For some time, research on the family has been shifting away
from family structure per se towards a focus on processes
and relationships. A major criticism of
family structure theory and stress theory concerns their
reliance on the so-called deficit-comparison approach. Operative mechanisms are
often vaguely specified and thus any observed relationship
might be caused by underlying, uncontrolled family processes or selection effects. Examples of theories seeking
explanations in family processes are the parental conflict
theory and theories that emphasize changes in social, cultural and economic capital. Negative out-comes for children of divorce might not be caused (only) by
the parental break-up itself but (also) by disturbed parent–child relationships and difficult family environments
characterised by high levels of overt parental conflict or parental substance use. Here,
we focus on three mechanisms that can be linked to problematic behaviour among adolescents: parental conflict, the relation between parents and children, and parental role models.