Parental Orientation Research Articles

A longitudinal analysis of maternal abuse potential and developmental delays in children of adolescent mothers

Objective: This project was designed to examine the impact of adolescent mothers’ abuse potential on the development of preschool children. The specific aims were to demonstrate relationships between maternal abuse potential and developmental problems in preschool children, to examine these relationships across time, and to determine whether maternal abuse potential predicted developmental delays after controlling for problematic parenting orientations. Method: Using a longitudinal design, we examined 146 first time mothers and their children. Maternal abuse potential was assessed when children were 1, 3, and 5 years old; problematic parenting orientation was assessed when the children were 6 months old; and child development (i.e., IQ, adaptive behavior, and behavior problems) was assessed at ages 3 and 5. Results: Regression analyses revealed significant relationships between maternal abuse potential and a variety of developmental problems. Path analyses revealed unidirectional relationships between abuse potential predicting IQ and adaptive behaviors. Further analyses indicated that maternal abuse potential at 1 and 3 years predicted intelligence and adaptive behavior at ages 3 and 5, even when problematic parenting orientation was controlled. In contrast, children’s behavioral problems at ages 3 and 5 was better accounted for by problematic parenting orientation than by abuse potential. Conclusions: The results of this study revealed that developmental delays in children of adolescent are related to abuse potential. Two pathways were found for predicting developmental delays: One pathway linked child abuse potential with IQ and adaptive functioning; the other pathway showed that problematic parenting orientation accounted for the development of emotional and behavioral problems.

Maternal employment, morale and parenting style: Social class comparisons

The relationships linking mothers' employment, emotional well-being, and parenting style were examined, with attention to social-class differences in a sample of 365 mothers of third- and fourth-grade children in an industrialized Midwestern city. In the working class, full-time homemakers obtained higher depressive mood scores than employed mothers, and depressive mood mediated their higher scores on permissive parenting and partially mediated their higher scores on authoritarian parenting. The employment/depression relationship was not moderated by marital status, fathers' help, number of children, or presence of a preschooler. It was mediated by locus of control but not by financial concerns or loneliness. In the middle class, employment was not related to mood, authoritative or permissive parenting, but homemakers indicated more authoritarian parenting orientations. The middle-class employment/depression relationship was moderated by number and age of children: fewer children and no preschooler were associated with higher depression for homemakers and lower depression for employed mothers. The effect of depressed mood on parenting orientations was moderated by education and parental commitment, but only in the middle class.

Relationships between family characteristics and communication apprehension

This study examined relationships between college students’ communication apprehension (CA) and their perceptions of characteristics of their families of origin. The results indicated that a linear composite of parental acceptance‐rejection, family cohesion, expressiveness, independence, conflict, and communication patterns was significantly correlated with CA. When analyzed separately for men and women, men's CA was only significantly and positively related to conformity‐oriented family communication patterns, whereas women's CA was significantly and negatively related to parental acceptance, family cohesion, expressiveness, independence, & conversation orientation and positively related to conformity orientation.

Imaging of Oriented Molecules†

Hexapole state selection and orientation of parent molecules is combined with two-dimensional ion imaging of photofragments to study the direct photolysis of deuterated methyl iodide molecules (CD3I) at 266 nm. The combination of these two techniques allows us to create an essentially single quantum state-selected beam of oriented molecules, which are subsequently photodissociated, and to measure the final state-, velocity-, and angle-resolved recoil distribution of the photofragments. Extensive measurements have been done on the variation of the recoil distribution with the orientation field strength applied. These measurements allow a quantitative comparison of the orientation distribution of state-selected methyl iodide molecules with theoretical Stark effect calculations. For the prompt dissociation of CD3I at 266 nm the angular recoil distribution of the I(2P1/2) photofragment reflects predominantly the initial spatial orientation of the state-selected parent. A comparison is presented between the fr...

Teacher Communications, Child Achievement, and Parent Traits in Parent Involvement Models

Theory and research on achievement goals and parent involvement were used to examine parental mastery orientation, performance orientation, and efficacy in involvement as predictors of parent involvement. Those variables were also investigated for their ability to mediate the effects of amount of teacher communications, child achievement, and parent education level and ethnicity on parent involvement. The primary direct predictors of parent home involvement were performance orientation, child achievement, mastery orientation, parent efficacy in involvement, and amount of teacher communications. Multiple-regression and path analysis results demonstrated the importance of parent mastery orientation and performance orientation as mediating variables in the study of parent involvement; four patterns of parent involvement should be examined in future research.

The relationship between parental traits and open family communication: Affective orientation and verbal aggression

This study examined haw the parental traits of affective orientation and verbal aggressiveness were associated with openness in family communication patterns. Responses were obtained from 133 college‐aged children and their parents. Parental affective orientation was positively related to their children's perceptions of more open family communication patterns, while verbal aggressiveness was negatively related. Parents’ and children's levels of trait affective orientation were moderately correlated (r=.45) with children's AO levels being higher than their parents’.

Parental Sexual Orientating and Therapists' Perceptions of Family Functioning

This analogue study investigated the effects of parental sexual orientation on therapists'-in-training perceptions of a family presenting for therapy. Participants were 101 female and 45 male masters and doctoral students who participated by reading a case vignette of a family and completing questionnaries on prognostic expectations, family attractiveness, and expected problems. The case vignette was manipulated to represent either lesbian, gay, or straight partnet. Results revealed a systematic pattern of biases against gay and lesbian parents relatice to prognostic expectations, family attractivness, and the problem the therapists expect the children would have when they grow up.

Parent orientation meetings to improve attendance and access at a child psychiatric clinic.

As one of several strategies to improve attendance and reduce the size of the waiting list at a child psychiatric clinic serving urban, multiproblem clients, parents were required to attend a free pretreatment orientation group meeting. The rate of missed appointments among families not oriented to the clinic was compared with that of families who attended the orientation meeting. The orientation process significantly improved attendance at intake appointments but did not appear to affect attendance at subsequent appointments. It screened out unmotivated parents, reduced the size of the waiting list, and allowed greater access to clinic services.

Educational and occupational aspirations of "common man" boys: Kahl's study revisited.

The relationships between parents' getting-ahead-getting-by orientations, adolescents' perceptions of those parental orientations, and aspirations for adolescents with different levels of intellectual ability and from various social status backgrounds were examined. Data were collected from 516 Australian 16-year-olds (250 boys, 266 girls) and their parents. The adolescents were classified into four contexts defined by the median split of scores on intellectual ability and family social status. Within each ability-status context, relationships among the variables were examined by constructing regression surfaces that were formed from models that included terms to test for possible linear, interaction, and curvilinear associations. The findings suggest that (a) in each context, perceptions of parents' orientations had strong associations with adolescents' aspirations; (b) for adolescents from low ability-lower status contexts, perception of parents' orientations acted as a threshold variable such that they were related to aspirations only at medium to high perception levels; and (c) in each context, parents' aspirations were related to adolescents' educational aspirations at each level of adolescents' perceptions of parents' orientations.

Parental sexual orientation and therapists' perceptions of family functioning

Parental sexual orientation and therapists' perceptions of family functioning

Parent and Teen Perceptions Regarding Parental Efforts at Controlling Teen Drunk Driving1

This research examined the potential utility of a parental control technique to prevent adolescent drunk driving by identifying parent and teen sources of resistance to an ignition interlock system. The research also examined the theoretical issue of parental control over adolescents by identifying factors parents consider when deciding to use a control technique. Parent and teen receptivity to the interlock was examined in relation to teen drunk driving. General parental control orientations (controlling vs. permissive) were examined in relation to the factors that influence parental decisions to implement such a control technique. Factors related to sources of reluctance to use the device were also examined. The findings revealed that parents were generally ambivalent toward the interlock. In contrast, teens responses varied, with approximately 20% of the sample reporting favorable attitudes toward having an interlock installed in the their cars. In addition, both parents and teens expressed concern about how the interlock would affect their relationship with each other. Finally, controlling parents tended to place less emphasis on the perceived effectiveness of the control technique when forming their attitudes toward its implementation compared to permissive parents. The findings are discussed in the context of prevention efforts for adolescent drunk driving.

Obedience and Autonomy: Religion and Parental Values Reconsidered

A long research tradition examines the relationships between religion and parental values, defines broadly as the traits that adults find most desirable in children. Two such traits have been of particular interest: obedience and intellectual autonomy. The authors argue that contemporary Conservative Protestants are prone to endorse authoritarian parenting orientations disproportionately -that is, to value obedience at the expense of autonomy. In addition, they hypothesize that Catholics tend to embrace more authoritarian child-rearing values than do non-Conservative Protestants and other Americans

Family Traditions, Political Periods, and the Development of Partisan Orientations

Two of the most important influences on adult political orientations are the political proclivities of their family of origin and the pressures of the times in which they first enter the electorate. Drawing upon a three-wave panel study of young Americans over the 1965-1982 time period and conceiving of parental orientations as producing a broad familial environment, this article traces the influence of parents on the partisanship and politicization of their children as the youth mature from adolescence to middle adulthood during a particularly turbulent period of American politics. The parental partisan legacy remained strong even though it was eroded by the antipartisan period pressures of the late 1960s and early 1970s. By contrast, family levels of politicization were reproduced only modestly throughout, leaving ample room for attentiveness to politics to develop outside of the family tradition. However, the interaction between the partisanship and the politicization of the family environment governs the dealignment of the youth generation after 1965. Youth from politicized Republican and Democratic families were affected most by the powerful antipartisan pressures of the post-1965 period.

The influence of peers and parents on youth life satisfaction in Hong Kong

This investigation attempts to measure the relative influence of peer and parental influence on the perceived life satisfaction of two groups of secondary students in Hong Kong. Data on 1906 students from 30 schools were collected through the use of a self-administered questionnaire. Respondents were asked to rate their level of satisfaction on 26 different domains of life on a seven-point scale, ranging from “very satisfied” to “very dissatisfied”, as well as their satisfaction with life in general. These 26 items were combined to form six summary indices of life satisfaction: school life, family life, acceptance by others, government, media, and living environment. Two independent variables were used in the analysis of life satisfaction: peer orientation, and parent orientation. Both are composite indices and measure the adolescent's attachment to and identification with his peers or parents. It was found that parent orientation is a better predictor of life satisfaction than peer orientation. Adolescents who are high on parent orientation are more satisfied with every domain of life. They are also more satisfied with life in general. The relationship between peer orientation and life satisfaction is not a clear-cut one. Adolescents with strong peer orientation are more satisfied with school, media, government, and acceptance by others, but are less satisfied with family. There is no significant relationship between peer orientation and environment. The younger adolescents in our sample tend to perceive a higher level of satisfaction than the older adolescents in every domain of life as well as life in general.

Applying Values and Lifestyles Psychographics to Parental Involvement in College and University Orientation

The authors suggest that college and university planners and advisors shift from a student-centered to a parentlstudent-centered freshman orientation. Planning significant events for parents not only improves the quality of orientation but also offers excellent public relations opportunities. While careful orientation for students will enhance adjustment to college life, a good orientation for parents will benefit parents, students, and the school By applying a psychographic typology known as Values and Lifestyles (VALS), schools can create a choice of activities attractive to parents from different market segments. Increased student retention will be a major benefit.

Religion and Parental Child-Rearing Orientations: Evidence of a Catholic-Protestant Convergence

Weber's interpretation of the relationship between religious values and economic rationalism led observers of American society in the past to posit fundamental between-group differences in values to account for differing social and economic orientations of American religious groups, particularly those between Protestants and Catholics. This paper focuses on the relationship between religion and family life giving particular attention to parental values for children and approaches to child rearing. First, the differences in parental values that exist among religioethnic groups in American society and the changing role of religioethnic differences in shaping the child-rearing orientations of parents are examined. Data from Detroit surveys and other sources are used to demonstrate substantial changes in parental values across the past several decades. Also examined are reports of socialization practices, which reflect a high degree of similarity in patterns of behavior among religioethnic groups in modern society. finally, it is shown that expressions of religiosity, such as church attendance, may be more strongly related to some aspects of parental child-rearing orientations than are denominational differences.

The Sex-Role Antecedents Scales

The Sex-role Antecedents Scales were constructed to classify personal and perceived parental sex-role orientations as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. 28 traits are included, 11 masculine, 11 feminine, and 6 neutral, all derived from the Bern Sex-role Inventory. The new test is distinguished by the provision of interpersonal scales featuring mother and father as standards for self-comparison on masculine and feminine traits. Masculinity and femininity were depicted on separate continua shown to be orthogonal, internally consistent, and reliable. Simultaneous classification of self, mother, and father on the scales showed direct consistent relationships between their respective sex-role categories. Self-perceived identification with mother and father significantly distinguished the four sex-role categories of the 150 male and 150 female subjects.

Adolescents' Shifting Orientation toward Parents and Peers: A Curvilinear Trend over Recent Decades

This study examines changes that have occurred in the orientation of young people toward parents and peers over the past two decades. In 1963, 1976, and 1982, identical questionnaires were administered to comparable samples of teenagers (570 total) to investigate whose advice they seek regarding 18 social issues. The purpose was to determine which concerns and problems are peer-oriented and which parent-oriented, and how orientations have fluctuated over time. Major findings of the study are as follows: (a) Different issues activate different reference groups; financial, educational, and career concerns are parentoriented, whereas social activities are peer-oriented. (b) Girls were highly parent-oriented and boys highly peer-oriented in the 1960s. By the '80s the pattern was more balanced, even reversed to some extent. (c) The data for the combined boy/girl groups, and especially for the boys, but not the girls, formed a curvilinear pattern over time, reflecting the decline of parent orientation between the '60s and '70s and its partial recovery during the '80s.

Parent orientation: Programming for letting go

New Directions for Student ServicesVolume 1985, Issue 32 p. 37-48 Article Parent orientation: Programming for letting go Donald J. Perigo, Donald J. Perigo Donald J. Perigo is director of orientation, director of the Campus Information Center, and university ombudsman at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Search for more papers by this author Donald J. Perigo, Donald J. Perigo Donald J. Perigo is director of orientation, director of the Campus Information Center, and university ombudsman at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Search for more papers by this author First published: December 1985 https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.37119853206 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume1985, Issue32December 1985Pages 37-48 RelatedInformation

Parent-University Student Agreement on Religious and Nonreligious Issues

Some controversy has evolved with respect to the supposed existence of a gap, a kind of organized rebellion against parents by their teenagers, one component of which supposedly involves considerable discrepancy between teenagers' attitudes and those of their parents. Some researchers have concluded that there is in fact a generation gap (Friedenberg, 1969; Thomas, 1974); others that parents and children tend to agree at least moderately on a variety of attitudinal issues (Boshier, 1973; Coleman, 1978); others that attitudinal differences which do appear are relatively minor and reflect contrasts in intensity rather than attitude direction (Lerner & Spanier, 1980); and still others have quite emphatically rejected the notion of a substantial generation gap (Coopersmith, Regan & Dick, 1975). Part of the discrepancy may arise from the fact that parent-child agreement may vary from one issue to another. For example, Bengtson and Troll (1978) suggested that agreement should be highest on religious attitudes with decreasing agreement on issues relating to politics, work-achievement orientation, and sex roles and sexual behavior. In addition, Caplovitz and Sherrow (1977) concluded that parent-child disagreement on religious attitudes goes hand-in-hand with disagreement on nonreligious issues, a claim that has been disputed by Hunsberger (1980). Thus, the present study examined parentoffspring attitudinal agreement in the context of different issues, but particularly regarding religious orientation. Also, previous research (Bengtson & Troll, 1978) has indicated that late adolescent children tend to exaggerate differences between themselves and their parents, while parents tend to minimize these differences. If this is true, one might expect that parents of children who have had major shifts from the parental orientation would be poorer predictors of their children's attitudes within that realm. This possibility was also examined in the present project by comparing trends for apostates and nonapostates.