USA and Portuguese Young Adolescents' Perceived Qualities and Satisfaction in Their Relationships with Mothers, Fathers and Best-Friends.

Maryse Guedes,Kenneth H Rubin,Olívia Ribeiro,António J Santos,Miguel Freitas

doi:10.3390/children9010026

Abstract

Background: Few researchers have examined young adolescents’ perceived qualities and satisfaction in their relationships with their mothers, fathers and best friends simultaneously, using a cross-cultural perspective. This study aimed to compare the perceived qualities and satisfaction of USA and Portuguese adolescents in their relationships with their parents and best friends and to examine the influence of perceived relationship qualities on the satisfaction of young adolescents with their close relationships. Methods: The sample consisted of 347 USA adolescents (170 boys, 177 girls) and 360 Portuguese adolescents (176 boys, 184 girls) who completed the Network of Relationships Inventory Social Provision Version to assess perceived support, negativity, power balance and satisfaction in their relationships with their mothers, fathers and same-sex best friends. Results: Adolescents from both countries perceived their relationships with parents to be more negative and imbalanced in power than their relationships with friends, but the magnitude of differences was greater in the USA. Furthermore, USA adolescents reported higher satisfaction in their relationships with friends than in their relationships with parents. Country differences in the concomitants of relationship satisfaction were found. Conclusions: These findings support the notion that young adolescents’ perceived qualities and satisfaction in close relationships may differ depending on cultural norms.

Highlights

As children make the transition to early adolescence, their close interpersonal relationships become increasingly complex, diverse and extensive [1,2]
Beyond the aforementioned positive qualities that are organized along a dimension of social support, close relationships vary along a dimension of power distribution [12], which reflects the extent to which each relationship is viewed as vertical/horizontal or less symmetrical and egalitarian in power balance [13]
The differences were low in magnitude, the greater intrapersonal conflict between being autonomous and remaining closely connected to parents may explain why Portuguese adolescents globally perceived their close relationships to be less supportive than USA adolescents

Summary

Introduction

As children make the transition to early adolescence, their close interpersonal relationships become increasingly complex, diverse and extensive [1,2]. Perceived Qualities and Satisfaction in Close Relationships during Early Adolescence The functional features of close relationships encompass both positive and negative qualities [8,9]. Few researchers have examined young adolescents’ perceived qualities and satisfaction in their relationships with their mothers, fathers and best friends simultaneously, using a cross-cultural perspective. Methods: The sample consisted of 347 USA adolescents (170 boys, 177 girls) and 360 Portuguese adolescents (176 boys, 184 girls) who completed the Network of Relationships Inventory Social Provision Version to assess perceived support, negativity, power balance and satisfaction in their relationships with their mothers, fathers and same-sex best friends. Conclusions: These findings support the notion that young adolescents’ perceived qualities and satisfaction in close relationships may differ depending on cultural norms

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Methods

Discussion

Conclusion