The Pathways From Parents’ Marital Quality to Adolescents’ School Adjustment in South Korea

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesized pathways from parents’ marital quality to Korean adolescents’ school adjustment through the perception of self and parent—child relations. Based on previous literature and two major family theories, the authors hypothesized a path model to explain the process of how parents’ marital quality influenced school adjustment through child’s self-esteem and parent—child communication. The path model analysis was used with 578 Korean adolescent students in academic high schools. The results showed that Korean youth were likely to better adjust to a school setting as they perceived that their parents had a good marital relationship. The interparental relationship directly affected school adjustment but not psychological adjustment of self-esteem. Additionally, the marital quality of parents had an indirect effect on Korean youth’s school adjustment in the mediation process of parent—child communication. Academic and practical implications are also discussed, followed by limitations and future directions.