This study tests the hypothesis that the influences of family disruption, marital conflict, and disengaged parent-child relations on antisocial behavior decline as the individual moves from childhood to adolescence and early adulthood. The study examines the three waves of the National Survey of Children, which includes assessments in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. The results show declines in the influence of family disruption, marital conflict, and parent-child relations. However the pattern of decline was not the same for all three family stressors. The analysis specifies the developmental period when the declines occurred and distinguishes decreases due to adaptation (time since exposure to the family stressor) from those due to maturation (age of the child). The results and conceptual framework of the study provide an approach to reconciling some previous inconsistent findings regarding the long-term effects of child exposure to family stressors.
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