Adolescents' well-being as a function of perceived interparental consistency

High school students reported separately on mothers' and fathers' responsiv eness and demandingness and their own academic achievement and engagement, involvement in problem behavior, psychosocial development, and internalized distress. Mothers and fathers were classified as authoritative, authoritar ian indulgent, or indifferent, and adolescents from homes characterized by different types of interparental consistency were compared with those from homes where parents were not consistent. Adolescents with one authoritative parent exhibited greater academic competence than did peers with parents w ho were consistent but nonauthoritative. Adolescents with one authoritative and one nonauthoritative parent exhibited greater concurrent internalized distress than did youth from consistent homes, but these findings were not observed longitudinally.