The potential role of conflict resolution schemas in adolescent psychosocial adjustment

Four specific schemas of cognitive structures that adolescents may hold concerning interpersonal disagreements with their parents were identified, each reflecting an authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or a neglecting parenting style. To examine the occurrence of such schemas across high and low levels of psychosocial adjustment, 120 Swedish adolescents (50 boys, 70 girls) (mean age = 14.76 years) indicated how their parents usually approach six potential situations involving parent–adolescent conflict. Findings show that the authoritative conflict schema (compliance as a result of mutual respect) occurred more often among well-adjusted adolescents, whereas authoritarian and indulgent conflict schemas were particularly associated with low levels of psychosocial adjustment. The concept of conflict schemas may contribute to the understanding of how various parenting styles are linked to certain developmental outcomes for the adolescent.