This study examined the impact of parental marriage quality on two aspects of self-esteem in their adolescent children, mediated by parent-adolescent relationship quality. Participating in the study were mothers, fathers, and 16- to 18-year-olds from 54 intact families. The first assessment was completed before the adolescents left middle school, and the second, 3 to 4 months later after their transition into an apprenticeship program or to further schooling. The quality of marital and parent-adolescent relationships was assessed as well as adolescents' self-satisfaction as rated by all family members and adolescents' global familial competence. The findings indicated that the self-concept variables correlated with marital quality. These correlations were mediated by parent-adolescent relationships. Longitudinal analyses tentatively confirmed that adolescents' self-concept was influenced by quality of marital and parent-adolescent relationships. During the school-to-work transition, self-satisfaction apparently underwent a shift from an influence by parents' approval to a prediction by fathers' guidance. Familial competence, however, was constantly influenced by all measures of relationship satisfaction. Marital quality seemed to be especially relevant for fathers' attitudes and behaviors. (Contains 12 references.) (KB)