Adolescents’ evaluation of interparental conflict is an important factor that ties perceived interparental conflict to adolescent maladjustment (e.g., Davies, Harold, Goeke-Morey, & Cummings, 2002; Grych, Harold, & Miles, 2003). These evaluations, referred to as threat appraisals (Atkinson, Dadds, Chipuer, & Dawe, 2009; Grych & Fincham, 1990), reflect adolescents’ worries about the implications of interparental conflict, including general fears that the conflict will result in something bad, or more specific concerns that conflict may lead to divorce, escalate into violence, lead to their involvement, or result in harm to the family or a family member (Atkinson et al., 2009; Grych, Seid, & Fincham, 1992). From an emotional security perspective, threat evaluations are thought to activate a social defense system to mobilize adolescents’ strategies to preserve their sense of security in the context of the interparental relationship (Davies & Sturge-Apple, 2007). Within the cognitive-contextual framework, threat appraisals are conceptualized as a primary process that initiates coping strategies (Fosco et al., 2007; Fosco & Grych, 2010; Grych & Fincham, 1990). Although both perspectives conceptualize children’s subjective experiences of parental conflict differently, they share
