Short-term longitudinal associations among parent–child relationship quality, internalizing and externalizing problems, and belief in a just world: a three-wave RI-CLPM

Abstract

Parent–child relationship quality is associated with adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, but conventional cross-lagged models do not separate stable between-person differences from within-person fluctuations. This three-wave study examined short-term reciprocal associations among parent–child relationship quality, belief in a just world (BJW), and internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as indirect effects through BJW and differences by gender. Participants were 591 students from one middle school in Henan Province, China (Mage = 13.30 years, SD = 0.94; 51.8% boys). Assessments were conducted at one-month intervals, and the entire assessment period spanned 2 months. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models indicated that, at the within-person level, better-than-usual parent–child relationship at T1 and T2 predicted stronger subsequent BJW (βT1-T2 = 0.08, p < 0.05; βT2-T3 = 0.11, p < 0.05) and fewer subsequent internalizing and externalizing problems (βT1-T2 = −0.20, p < 0.001; βT2-T3 = −0.22, p < 0.001). BJW and internalizing and externalizing problems did not predict subsequent parent–child relationship. BJW and internalizing and externalizing problems showed reciprocal negative associations, but neither indirect pathway through BJW was significant. The multi-group comparison indicated gender heterogeneity in the cross-lagged system, although the indirect effects did not differ by gender and only two individual paths differed significantly.