Assessment of Bidirectional Influences Between Family Relationships and Adolescent Problem Behavior

Abstract

Abstract. In family research, bidirectional influences between the family and the individual are usually analyzed in discrete time. Results from discrete time analysis, however, have been shown to be highly dependent on the length of the observation interval. Continuous time analysis using stochastic differential equations has been proposed to circumvent this problem. The present study examined the bidirectional influences between family relationships and adolescent problem behavior by means of both discrete- and continuous-time cross-lagged panel analysis. The effect of the length of the observation interval on the results from both procedures was investigated. Data were collected from a community sample of 288 Dutch families consisting of a father, a mother, and two of their adolescent children. Whereas results from discrete time analyses differed considerably when a 2-year instead of a 1-year interval between measurements was used, results from continuous time analysis appeared to be less affected by the length of the observation interval. Continuous time analysis revealed family relationship characteristics and levels of adolescent problem behavior to be highly stable over time. Relatively small cross-lagged effects were found between family relationships and adolescent problem behaviors.