Communication Processes That Mediate Family Communication Patterns and Mental Well-Being: A Mean and Covariance Structures Analysis of Young Adults From Divorced and Nondivorced Families

In this study, demand/withdraw patterns and feeling caught were tested as mediators of family communication patterns and young adults’ mental well‐being. Participants included 567 young adults from divorced and nondivorced families. For young adults in nondivorced families, family conversation orientations had both a positive, direct effect on mental well‐being and an indirect effect on well‐being through witnessing marital demand/withdraw patterns and feeling caught. For young adults in divorced families, however, conversation orientations had only a direct, positive effect on well‐being, whereas conformity orientations had a negative, indirect effect through witnessing demand/withdraw patterns. Interestingly, respondents from divorced families reported more feelings of being caught between their parents, yet such feelings predicted diminished well‐being only for respondents from nondivorced families.