Triangulation and Parent-Adolescent Relationships: Implications for Adolescent Dating Competence and Abuse.

This study focuses on family predictors of conflict behavior in adolescent dating relationships, drawing on family systems and socialization perspectives. Mother-adolescent, father-adolescent, and triadic relationships each was examined as predictors of adolescent dating outcomes that hold importance for developmental and prevention science (positive conflict resolution, verbal abuse, and physical abuse). We conducted a longitudinal analysis using a 6-month longitudinal design with 236 ethnically diverse high school students.