Taken together, findings for adolescent-parent communication suggest that communication with fathers plays an important role for girls, in an unexpected direction in this study. However, the relationships between adolescent-father communication and externalizing behaviors are consistent with previous research that highlights girls' vulnerability to adjustment in the midst of family problems (Telzer & Fuligni, 2013). Research has shown that interparental conflict has a stronger impact on girls than boys with respect to internalizing behaviors (Davies & Lindsay, 2004) and that adolescent girls are at greater risk for interpersonal stress compared to boys (Shih, Eberhart, Hammen, & Brennan, 2006). In addition, Skeer and colleagues (2011) found that, for girls, but not for boys, family conflict during childhood predicted adolescent substance use disorders. However, this relationship was partially mediated by conduct disorders. Alternatively, communication with fathers may be positively related to externalizing behaviors for girls because of the type of communication. For example, if fathers tell their daughters about their own poor choices and experiences as teenagers, these conversations may actually result in increasing their daughter's risk for externalizing behaviors. Future research should explore the type of conversations among fathers and their children, to better understand this effect.
