Family interaction patterns among families with normal,disturbed, and drug-abusing adolescents

The relationships between family interaction patterns and the symptomatology of the individual family member are central to many therapeutic approaches. This study was designed to determine whether family interaction patterns differ significantly among three groups of families defined according to the adolescent offspring's symptoms. Thirty families were evaluated in a one-hour interview while three observers behind a one-way mirror rated verbal behavior and the quality of interaction between father, mother, and adolescent. Assessed behaviors included the ability to reach a decision, decision time, scapegoating, and double-bind messages. In addition, the quality of the family's interaction was assessed at four different times during the interview. The results established that the three family groups did not differ demographically. A comparison of the two disturbed family groups yielded no significant differences, with the exception of the adolescent's presenting problem and behaviors. The normal group was significantly different from the other two groups in frequency of scapegoating of the adolescent and the ability to reach a decision. Additionally, the normal families displayed clearer communication, more freedom of expression, more cooperation, and greater sensitivity among members. Several variables did not discriminate the normal group from the disturbed family groups.Received her Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College. Research interests are adolescent psychopathology as it relates to family, group psychotherapy with adolescents, and use of the therapeutic milieu.     

Predictors of Adolescents’ Disclosure to Parents and Perceived Parental Knowledge: Between- and Within-Person Differences

Adolescents’ willingness to share information with parents is a central process through which parents gain knowledge of their adolescents’ lives. This paper addresses four questions important to understanding adolescents’ decisions to voluntarily disclose areas of parent-adolescent disagreement: What are the contribution of parent-adolescent agreement and adolescents’ non-disclosure of disagreement to adolescents’ perceptions of parental knowledge?; Which adolescents are most likely to disclose to parents in case of disagreement?; Under what conditions are adolescents more or less likely to disclose disagreement?; and What type of non-disclosure will different adolescents use and under what conditions? Self-report data from 120 adolescents (M age=15.8) revealed that failure to disclose disagreement, but not overall agreement, predicted perceived parental knowledge. Adolescents from authoritative homes and those less involved in disapproved leisure were more likely to disclose disagreement and less likely to lie. Within-person differences in disclosure were predicted by the presence of explicit rules and adolescents’ beliefs about required obedience.Dr. Darling is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on social relationships during adolescence, with a special interest in contextual variation in developmental processes. Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Darling atDr. Cumsille is a developmental methodologist whose research focuses on adolescent well-being.Dr. Caldwell's research focuses on the experience of adolescent leisure, with a particular interest in adolescent boredom and well-being.Dr. Dowdy is a developmental psychologist specializing in adolescent social relations.     

Investigating the age effects of family structure on adolescent Marijuana use

This study examines differences among older and younger adolescents in the influence of family structure, family relations, and peer relations on marijuana use. Data from a longitudinal sample of adolescents from the United States were stratified by age and used to assess these potential differences. Precise measures of family structure were constructed to account for the various manifestations of family forms. Multivariate analyses indicate that a recent divorce attenuates attachment among younger adolescents and leads to less family involvement among older adolescents. Moreover, older adolescents from stepparent families are less attached to their families. Changes in these family relationship variables influence associations with drug using peers, but these processes differ for the two age groups. Finally, less family involvement and greater drug using peer associations lead to greater marijuana use among younger adolescents, while only peer associations directly affect use among older adolescents.This research was partially funded by a Faculty Research Grant provided by the University of North Carolina—Charlotte. The data used in this paper were made available by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data for the National Youth Survey, 1976 to 1978 (Waves 1–3), were originally collected by Delbert Elliott and colleagues at the Institute of Behavioral Science. Neither the collectors of the original data nor the consortium bear any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.Received Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany. Current research interests include adolescent drug use, social-psychological determinants of violence, and behavioral aspects of HIV transmission.     

Adolescent discipline: Different family members' perception

Adolescence is perhaps the most difficult period of child rearing for parents. This study attempted to identify disciplinary techniques used by parents as perceived by mothers, fathers, and their adolescent children. Results indicated several significant areas of intrafamilial disagreement in regard to disciplinary techniques utilized, although all subjects tended to agree that some form of verbal reasoning was the primary disciplinary technique utilized with these adolescents.This study was funded, in part, by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (H-644) and the School of Home Economics, The University of Georgia.Received his Ph.D. in child and family studies from the University of Tennessee. Current interests include adolescent development, family influences on sex-role development, and dual-work families.Received her Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University. Major interests include family research methodology, assessment of family power, and marital dissolution.Received her Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Texas. Current research interests include parenting, sex roles, and socialization across the life-span.     

Family profiles of adaptability,cohesion, and communication for learning handicapped and nonhandicapped adolescents

The family functioning of 30 nonhandicapped and 30 learning handicapped adolescents and their parents was examined. Measures of adaptability, cohesion, and communication were taken from the parent and the adolescent perspectives. Parent and adolescent perspectives on these areas of functioning were analyzed with a cluster analytic technique, which resulted in five distinct profiles of family functioning. These statistical groupings were confirmed by information gathered through participant observation from an accompanying investigation. The nature of the five clusters confirmed the existence of similar family functioning across the nonhandicapped and learning handicapped groups. Additionally, variations in reaction and adjustment to the amount of structure in the family environment by different families was documented. The importance of considering adolescent and parent perspectives separately was highlighted.Received degree from University of California, Riverside. Research interests are in the area of the social development of at-risk or mildly handicapped children and adolescents in school and family settings.Received degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Research interests in social competence and family relations of learning handicapped populations as well as the development of family, community, and school partnerships.     

A Developmental Perspective on Young Adult Romantic Relationships: Examining Family and Individual Factors in Adolescence

The ability to develop and maintain healthy romantic relationships is a key developmental task in young adulthood. The present study investigated how adolescent interpersonal skills (assertiveness, positive engagement) and family processes (family climate, parenting practices) influence the development of young adult romantic relationship functioning. We evaluated cross-lag structural equation models with a sample of 974 early adolescents living in rural and semi-rural communities in Pennsylvania and Iowa, starting in sixth grade (mean age?=?12.4, 62.1% female) and followed into young adulthood (mean age?=?19.5). Findings revealed that adolescents who had experienced a more positive family climate and more competent parenting reported more effective problem-solving skills and less violent behavior in their young adult romantic relationships. Adolescent assertiveness was consistently positively associated with relationship problem-solving skills, and adolescents’ positive engagement with their family was associated with feeling more love in young adult romantic relationships. In addition, family functioning and adolescent interpersonal skills exhibited some reciprocal relations over the adolescent years. In summary, family processes and interpersonal skills are mutually influenced by each other across adolescence, and both have unique predictive implications to specific facets of young adult romantic relationship functioning.     

Adolescent-Mother Agreement about Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Direction and Predictors of Disagreement

Correlations between adolescent and parent reports of adolescent problems are low in magnitude. In community samples adolescents tend to report more problems than parents and in clinical samples adolescents tend to report fewer problems than parents. Indices of agreement may be biased if some adolescents in a given sample report more problems and others report fewer problems than parents. In the current study, order and mean agreement between adolescent and maternal reports of adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, taking into account the direction of disagreement, was examined in a community sample of 133 young adolescents and their mothers. Two-thirds to three-quarters of adolescents reported more problems than mothers. Accounting for the direction of discrepancies resulted in improved agreement between adolescents and mothers and differing patterns of predictors of discrepancies. Additionally, the results demonstrate the need to control for relations between adolescent-reported problems and discrepancies when exploring predictors of discrepancies. Erin T. Barker received her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Alberta. Her research interests include internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Marc H. Bornstein received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University. He has contributed scientific papers in the areas of human experimental, methodological, comparative, developmental, cross-cultural, neuroscientific, pediatric, and aesthetic psychology. Diane L. Putnick received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from George Washington University. Her research interests include child and family processes across cultures. Charlene Hendricks received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from George Mason University. Her research interests are in the areas of early adolescent development and adjustment and families by adoption. Joan T. D. Suwalsky received her M.S. degree in Human Development from Cornell University. Her research interests include parent-child interaction and child development in at-risk populations, including families by adoption.     

Functioning of Adolescents With Symptoms of Disturbed Sleep

The objective of the study was to examine the association between disturbed sleep and the functioning of adolescents, in particular cumulative effects on functioning across multiple life domains. Data from a large, school-based survey (n = 5,423) were used to examine the association between eight indicators of psychological, interpersonal, and somatic functioning and symptoms of insomnia and hypersomnia among adolescents. The strongest correlates of insomnia were disturbed mood (OR = 5.9), fatigue (OR = 7.4), and suicidal ideation (OR = 3.4). The same pattern held for hypersomnia, although the associations were not as strong for fatigue (OR = 6.8), mood disturbance (OR = 3.5), and suicide ideation (OR = 2.8). Youths who experienced both insomnia and hypersomnia had greater odds of psychological, interpersonal, and somatic dysfunction than youths who had experienced only one sleep disturbance. Cumulative effects of sleep problems were pronounced, with 27.6% of those with hypersomnia, 41.7% of those with insomnia, and 59.2% of those with both sleep problems reporting three or more types of dysfunction. The results suggest that adolescents experiencing disturbed sleep also experience a range of deficits in functioning. Further, youths with disturbed sleep are more likely to manifest multiple deficits in functioning. From the available evidence, however, it is not possible to specify what the causal pathways are. What are needed are cohort studies designed to examine the association of disturbed sleep and functional impairment among adolescents prospectively.     

Advice about Life Plans from Mothers,Fathers, and Siblings in Always-Married and Divorced Families during Late Adolescence

The frequency of advice about life plans that older adolescents in always-married and divorced families received from mothers, fathers, and siblings was examined. Also, a pattern-analytic approach that grouped adolescents according to the amount of advice about life plans received from each parent and a sibling was employed to explore the connections between patterns of advice and adolescents' future occupational, educational, and family plans. The sample included 544 and 95 older adolescents in always-married and divorced families, respectively. Findings suggested that while adolescents relied on mothers for advice in both always-married and divorced families, adolescents in divorced families depended on fathers and siblings for advice less often than did adolescents in always-married families. Although there was some evidence of family context differences in the connections between patterns of advice and life plans, overall, adolescents in both family contexts who received more advice from a parent and, in some cases, a sibling compared to other adolescents were the most positive about their future life plans.     

Financial Stress,Parent Functioning and Adolescent Problem Behavior: An Actor–Partner Interdependence Approach to Family Stress Processes in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Families

The family stress model proposes that financial stress experienced by parents is associated with problem behavior in adolescents. The present study applied an actor–partner interdependence approach to the family stress model and focused on low-, middle-, and high-income families to broaden our understanding of the pathways by which the financial stress of mothers and fathers are related to adolescent outcomes. The study uses dyadic data (N = 798 heterosexual couples) from the Relationship between Mothers, Fathers and Children study in which two-parent families with an adolescent between 11 and 17 years of age participated. Path-analytic results indicated that in each of the families the association between parents’ financial stress and problem behavior in adolescents is mediated through parents’ depressive symptoms, interparental conflict, and positive parenting. Family stress processes also appear to operate in different ways for low-, middle-, and high-income families. In addition to a higher absolute level of financial stress in low-income families, financial stress experienced by mothers and fathers in these families had significant direct and indirect effects on problem behavior in adolescents, while in middle- and high-income families only significant indirect effects were found. The financial stress of a low-income mother also had a more detrimental impact on her level of depressive feelings than it had on mothers in middle-income families. Furthermore, the study revealed gender differences in the pathways of mothers and fathers. Implications for research, clinical practice, and policy are also discussed.     

Parent–Child Acculturation Discrepancy, Perceived Parental Knowledge, Peer Deviance, and Adolescent Delinquency in Chinese Immigrant Families

Parent-child acculturation discrepancy has been considered a risk factor for child maladjustment. The current study examined parent-child acculturation discrepancy as an ongoing risk factor for delinquency, through the mediating pathway of parental knowledge of the child's daily experiences relating to contact with deviant peers. Participants were drawn from a longitudinal project with 4 years between data collection waves: 201 Chinese immigrant families participated at Wave 1 (123 girls and 78 boys) and 183 families (110 girls and 73 boys) participated at Wave 2. Based on the absolute difference in acculturation levels (tested separately for Chinese and American orientations) between adolescents and parents, one parent in each family was assigned to the "more discrepant" group of parent-child dyads, and the other parent was assigned to the "less discrepant" group of parent-child dyads. To explore possible within-family variations, the mediating pathways were tested separately among the more and less discrepant groups. Structural equation modeling showed that the proposed mediating pathways were significant only among the more discrepant parent-adolescent dyads in American orientation. Among these dyads, a high level of parent-child acculturation discrepancy is related to adolescent perceptions of less parental knowledge, which is related to adolescents having more contact with deviant peers, which in turn leads to more adolescent delinquency. This mediating pathway is significant concurrently, within early and middle adolescence, and longitudinally, from early to middle adolescence. These findings illuminate some of the dynamics in the more culturally discrepant parent-child dyad in a family and highlight the importance of examining parent-child acculturation discrepancy within family systems.     

Patterns of family interaction and adolescent sex role concepts

This study examined the relationship between patterns of family interaction and adolescent development of sex role concepts. Sixty-six families of high school seniors completed a measure of daily family activities and a Plan Something Together Task, used to measure individuation in family communication. Adolescents' responses on the sex roles section of the Ego Identity Interview were coded to reflect Block's theory of the stages of development of sex role concepts. Results indicated gender differences in the development of sex role concepts as related to distinctive patterns of family communication and daily activity with the adolescents' mothers and fathers.This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-29819 and HD-17983), the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and the University Research Institute and Institute of Human Development and Family Studies of the University of Texas at Austin.Received degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Research interests in adolescent development, adolescent mental health, and adolescents in high-risk families. To whom reprint requests should be addressed at School of Social Work, Annex C, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469-0124.Received degree from the University of Minnesota. Research interests are in adolescent development within the context of the family and adoptive family relationships.Received degree from the University of Minnesota. Research interests are in the role of ethnicity in adolescent identity development and family relationships.     

Neighborhood,Family, and Peer Factors Associated with Early Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use

There is broad agreement that neighborhood contexts are important for adolescent development, but there is less consensus about their association with adolescent smoking and alcohol use. Few studies have examined associations between neighborhood socioeconomic contexts and smoking and alcohol use while also accounting for differences in family and peer risk factors for substance use. Data drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (N?=?808), a gender-balanced (female?=?49%), multiethnic, theory-driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate trajectories of smoking and alcohol use from 5th to 9th grade. Time-varying measures of neighborhood socioeconomic, family, and peer factors were associated with smoking and alcohol use at each wave after accounting for average growth in smoking and alcohol use over time and demographic differences. Results indicated that living in more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, lower family income, lower family general functioning, more permissive family smoking environments, and affiliation with deviant peers were independently associated with increased smoking. Lower family functioning, more permissive family alcohol use environments, and deviant peers were independently associated with increased alcohol use. The effect of neighborhood disadvantage on smoking was mediated by family income and deviant peers while the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on alcohol use was mediated by deviant peers alone. Family functioning and family substance use did not mediate associations between neighborhood disadvantage and smoking or alcohol use. The results highlight the importance of neighborhood, family, and peer factors in early adolescent smoking and alcohol use. Future studies should examine the unique association of neighborhood disadvantage with adolescent smoking net of family socioeconomics, functioning, and substance use, as well as peer affiliations. Better understanding of the role of contextual factors in early adolescent smoking and alcohol use can help bolster efforts to prevent both short and long harms from substance use.     

Teenagers' perception of agreement over family expenditures,employment, and family life

Teenagers' perspective of disagreement over family finances and related factors were investigated. Involvement of teenagers in employment and percentage of earnings kept for personal use were examined. Reasons for employment affected disagreement over finances, whereas family income had no important effect on disagreement over finances in multivariate analysis. Disagreement over finances was important in explaining variation in satisfaction with money management in the family and in satisfaction with family life. Results have implication for reducing stress in family life and for contributing to theory on family resource management and adolescent development.This study is part of an interregional Agricultural Experiment Station Research Project NC-128 Quality of Life as Affected by Area of Residence. Cooperating states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, and Texas.Received Ph.D. from Purdue University. Research interests include family economics.Received B.S. from Cornell. Research interests include consumer and family economics.     

Maternal employment and adolescents' relations with parents,siblings, and peers

The association between maternal employment status and the relations that adolescents have with their parents, siblings, and peers was investigated. Three daily reports of conflicts with family members and time spent with parents, peers, and alone were obtained from 64 tenth-grade adolescents using a telephone interviewing technique. Males, but not females, had more arguments, which were of longer duration and greater intensity, with their mothers and siblings when their mothers worked than when they did not. Female conflict behavior was unrelated to the work status of the mother. Adolescents of both sexes spent less time with their parents when their mothers worked, especially when they worked full-time, than when they were nonemployed. Adolescents with employed mothers generally spent less free time with their parents than those with nonemployed mothers. Time spent with parents in the performance of household tasks was not affected by maternal employment status. The need to take a family system perspective in order to understand fully the relationship between maternal employment and adolescent development was emphasized.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1974. Major research interests are in parent and peer relations during adolescence.     

Psychosocial Adjustment and Family Relationships: A Typology of Italian Families with a Late Adolescent

The importance of family relationships in human development and adjustment has always been recognized in psychological studies. The present study aims to construct a typology of families with a late adolescent and to analyze the family relationships present in each type. The typology, constructed using family satisfaction—a global index of family functioning—as the discriminate variable, took into account eight types. This study is focused on the two extreme types of the typology: Families with adequate functioning or satisfied families and Families with inadequate functioning or dissatisfied families. These two types of families were compared according to variables such as: (a) parent-child communication and its topics and (b) the family's decision-making process on topics related to the adolescent and his/her future orientation. All subjects completed a questionnaire composed of different scales. The results show substantial differences in the two family types regarding both family functioning and the role played by mothers and fathers. Satisfied families give evidence of a better communication process than the dissatisfied ones, greater sharing between parents and adolescents and, finally, a decision-making process based mostly on sharing and support. Moreover, in satisfied families the father has the role of social mediator. In this way, he succeeds in part in restoring equilibrium to the relational imbalance in favor of mothers so typical of Italian families.     

The Associations Among Perceived Pubertal Timing, Parental Relations and Self-Perception in Turkish Adolescents

This study is primarily aimed at investigating how pubertal timing is perceived in urban Turkish adolescents in terms of their feelings about maturation, their relationships with their parents, and their self-perception. A total of 697 high-school students (360 girls, 337 boys) between the ages of 14 and 18 (M=16.15, SD=1.08) were included in this study. The findings indicated that most of the adolescents perceived themselves as on-time developers in comparison with their peers. Consistent with widely available research data in the literature regarding the impact of early versus late maturation, girls who mature early and boys who mature late reported more negative feelings about pubertal maturation. In addition, those who matured early reported greater conflict and disagreement with their parents and more negative communication with their fathers than the adolescents who matured on- time. Adolescents who were less satisfied with their physical appearance were more likely to have negative feelings about pubertal maturation. Sex was found to act as a moderator of relationships between global self-worth and feelings about pubertal maturation. In conclusion, this study, conducted with Turkish urban adolescents, suggests that the impact of early versus late maturation differs between girls and boys, which is consistent with widely available data in the literature.