According to family systems theory, every individual and relationship in the family interacts with other individuals and relationships. Family consists of interconnected subsystems such as partnership, parenting, mother-child/father-child and sibling subsystems. Adolescence is a critical developmental period that requires parents and adolescents to restructure their relationships. Family systems theory suggests examining the relationships of other subsystems within the family to understand the dynamics of parent-adolescent relationships. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationships among married individuals' satisfaction with their marital relationships, the quality of their relationships with their adolescent children, and their coparenting relationships with their spouses. Accordingly, the mediating role of coparenting in the relationship between marital satisfaction and quality of the parent-adolescent relationship was examined. The sample of the study consists of 302 participants (M = 44.26, SE = 5.76) who are married, live with their spouses, and have children between the ages of 12 and 17. Personal Information Form, Marital Life Scale, Coparenting Scale and Quality of the Parent-Adolescent Relationship Scale were used as data collection tools in the study. According to the results of the analysis, marital satisfaction and coparenting, positively predict parent-adolescent disclosure and positive parent-adolescent relationship, negatively predict negative parent-adolescent relationship. Coparenting played a significant mediating role in the relationship between marital satisfaction and quality of the parent-adolescent relationship. Accordingly, coparenting was found to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between marital satisfaction and parent- adolescent disclosure. In addition, coparenting was found to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between marital satisfaction and positive parent-adolescent relationship. Coparenting was found to play a full mediating role in the relationship between marital satisfaction and negative parent-adolescent relationship. Thus, the findings of the current study support the spillover hypothesis, which suggests that there is a transfer from one subsystem to another within the family and that the subsystems affect each other in a similar way. Findings, limitations and implications of the study, and suggestions for future studies were discussed in the light of the literature.

Ozge Berfin Guney has completed her Master’s Degree in Psychology from Izmir Katip Celebi University, Turkey. She continues her studies and consultancy on child, adolescent and family psychology.