.

Downloads

Published

2025-12-19