Design

This is a qualitative, cross-sectional study with an exploratory and descriptive design.

Participants

The participants in the study were nineteen adolescents, fifteen girls and four boys, who made up three mixed focus groups - female and male participants from three cities in the inner state of Rio Grande do Sul. All the participants were attending elementary school in public schools, ten were members of first-marriage families, and nine of families with separated parents. Nine adolescents took part in the first group, four in the second, and six in the third. The participants' minimum age was 12 and their maximum age was 15 (M = 13.79; SD = 0.97). Table 1 shows the information described in detail.

The inclusion criteria for taking part in the study were being in the adolescence stage, being the child of parents from first-marriage families, or being separated parents whose parents remained involved in the care and responsibilities related to the adolescent taking part in the study. Participants had to be referred by a school professional, psychologist, teacher, or educator, as they were in care or on a waiting list for psychological care at school or another mental health care center for presenting symptomatic behaviors characterized as internalizing and/or externalizing. Adolescents whose stepfather or stepmother participated in their care as a substitute for the parent who was absent from their parental role, individuals under the age of twelve or over the age of eighteen and without clinical symptoms could not take part in the study, a criterion observed through a referral from the school and verified at the time of the research using specific instruments.

Table 1: Descriptive characteristics of the study participants 

Instruments

A socio-demographic questionnaire, made up of questions about sex, age, schooling, city of residence, number and age of siblings, and family configuration, the latter checking whether co-parenting in separated dyads was actually practiced by the parents.

A focus group, is a technique in which a debate takes place between participants who have something in common. They are generally small and homogeneous and take place in a non-directive environment where topics related to the research objectives are discussed (^{Minayo et al., 2008}). The technique makes it possible to analyze the interactions that take place within the group and the mutual influence between the participants, which spontaneously encourages them to take part in the conversation because they identify with the subject of the debate, allowing individual and collective issues to emerge (^{Flick, 2009}; Minayo et al., 2008). As for conducting the focus group, a main moderator is appointed to introduce, close, and make the transition from one topic to another and encourage participants to express their opinions and an assistant moderator observes and records the main issues, assisting the main moderator (^{Flick, 2009}).

The focus groups in this study were structured as follows: (a) Welcoming: the participants were welcomed by the moderators and research assistants; (b) Opening: the moderators were introduced, the research instrument was filled in, general information was given about the objectives of the meeting, expectations and how it would take place; (c) Warming up: the participants and the research team were introduced; (d) Thematic discussions on five aspects of co-parenting based on provocative theses, i.e. stimuli to start the discussion in the group. The themes and provocative theses are described below.

The Youth Self-Report, YSR, was developed by ^{Achenbach et al. (2001}) and validated for use in Brazil by ^{Bordin et al. (2013}). It is a self-assessment inventory for young people aged between 11 and 18 consisting of 112 items with a response scale ranging from 0 (Not True) to 2 (Very True), and eight dimensions of behavioral problems. In this study, the classification of problems was made considering two main categories: internalizing problems, which include the dimensions of Anxiety/Depression (for example: “I am fearful or anxious”), Withdrawal (for example: “I cry a lot”), and Somatic Complaints (for example: “I have physical symptoms with no biological cause”), and externalizing problems, made up of the dimensions of Social problems (e.g.: “I prefer to be alone than in the company of others”), Delinquent behavior (e.g.: “I steal things at home”), and Aggressive behavior (e.g.: “I get into a lot of fights”). The thinking problems and attention problems scales were not considered for this study (^{Achenbach, 2001}).

Data collection

The first contact for the focus groups was made in schools in three cities in inner-state Rio Grande do Sul. The schools that agreed to take part in the study were selected on the basis of demand, i.e. whether they had students who met the criteria to take part in the study. After the first meeting, a visit was made to the site to present the research materials, namely the research instrument, the Free and Informed Consent Term (FICT) which should be taken by the adolescents for their parents to read and sign if they agreed to their child's participation in the research, and the Term of Assent (TA) for the adolescents themselves to read and sign, informing them that they agreed to take part.

About a week after the visit, the school was contacted again to check that the forms had been returned (FICT and TA) and to schedule the focus groups, which would take place during class time in the space provided by the educational institution. On the day and time scheduled at each school, four members of the research group were present, two moderators and two research assistants, roles that remained the same throughout the three groups. The participants were welcomed by the team, and given a badge to facilitate personal treatment and a clipboard with the survey instrument to be filled in. Once they had filled it in, and with the adolescents positioned in a semicircle with the moderators at the front, a tape recorder in the center of the semicircle, and a camera behind the moderators, the conversations began, according to the structure described in the focus group description. Each meeting lasted approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, taking into account the completion of the instrument and the discussion.

Data analysis

Initially, descriptive analyses were carried out to obtain a descriptive profile of the participants, calculating means and standard deviations. Descriptive analyses were also used to assess the adolescents' symptoms. The conversations in the focus groups were transcribed in full and subjected to the content analysis procedure by the same members of the research team. The content analysis process involved the stages proposed by ^{Bauer (2008}), which are: a) Reading the transcribed material in order to achieve familiarity and satisfactory appropriation of the text; b) Identifying units of meaning capable of forming recognizable patterns; c) Organizing the units of meaning by grouping them into categories; d) Selecting the content manifested within each category that could be representative for discussion.

Ethical issues

The study complied with the guidelines and regulatory standards for research involving human beings, in accordance with Resolution 466/2012 of the National Health Council, and was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, opinion no. 3.452.422, CAAE no. 88282318.3.0000.5344. The FICT and the TA, read and signed by the parents and the teenagers themselves respectively, informed about the audio and video recording of the focus group and the preservation of the participants' identities. The risks arising from the research, although minimal, involved possible emotional commotion when talking and recalling difficult situations experienced in the family. In these cases, a referral would be made for psychological care at the school clinic of the institution responsible for the research.

Family conflict

The adolescents' perception of conflicts between their parents was very evident in the focus group discussions and characterized two different types of conflicts: those over interparental issues, i.e. conflicts related to the payment of alimony and the parents' management of the adolescent themselves, and those involving marital issues. In the first subcategory, about interparental conflicts, the participants revealed that “I usually watch and ignore their arguments. I think 'I'm not going to get involved', I'm going to stay quiet in my own place because if I don't it's all on me” (Carla); “But I don't remember doing anything wrong or ‘oh, they're fighting about me’” (Olívia).

Most of the time, they (father and mother) go to their room, then they stay there and start talking louder. Then I realize they're fighting. (...) I think the ideal thing would be for them to call me. Because since they're talking about me, I'd like to know too. Especially because whatever they decide will affect me (Quiara).

In addition, participant Inês explains how conflicts between separated parents occur and how she is involved by the caregivers in the situation:

Oh, because, like, it's not that my parents argue all the time, but now things are calmer, until the beginning of the year they were snapping at each other over the phone. Because my mother always says ‘Oh like, if your father steps in front of my gate I'm going to smash his face in’ (laughs). My father kept saying to my mother, “Like, when are you going to pay your alimony?”. Then sometimes she gets angry with him and says she'll pay it when she feels like it, but then he gets angry and then he comes to me and says ‘You have to tell your mother that she has to pay the alimony’. Then I get overwhelmed about it and most of the time I end up, like, getting angry with him, and then he swears at me, my opinion doesn't count (Inês).

The literature shows that children and adolescents subjected to contexts of high tension as a result of family conflicts are more likely to trigger externalizing symptoms, among other problems, such as low school performance, problems with social skills and interpersonal relationships (^{Goulart et al., 2016}; ^{Thiengo et al., 2014}). What was reported by the participants Carla, Olívia and Quiara also demonstrates how the spillover effect occurs in which persistent disagreements and difficulties between the parental dyad spill over into other domains - subsystems - of family life, directly or indirectly impacting the offspring (^{Goulart et al., 2016}).

As for the second subcategory, which addresses marital conflicts, the participants Paula and Quiara said: “Because one day or another they will stop fighting. My father once fought with my mother, you know? Really fighting, leaving the house, because he came home late” (Paula).

I've always been much more afraid of him (father) than my mother, so I hardly ever get involved in their arguments, because I know I'll end up being grounded if I give my opinion. They'll end up fighting, so I always keep it to myself (Quiara).

The reports corroborate relatively consolidated evidence in the scientific literature that interparental and marital conflicts can extrapolate to other subsystems, such as parenting, negatively interfering in the parent-child relationship and mainly impacting the offspring (^{Costa et al., 2015}; ^{Mosmann & Falcke, 2011}; ^{Mosmann et al., 2018}). The negative impact on parenting can occur through the tightening of rules, excessive supervision and control, harsh punishments (^{Goulart et al., 2016}), and/or the distancing of the adolescent from one or both parents. In the latter case, triangulation can also occur (^{Margolin et al., 2001}; ^{Mosmann et al., 2018}), a phenomenon in which a child is induced by the parents to establish an alliance with one parent against the other, leading to a so-called coalition that causes significantly deleterious effects on the offspring (^{Minuchin et al., 2009}).

Favorable and unfavorable aspects of parental involvement

Concerning the favorable and unfavorable characteristics of parental involvement, the adolescents' perceptions show interactions between parents and children that are sometimes positive and sometimes negative. Participants Inês, Rita, and Quiara reported: “My father doesn't take me to school, I walk and he doesn't come to meetings either” (Inês).

My father has always been very absent, you know, so I think it's good. I think my father is making a lot of effort, but my mother is fine, you know? Because she's not making much of an effort, I hardly see her, she doesn't talk to me much (Rita).

And my father doesn't really raise his voice to my mother, he's never raised a hand, he's never wanted to hit her, he's never shouted at her like that. As for me, yes, he's raised his hand, he's shouted, he's more aggressive towards me (Quiara).

In addition, the participants revealed characteristics of the interaction with their parents that indicate low parental involvement, an aspect that is evident when parents are permissive and/or negligent in caring for their children. Participant Eliana revealed that she missed her parents' emotional support:

Emotionally, it's always been me. I have to cope with everything on my own. There was a time when my mother helped me get help from a psychologist because she saw that the situation was getting more difficult, but, like, she herself didn't (seek help from a psychologist). She doesn't even have time, because she works and then she provides for the house, so she doesn't have time to take care of our emotional life or hers, you know (Eliana).

In a similar direction, participant Beatriz said: “So, I end up doing almost everything, I take my sister, I come to school on my own and so on” (Beatriz).

The conversations that formed this category confirm the scientific evidence that weaknesses in parental involvement can contribute to triggering symptoms in children (^{Dardas et al., 2018}; ^{Iniesta-Sepúlveda et al., 2017}; ^{Kostulski et al., 2019}; ^{Kreuze et al., 2018}; ^{Savioja et al., 2017}). Adolescence is undoubtedly a challenging phase for parents who need to relax certain rules so that adolescents develop autonomy to make decisions, acquire relative independence, and take on more responsibility (^{Papália & Feldman, 2013}). At this stage, children also need close monitoring from their parents, who will provide support in times of crisis and, above all, a safe reference with whom they can "clash" in order to strengthen the process of individualization.

Therefore, the results indicate that adolescents perceive and name the absences and failures in paternal and maternal parental involvement and, consequently, have developed dysfunctional strategies to deal with their problems, such as resignation, self-sufficiency, and isolation. In addition, the perception of a family environment affected by conflicts, whether marital and/or co-parental and by low parental involvement can have repercussions in terms of feelings of guilt and sadness in some adolescents and aggressive behavior in others.

Internalizing symptoms

In the focus groups with the adolescents, reports emerged that characterized physical symptoms and symptoms called internalizing (^{Achenbach et al., 2001}; ^{Achenbach et al., 2014}), that is, psychological symptoms such as anxiety, sadness, depression, and psychological states such as low self-esteem and isolation, as also described in the APA (²⁰¹³). Adolescents report, for example, that:

It's very difficult (referring to talking to parents at the same time), because I'm afraid of my mother's response, I feel trapped. I used to think: 'I wonder what they're talking about? I'm also afraid of my father, because he's already very aggressive (Olívia).

In addition to Olivia, another participant describes fear and guilt as feelings arising from certain interactions with parents:

There's also a knot here, like a feeling of guilt. Feeling guilty because they're fighting over us. (...) I was afraid it was something I'd done wrong, but I couldn't think of anything I'd done wrong (Quiara).

In addition, one teenager reported how she felt when she was prevented from taking part in a debate between her parents, despite her attempts to put forward her ideas. Rita says the following:

I got scared, and angry (when her parents fought). I didn't like it at all, because they didn't even let me speak, they just left me there listening to what they were saying, but I couldn't say anything. Every time I tried to speak, they interrupted me and wouldn't let me speak, saying that it was their business, and that children shouldn't interfere (Rita).

Participant Paula also reports that she “felt physical pain” when she witnessed her parents fighting, especially if she suspected it was because of her. Similarly, Quiara said she felt headaches after arguing with her parents:

Yeah, then I went for a walk because it helped a lot, you know, I already had a headache and I couldn't listen anymore. I was already tired. Then I went for a walk, so I went to my friend's house and got it off my chest (Quiara).

Olivia's and Quiara's accounts of the fear and guilt associated with them committing some inappropriate behavior, Rita's accounts of fear, anger, and frustration, and Paula's and Quiara's accounts of physical symptoms, show how much their children are impacted by what they observe in the family relationship dynamic. In some cases, it involves the adolescents' concern that they are responsible for what happens in their parents' relationship, and in others, the attempt to help the adults resolve problems and conflicts. These findings corroborate the literature on the reverberations that dysfunctional family dynamics have on children (^{Costa et al., 2015}; ^{Mosmann et al., 2017}; ^{Mosmann et al., 2018}; ^{Rosencrans & McIntyre, 2020}; ^{Thiengo et al., 2014}), clarifying the nature of the phenomenon and how it occurs in family interrelationships.

In addition to not preserving their children from conflict situations, the reports may show that parents are unaware of what happens to their offspring in these circumstances. In cases where there is a fixed conflictual interaction pattern between parents, adolescents may isolate themselves even more and move away from the family context in order to preserve their own identity. This can be a risk factor for drug use, involvement in problematic interpersonal relationships in adulthood, and unruly behavior that can be mistaken for typical adolescent behavior, diverting attention from the source of the problems.

Externalizing symptoms

During the discussions that took place in the focus groups, a number of stories show descriptions that characterize externalizing symptoms, which are more easily observed as they are expressed through hostility, physical or verbal aggression, and hyperactivity (^{Achenbach et al., 2014}). Olivia's narrative elucidates the externalizing symptomatology:

Mom, I had a fight with someone at school, I'm angry, and one day I'm going to hit them and that's it. So I used to go to the health center on Thursdays, I think I went once, not just three times, to talk to the psychologist and I went twice to the guardianship council to talk to the psychologist there too, to find out why I had a lot of problems at school. I still have problems today, but I don't have the same problems as before when I used to fight a lot. And my parents already thought that I was very angry, these kind of things (Olívia).

Furthermore, in Paula's story, the fighting behavior seems to be a strategy to get her parents to listen to her or even a learned way of dealing with situations. The participant reveals:

I really agree with this, that they should have more trust in us and not buy into the chatter of anyone passing by on the street. Like, coming home and saying, 'oh, so-and-so said that about you, is it true?' Then, I don't know why, I start arguing with my mother. Then they don't even ask, they start fighting too (Paula).

Finally, when her parents prevent her from doing something, like seeing her boyfriend, Olivia does what she calls a "whine":

I think you can achieve anything with drama, right? And so I whined to my mother to let me go and then she saw that I really wanted to go, it had been a long time since we'd been dating and stuff. So I grumbled and huffed at her, but I tried to swallow the air, to keep quiet, you know? To prevent me from saying anything, because otherwise I'd end up arguing with my mother (Olívia).

When she realized that her parents hadn't reached a consensus on a decision about her, Olivia also added: "Then, I usually end up fighting when the situation ends up being that one parent says yes and the other doesn't. In the end, I don't go".

Externalizing symptoms tend to attract more attention from parents and school since they interfere with interpersonal relationships as well as have a negative impact on the individual themselves (^{Lopes et al., 2016}), according to Olivia's description of problems at school, referrals for psychological care and her parents' perception that she was "rebellious". In addition, the report shows how challenging it is to differentiate behaviors characteristic of adolescence from those that are a reflection of a dysfunctional family context (^{Dardas et al., 2018}; ^{Iniesta-Sepúlveda et al., 2017}; ^{Kreuze et al., 2018}). In the latter case, adolescents can learn destructive ways of solving problems and regulating emotions in situations of conflict, tension, and stress (^{Machado & Mosmann, 2020}), issues that are added to the transitions that occur during adolescence (^{Thiengo et al., 2014}).