Parent-adolescent Relationship Quality Research Articles

Predictors of Effectiveness in a Multifamily Therapy Program for Adolescents with Externalizing Behaviors

Severe externalizing behavior among adolescents is a significant societal problem, in terms of both emotional and financial costs. Much research has focused on factors that increase or decrease the risk of adolescents developing such behavior. In addition, various treatment methods have been developed to address this problem, with promising results under some circumstances. The present study examined archival data from one multifamily therapy program to examine potential predictors of the effectiveness of treatment. These predictors were communication style and relationship quality between parents and adolescents, as well as parents’ readiness for change. Parent-adolescent relationship quality and communication style were both found to significantly predict treatment outcomes in some, but not all, problem areas examined. Parent readiness did not predict treatment outcomes. Results have implications for improving the clinical outcomes of family treatment programs.

Academic Growth Trajectories and Family Relationships among African American Youth.

This study explored trajectories of African American youths' academic functioning and assessed whether changes in parent-adolescent relationships were associated with changes in youths' academic functioning. The data were drawn from a three-year longitudinal study of gender socialization and development in two-parent African American families and included 197 families. Findings revealed gender differences in achievement trajectories and indicated that boys not only had lower levels of academic achievement compared to girls, but also experienced steeper declines in school self-esteem during adolescence. Changes in parent-adolescent relationship quality were linked to changes in academic functioning: Increases in conflict were related to decreases in GPA, school bonding, and school self-esteem and increases in warmth were related to increases in school bonding and school self-esteem.

Economic hardship and Mexican-origin adolescents’ adjustment: Examining adolescents’ perceptions of hardship and parent–adolescent relationship quality.

Studies examining economic hardship consistently have linked family economic hardship to adolescent adjustment via parent and family functioning, but limited attention has been given to adolescents' perceptions of these processes. To address this, the authors investigated the intervening effects of adolescents' perceptions of economic hardship and of parent-adolescent warmth and conflict on the associations between parental economic hardship and adolescent adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, risky behaviors, and school performance) in a sample of 246 Mexican-origin families. Findings revealed that both mothers' and fathers' reports of economic hardship were positively related to adolescents' reports of economic hardship, which in turn, were negatively related to parent-adolescent warmth and positively related to parent-adolescent conflict with both mothers and fathers. Adolescents' perceptions of economic hardship were indirectly related to (a) depressive symptoms through warmth with mothers and conflict with mothers and fathers, (b) involvement in risky behaviors through conflict with mothers and fathers, and (c) GPA through conflict with fathers. Our findings highlight the importance of adolescents' perceptions of family economic hardship and relationships with mothers and fathers in predicting adolescent adjustment.

Parent–Adolescent Relationship Qualities and Adolescent Adjustment in Two‐Parent African American Families

Using multi-informant data from 134 two-parent African American families, the goals of this study were to (a) describe parent - adolescent warmth and shared time as a function of parent and youth gender and (b) assess links between these indices of relationship quality and adolescent adjustment. Mixed-model ANCOVAs revealed that mothers reported warmer relationships with adolescents than fathers, and both parents reported warmer relationships with younger versus older offspring. Interparental differences in time spent with sons and daughters and older and younger siblings were also found. Tests of multilevel models indicated that greater maternal warmth was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and less risky behavior for sons, and more paternal warmth and shared time with fathers were associated with less risky behavior in youth. Discussion highlights the utility of cultural ecological and family systems perspectives for understanding parent-adolescent relationships and youth adjustment in African American families.

Parent–Adolescent Relationship Quality and Nondisclosure as Mediators of the Association Between Exposure to Community Violence and Psychological Distress

African American youth residing in urban poverty have been shown to be at increased risk for exposure to violence and for psychological symptoms, but there has been little investigation of mediating processes that might explain this association. This study tested the quality of parent–adolescent relationships and adolescent nondisclosure to adults as mediating mechanisms through which exposure to community violence may lead to psychological symptoms. The current study surveyed a sample of 152 low-income urban African American early adolescents (aged 12–14). Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing exposure to community violence, nondisclosure, parent–adolescent relationship, and psychological symptoms (i.e., internalizing and externalizing symptoms). Path analyses revealed that parent–adolescent relationship quality and nondisclosure both functioned as mediators of the relation between exposure to community violence and both internalizing and externalizing symptoms, though significant direct effects for violence exposure on externalizing symptoms remained. Decomposition of effects revealed that nondisclosure was a stronger mediator than parent–adolescent relationship quality. Results also indicated that exposure to violence can lead to externalizing (but not internalizing) symptoms first by way of parent–adolescent relationship quality and then nondisclosure. Combined, these findings suggest that the development of preventive interventions designed to assist adults and parents improve communication and strengthen relationships with adolescents might reduce the negative effects of exposure to community violence on adolescent mental health.

Delinquent Behavior, Poor Relationship Quality With Parents, and Involvement With Deviant Peers in Delinquent and Nondelinquent Adolescents

The aim of this study was to determine whether two risk factors that are frequently selected as targets for prevention and intervention purposes-involvement with deviant peers and parent-adolescent relationship quality-are associated with delinquent behavior in the same way in a juvenile general population sample (n = 88) as in a juvenile offender sample (n = 85). Information on delinquency and the quality of parent-adolescent relationship was obtained from adolescents and parents. The results of path analyses showed that relations between poor parent-adolescent relationship quality, involvement with deviant peers, and delinquency depended on whose point of view is used (adolescent or parent) and which sample is used (general population or delinquent sample). These findings indicate that caution is warranted when theories based on research with community samples are used for development of intervention programs for juvenile delinquents.

Connections Between Marital Conflict and Adolescent Girls’ Disordered Eating: Parent–Adolescent Relationship Quality as a Mediator

The family system has frequently been suggested to play an important role in adolescents’ health. Particularly, conflict within the marital dyad has been associated with maladjustment among adolescents, although studies have rarely focused on disordered eating as a possible negative outcome. In this study, we examined the direct association between marital conflict and disordered eating among 123 adolescent girls in middle school and high school. We also tested the mediating role of adolescents’ positive relationship quality with their mothers and fathers (e.g., high warmth and low control) in this relation. For our hypothesized direct effects and mediation models, we formed latent constructs with cross-sectional data collected from girls’ self-report questionnaires and applied bootstrapping procedures. We found that marital conflict was both directly and indirectly, via poor mother– and father–adolescent relationship quality, associated with girls’ disordered eating. This suggests that the mother–father, mother–adolescent, and father–adolescent family subsystems can play a part in influencing girls’ eating patterns. Clearly, family subsystems have significant roles in promoting the health of young, female adolescents. Future research and treatment efforts for girls exhibiting disordered eating should aim to include family members and address the roles of different family subsystems.

A systematic review of the relationships between family functioning, pubertal timing and adolescent substance use

Experiences linked to poor family functioning and pubertal timing have each been associated with increased risk of substance misuse in adolescence. However, it remains unclear to what extent family functioning and pubertal timing combine to put adolescents at particular risk. A systematic review was planned, undertaken and reported according to the 27 items of the PRISMA statement. Databases World of Knowledge, PsycINFO and PubMed were searched. Fifty-eight papers were retained and are discussed in this review after screening titles, abstracts and full papers against pre-established exclusion criteria. The combination of off-time pubertal timing and poor parent-adolescent relationship quality has been related to higher levels of substance use. However, this is an under-studied area of research and the evidence is less strong for boys than girls. Adolescents experiencing both poor parent-adolescent relationship quality and off-time pubertal timing may represent a high-risk group that can benefit from approaches aimed at reducing risk of substance misuse.

Contextual and Intrapersonal Predictors of Adolescent Risky Sexual Behavior and Outcomes

The present study was designed to test a model of contextual and intrapersonal predictors of adolescent risky sexual behaviors and of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses. Using Waves I and II from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors estimated a structural model in which intrapersonal factors such as adolescents' attitudes about sex, perceived parental norms, knowledge about sexual health, and birth-control self-efficacy partially mediated the effects of contextual factors such as parent-adolescent relationship quality, school connectedness, and exposure to AIDS and pregnancy education on a number of risky sexual behaviors and outcomes: early sex initiation, sex under the influence of substances, condom use at last intercourse, and having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. Different patterns of direct and mediated effects emerged for each sexual outcome. Results are discussed in terms of the complex interplay between environment and individual and in terms of how, when, and with whom to intervene in order to improve adolescent sexual health outcomes.

Adolescents who are less religious than their parents are at risk for externalizing and internalizing symptoms: The mediating role of parent–adolescent relationship quality.

Parents generally take pains to insure that their children adopt their own religious beliefs and practices, so what happens psychologically to adolescents who find themselves less religious than their parents? We examined the relationships among parents' and adolescents' religiousness, adolescents' ratings of parent-adolescent relationship quality, and adolescents' psychological adjustment using data from 322 adolescents and their parents. Adolescent boys who had lower organizational and personal religiousness than their parents, and girls who had lower personal religiousness than their parents, had more internalizing and externalizing psychological symptoms than did adolescents whose religiousness better matched their parents'. The apparent effects of subparental religiousness on adolescents' psychological symptoms were mediated by their intermediate effects on adolescents' ratings of the quality of their relationships with their parents. These findings identify religious discrepancies between parents and their children as an important influence on the quality of parent-adolescent relationships, with important implications for adolescents' psychological well-being.

Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality as a Moderator for the Influences of Parents’ Religiousness on Adolescents’ Religiousness and Adjustment

Prior investigations have demonstrated that parents' religiousness is related inversely to adolescent maladjustment. However, research remains unclear about whether the link between parents' religiousness and adolescent adjustment outcomes--either directly or indirectly via adolescents' own religiousness--varies depending on relationship context (e.g., parent-adolescent attachment). This study examined the moderating roles of parent-adolescent attachment on the apparent effects of the intergenerational transmission of religiousness on adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms using data from 322 adolescents (mean age = 12.63 years, 45 % girls, and 84 % White) and their parents. Structural equation models indicated significant indirect effects suggesting that parents' organizational religiousness was positively to boys' organizational religiousness--the latter of which appeared to mediate the negative association of parents' organizational religiousness with boys' internalizing symptoms. Significant interaction effects suggested also that, for both boys and girls, parents' personal religiousness was associated positively with adolescent internalizing symptoms for parent-adolescent dyads with low attachment, whereas parents' personal religiousness was not associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms for parent-adolescent dyads with high attachment. The findings help to identify the family dynamics by which the interaction of parents' religiousness and adolescents' religiousness might differentially influence adolescent adjustment.

Adolescents’ Experiences of Discrimination and Parent–Adolescent Relationship Quality

Grounded in a cultural-ecological perspective, the goals of this study were to examine the implications of young adolescents' experiences of racial discrimination for the quality of relationships with mothers and fathers and to test whether sociocultural processes, such as youth ethnic identity and parents' racial socialization strategies, moderated these linkages. Participants were older and younger adolescents in 176 two-parent African American families who completed questionnaires about their discrimination experiences, ethnic identities, and warmth and conflict in their relationships with parents. Mothers and fathers reported on cultural socialization and preparation for bias practices. Consistent with an emotional spillover hypothesis, discrimination was linked to poorer relationship quality with both mothers and fathers. Youth ethnic identity and mothers' racial socialization moderated discrimination-relationship linkages. Findings were consistent with prior research on discrimination and highlight the protective nature of some sociocultural processes for family relationships.

Does an Unplanned Pregnancy have Long-Term Implications for Mother-Child Relationships?

The effect of pregnancy planning on the quality of mother-adolescent relationships 15 years later was examined among 373 first-time parents and 472 experienced parents using a mediated moderation model. Among first-time mothers only, the experience of an unplanned pregnancy was related to higher maternal depressive symptoms when mothers also experienced high parenting stress over the first three years. High maternal depressive symptoms over those early years were, in turn, related to more conflict and hostility in the parent-adolescent relationship according to mother and adolescent reports. Additionally, interactions between parity and pregnancy planning revealed that experienced mothers with unplanned pregnancies had the most early parenting stress, though an unplanned pregnancy and high parenting stress did not predict higher depressive symptoms for these mothers as it did for first-time mothers. The findings provide support for the importance of early parenting emotions and experiences on later parent-adolescent relationship quality.

Attachment in adolescence: overlap with parenting and unique prediction of behavioural adjustment

Attachment theory was conceptualized by Bowlby as relevant across the life span, from 'cradle to grave'. The research literature on attachment in infants and preschool-aged children is extensive, but it is limited in adolescence. In particular, it is unclear whether or not attachment security is distinguishable from other qualities of the parent-adolescent relationship and predicts adjustment independently of alternate measures of it. Data from three parallel studies of adolescents, representing normal- to high-risk status, were combined, n = 248. Attachment was assessed using the Child Attachment Interview, a recently constructed measure designed for older children and adolescents. Parent-adolescent relationship quality was assessed in detail through questionnaires, interviews and observation of a standard problem-solving interaction. Adolescent adjustment was assessed through parental psychiatric interview, teacher questionnaire and adolescent self-report. Bivariate analyses showed that secure attachment representations were modestly associated with diverse measures of the current parent-adolescent relationship such as monitoring, negative expressed emotion, and directly observed parental warmth and anger. In addition, attachment representations were reliably associated with key indicators of psychological adjustment in adolescence, including parent-rated oppositional-defiant disorder symptoms and teacher-reported emotional and behavioural difficulties. Regression analyses revealed that secure attachment representations explained unique variance in these indicators of adjustment, independent of alternative measures of the parent-adolescent relationship. Adolescents' representational models of attachment are related to but distinct from current parenting quality and provide unique insight into the understanding of behavioural adjustment. The findings support a distinct conceptual role of attachment representations in adolescence. Clinical assessment and treatment models should include attachment patterns in this age group.

The influence of parent–adolescent relationship quality, parental monitoring, and peer substance use on substance use in South Korean high school students: Using latent growth curve modelling

Objective: Substance use, such as alcohol and tobacco, is becoming a critical problem in the area of health promotion and preventive programme. Furthermore, the onset of alcohol use has been becoming increasingly earlier. This study examined developmental trajectories of substance use among high school students in South Korea and effects of peer substance on such trajectories, and also examined the moderating effects of parent–adolescent relationship quality and parental monitoring in the link between peer substance use and adolescents’ own substance use. Methods: This study used the Korea Youth Panel Survey (KYPS), a nationally-representative sample of 3,125 high school students. The participants were in the 10th grade when first recruited and assessed annually from 2005 to 2007. A latent growth curve model was used for the analysis Results: Substance use in Korean high school students increased over time. Peer substance use was associated more strongly with the initial level of adolescent substance uses than parenting. Parent–adolescent relationship quality moderated the association between peer and adolescent substance use. Conclusion: The effect of peer substance use was most strongly associated with the initial level and growth of adolescents’ own substance use.

Self-esteem and mastery trajectories in high school by social class and gender

Using longitudinal data from 769 white adolescents in the Midwest, this research applies a social structure and personality perspective to examine variation in self-esteem and mastery trajectories by gender and SES across the high school years. Analyses reveal that high SES adolescents experience significantly steeper gains in self-esteem and mastery compared to low SES adolescents, resulting in the reversal of SES differences in self-esteem and the emergence of significant SES differences in mastery. Pre-existing gender differences in self-esteem narrow between the 9th and 12th grade because self-esteem increases at a faster rate among girls than boys during high school. These SES and gender differences in self-concept growth are explained by changes in parent–adolescent relationship quality and stress exposure. Specifically, boys and adolescents with lower SES backgrounds experienced steeper declines in parent–adolescent relationship quality and steeper gains in chronic work strain compared to girls and low SES adolescents, respectively.

Work and Mexican American parent-adolescent relationships: the mediating role of parent well-being.

This study of Mexican American two-parent families (N = 246) examined the role of parents' well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms, role overload) as a potential mechanism through which parent occupational conditions (i.e., self-direction, hazardous conditions, physical activity, work pressure) are linked to parent-adolescent relationship qualities (i.e., warmth, conflict, disclosure). Depressive symptoms mediated the links between maternal and paternal work pressure and parent-adolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure. For mothers, depressive symptoms also mediated the links between self-direction and mother-adolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure; for fathers, role overload mediated the links between work pressure and hazardous conditions with father-adolescent warmth.

The influence of parents and friends on adolescent substance use: a multidimensional approach

Objective: The current study examined longitudinal associations between friend's substance use, friendship quality, parent-adolescent relationship quality, and subsequent substance use among an adult population. Design: Participants were 166 adolescents, their parents, and their close same-sex friends recruited from both urban and suburban high schools surrounding a large metropolitan area. Measures of relationship characteristics in the10th grade were used to predict concurrent substance use and changes in substance use over a 1-year period. Results: The most consistent predictor of the use of different substances and changes in substance use over time was the friend's substance-using behavior. Negative interpersonal interactions with a friend were related only to tobacco use, and friendship support neither contributed to nor protected against substance use. Mother-adolescent relationship support was associated with lower levels of concurrent substance use, as well as lower levels of hard drug use over time. Conclusions: Findings highlight the need to examine parents and peers simultaneously and the importance of parental relationships and peer behavior on adolescent substance use. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Longitudinal Associations Between Perceived Parent-Child Relationship Quality and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence

This longitudinal study examined bidirectional paths between perceived parent-adolescent relationship quality and depressive symptoms, as well as the moderating role of sex, age, and personality type. 1313 Dutch adolescents (51% girls) from two cohorts (923 12-year olds and 390 16-year olds at Wave 1) reported on their personality, depressive symptoms, and perceived relationship quality to parents in four waves. Consistent with a relationship erosion perspective, depressive symptoms negatively predicted perceived relationship quality with parents. Relationship quality to mothers predicted depressive symptoms for boys and girls, but relationship quality to fathers predicted depressive symptoms only for boys. Personality type only moderated initial associations between relationship quality with mothers and depressive symptoms, which were stronger for Overcontrollers and Undercontrollers than for Resilients. Results thus reveal a pattern of mutual influence between perceived relationship quality and depressive symptoms that is moderated by the interplay among parent and adolescent sex and adolescent personality type.

How can parents make a difference? Longitudinal associations with adolescent sexual behavior.

Parents have the potential to protect against adolescent sexual risk, including early sexual behavior, inconsistent condom use, and outcomes such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Identification of the specific parenting dimensions associated with sexual risk in adolescence and young adulthood is necessary to inform and focus prevention efforts. The current study examined the relation of proximal (e.g., discussions of sexual costs) and distal (e.g., parental involvement, relationship quality) parenting variables with concurrent and longitudinal adolescent sexual behavior. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) provided a nationally representative sample with information about the family using adolescent and parent informants. Longitudinal information about sexual risk included adolescent condom use and adolescent sexual initiation, as well as young adult unintended pregnancy, reports of STIs, and biological assay results for three STIs. Higher parent-adolescent relationship quality was associated with lower levels of adolescent unprotected intercourse and intercourse initiation. Better relationship quality was also associated with lower levels of young adult STIs, even when accounting for prior sexual activity. Unexpectedly, more parent reports of communication regarding the risks associated with sexual activity were negatively associated with condom use and greater likelihood of sexual initiation. These results demonstrate that parents play an important role, both positive and negative, in sexual behavior, which extends to young adulthood, and underscores the value of family interventions in sexual risk prevention.