Guided by the developmental psychopathology framework, the present study sought to clarify the nature of the relationships between marital conflict and adolescent adjustment at each step in the causal chain. The characteristics of destructive marital conflict were examined to probe the nature of destructive conflict between couples; of particular interest in this regard was the concept of active and passive types of conflict. Several intervening variables in the broader context of emotional security were then examined in both mediation and moderated mediation models to clarify their role in the link between types of destructive conflict and adolescent adjustment. In addition, the present study moved beyond the traditional focus on internalizing and externalizing behavior problems to also examine the impact of exposure to destructive marital conflict on adolescents? social adjustment. Results indicated that active and passive conflict types were associated with different outcomes through different processes, contributing to attempts called for in the broader literature for increased precision in understanding the heterogeneity of destructive conflict and lending support to conceptualizations about interindividual differences in the expression of emotional insecurity. The present study addresses a gap in the literature by focusing its inquiries into the nature of these processes as they unfold overtime on the period of adolescence, and has important implications for translational research efforts. Other implications of the current study and future directions are also discussed.