Objective
The goal of this study was to provide the first empirical investigation of associations among interparental conflict, adolescents’ attention to emotion in interpersonal interactions, and adolescents’ anxiety.
Background
Previous research suggests that both interparental conflict and attention biases have implications for youth anxiety.
Method
Adolescents (n = 60, aged 10–19 years) viewed neutral versus emotional (angry, happy) photo pairs of interpersonal interactions while gaze was measured using an eye‐tracking camera. Adolescents also reported their anxiety symptoms. Parents’ self‐reported characteristics of their conflict were observed during an interparental conflict discussion.
Results
Parents who displayed less positive conflict behavior had adolescents who spent more time attending to angry interpersonal interactions; more negative conflict behavior by parents predicted less time attending to happy interpersonal interactions by adolescents. Interparental conflict interacted with attention to angry interpersonal interactions in relation to adolescent anxiety: More negative marital conflict was related to increased anxiety symptoms only when adolescents also displayed an attention bias toward angry interactions.
Conclusion
Interparental conflict and attention to angry interpersonal interactions may be risk factors for adolescent anxiety and interact in predicting anxiety.
Implications
Efforts aimed at improving the mental health of youth from poor‐quality family environments may benefit from considering strategies to modify attention to angry interpersonal interactions.