Parental Support and Youth Occupational Attainment: Help or Hindrance?

Although several concerns surround the transition to adulthood and youth increasingly rely on parental support, our knowledge about the implications of parental support for youth development and transition to adulthood is limited. This study fills this gap by conceptualizing development within a life course perspective that links social inequality and early life course transitions. It draws on a subsample of youth observed between age 18 and 28 from the Transition to Adulthood supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics 2005–2015 (N?=?7,542; 53% female, 51.3% white). Mixed-effects models reveal that the more direct financial transfers youth receive, the higher their occupational status. Yet, indirect financial support parents offer through co-residence shows the opposite pattern. Among youth receiving monetary transfers, college graduates have particularly high occupational status; however, among youth living with their parents, college graduates have the lowest occupational status. Although different types of parental support may equally act as safety nets, their divergent implications for youths’ occupational attainment raise concerns about the reproduction and possible intensification of inequality during this developmental stage.     

Impacts of Parental Burnout on Chinese Youth’s Mental Health: The Role of Parents’ Autonomy Support and Emotion Regulation

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Parental burnout is a state that parents experience overwhelming exhaustion in their parental role. Given the detrimental impacts of parents’ stress on...     

Parental Management of Peer Relationships and Early Adolescents’ Social Skills

Despite a growing body of research on parental management of peer relationships, little is known about the relationship between parental management of peers and early adolescents’ social skills or the precursors to parental management of peer relationships. The goals of this short-term longitudinal investigation were to examine the relationship between parental management of peers (consulting and guiding), conflict about peers, and adolescents’ social skills (cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control) and to examine potential precursors (goals of improving peer relationships and beliefs about authority over peer relationships) to parental management of peer relationships. A predominantly White sample (71%) of 75 seventh-graders (57% female) and their primary caregivers participated in the 9-month investigation. Caregivers completed questionnaires regarding goals of improving their adolescents’ peer relationships, beliefs about parental authority over peer relationships, parental management of peers, and adolescents’ social skills. Adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their social skills. Path analyses suggest that a greater number of caregivers’ goals of improving peer relationships and higher beliefs about parental authority over peers were related to higher levels of consulting, guiding, and conflict about peers. Higher levels of conflict about peers in conjunction with higher levels of consulting were related to lower levels of assertion and responsibility in peer relationships over time. When parents reported having a greater number of goals of improving peer relationships, adolescents reported higher levels of cooperation, assertion, empathy, and self control over time. Findings suggest that caregivers’ goals and beliefs are important in predicting parental management of peer relationships and adolescents’ social skills over time, and that conflict about peers undermines caregivers’ efforts to be positively involved in adolescents’ peer relationships.     

Discrepancies Between Youth and Mothers’ Perceptions of Their Mother–Child Relationship Quality and Self-Disclosure: Implications for Youth- and Mother-Reported Youth Adjustment

Recently, researchers have devoted greater attention to understanding how disagreement between mothers and their children regarding parent-child relationship quality and functioning impacts youth adjustment. While some view discrepancies as indices of developmentally appropriate individuation, discrepancies regarding family functioning also have been found to predict problematic youth functioning. This study examined the effects of mother-child discrepancies for mother-child relationship qualities and youth self-disclosure on youth- and mother-reported youth internalizing and externalizing adjustment. 232 fifth, eighth, and 11th grade youth (55?% female) and their mothers completed measures of mother-child relationship quality, youth self-disclosure, and youth internalizing and externalizing adjustment. For internalizing adjustment, few effects of discrepancy on adjustment were evident. Instead, informant-specific perceptions of mother-child relationship functioning were most relevant for informant-specific reports of youth adjustment. For youth externalizing adjustment, the magnitude of mother-child discrepancies for negative relationship quality and for youth self-disclosure predicted lower levels of problematic externalizing behavior from both the children's and the mothers' perspectives, which could indicate a lack of parent-child communication. Future research is needed to fully understand how discrepancies in negative or maladaptive aspects of mother-child relationships are formed (e.g., low disclosure), are understood by the members of the dyad, and contribute to the onset, maintenance, and treatment of problematic behavioral outcomes.     

Parental Monitoring, Parental Warmth, and Minority Youths’ Academic Outcomes: Exploring the Integrative Model of Parenting

Guided by the integrative model of parenting, the present study investigated the relationship between parental monitoring and racial/ethnic minority adolescents’ school engagement and academic motivation as a function of parental warmth, and explored whether these associations varied for boys and girls. Participants (60 % female) were 208 sixth through eighth grade students (63 % African American, 19 % Latino, 18 % Multiracial) from an urban middle school in the Midwestern United States. Youth completed an in-school survey with items on parenting (parental monitoring, mothers’/fathers’ warmth), cognitive engagement (school self-esteem), behavioral engagement (school trouble), and academic motivation (intrinsic motivation). As hypothesized, mothers’ warmth enhanced the association between parental monitoring and youths’ engagement and motivation. No gender differences in these associations emerged. Fathers’ warmth strengthened the negative association between parental monitoring and school trouble, and this association was stronger for boys. Implications regarding the importance of sustaining a high level of monitoring within the context of warm parent–adolescent relationships to best support academic outcomes among minority youth are discussed.     

Adolescents’ Reports of Parental Engagement and Academic Achievement in Immigrant Families

The purpose of this study was to add to the understanding of the effects of perceived parental engagement on adolescents’ academic achievement in immigrant families. Self-report data were collected from 1,245 adolescents in immigrant families from four high schools in Los Angeles County. The sample characteristics follow: 13–16 years old (M = 14.5); 58.9% female, 41.1% male; 57.5% Latino; 40.6% 1st generation youth (i.e., foreign born), 59.4% 2nd generation youth. After controlling for parental educational attainment, parental engagement variables were indirectly related to grades through youths’ academic engagement. Multigroup SEM indicated some differences between genders, generational statuses, and ethnicities (Latinos versus others). Adolescents’ perceptions of monitoring by mothers and fathers were indirectly related to grades through academic engagement. Perceived educational advice by mothers was indirectly related to grades through academic engagement for non-Latinos, boys, and 2nd generation youth. Perceived mothers’ schoolwork help was positively related to adolescents’ academic engagement in all the models (except 2nd generation youth), yet fathers’ schoolwork help was significant only for girls and 2nd generation youth.

Associations of Parental and Peer Characteristics with Adolescents’ Social Dominance Orientation

Studies with adults of social dominance orientation (SDO), a preference for inequality among social groups, have found correlations with various prejudices and support for discriminatory practices. This study explores the construct among adolescents at an age when they are beginning to recognize the social groups in their environment, particularly adolescent crowds. The relationship of SDO and perceptions of parents’ responsiveness and demandingness were also investigated. Subjects were in grades 9–12 (N = 516, 53% female, 96% White). Mother’s and father’s responsiveness significantly predicted adolescent’s SDO scores, with greater perceived responsiveness associated with lower SDO. To analyze the multiple crowd memberships of the 76% belonging to more than one crowd, two-step cluster analysis was used to identify patterns, resulting in 8 clusters of distinct, heterogeneous composition. SDO differed significantly among males in different clusters, but not females. The importance of membership was positively associated with SDO among high-status crowds and negatively associated with SDO among the academic and normal crowds. The findings have implications for prejudices that may be developing in adolescence and indicate a need for further research into the social context of SDO and its development.     

Adolescents’ Media-related Cognitions and Substance Use in the Context of Parental and Peer Influences

Two cross-sectional studies investigated media influences on adolescents’ substance use and intentions to use substances in the context of exposure to parental and peer risk and protective factors. A total of 729 middle school students (n = 351, 59% female in Study 1; n = 378, 43% female in Study 2) completed self-report questionnaires. The sample in Study 1 was primarily African-American (52%) and the sample in Study 2 was primarily Caucasian (63%). Across the two studies, blocks of media-related cognitions made unique contributions to the prediction of adolescents’ current substance use and intentions to use substances in the future above and beyond self-reported peer and parental influences. Specifically, identification with and perceived similarity to media messages were positively associated with adolescents’ current substance use and intentions to use substances in the future, and critical thinking about media messages and media message deconstruction skills were negatively associated with adolescents’ intention to use substances in the future. Further, peer influence variables (e.g., peer pressure, social norms, peer substance use) acted as risk factors, and for the most part, parental influence variables (e.g., parental pressure to not use, perceived parental reaction) acted as protective factors. These findings highlight the importance of developing an increased understanding of the role of media messages and media literacy education in the prevention of substance use behaviors in adolescence.     

The Relationship of Parental Control to Youth Adjustment: Do Youths’ Feelings About Their Parents Play a Role?

Recent research suggests that youths interpret parental control and that this may have implications for how control affects youths’ adjustment. In this study, we propose that youths’ feelings about being over-controlled by parents and feeling connected to parents are intermediary processes linking parental control and youths’ adjustment. We used three years of longitudinal data sampled from 1,022 Swedish youths in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade (47.3% girls; 12–17 years old, M age = 14.28 years, SD = .98) who were mainly Swedish in ethnic origin. We tested models linking parental control (i.e., rules, restriction of freedom, and coldness-rejection) to adjustment (i.e., norm-breaking, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem) through youths feeling over-controlled by and connected to parents. The overall model incorporating youths’ feelings showed that restrictions and coldness-rejection were both indirectly linked to increases in norm-breaking and depressive symptoms through increases in youths feeling over-controlled. Parental rules still independently predicted decreases in norm-breaking and in self-esteem, and coldness-rejection predicted increases in norm-breaking. In addition, some paths (e.g., feeling over-controlled to self-esteem) depended on the youths’ age, whereas others depended on their gender. These results suggest that when youths’ feelings are taken into account, all behavioral control is not the same, and the line between behavioral control and psychological control is blurred. We conclude that it is important to consider youths’ feelings of being controlled and suggest that future research focus more on exploring this idea.     

Relationships of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Parental and Peer Behaviors with Cigarette and Alcohol Use in Different Neighborhood Contexts

This study examined the relationships of adolescents’ perceptions of parental and peer behaviors with cigarette and alcohol use in different neighborhood contexts. The sample included 924 adolescents (49% boys, 51% girls) 12–14 years of age whose addresses were matched with 1990 census block groups. Six neighborhood types were identified through a cluster analysis. The findings suggest that parental smoking was associated with increased adolescent smoking in suburban white middle socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods. Peer smoking was associated with increased adolescent smoking in rural neighborhoods. Parental monitoring was associated with decreased adolescent drinking in urban white high-SES neighborhoods and parental drinking was associated with increased adolescent drinking in urban white middle-SES neighborhoods, respectively. Peer drinking was associated with increased adolescent drinking in urban neighborhoods. This study demonstrates the importance of examining parental and peer influences on adolescent smoking and drinking in different neighborhood contexts.     

Parental Differential Treatment of Siblings and Adolescents’ Health-Related Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Personality

Youth who receive comparatively poorer parental treatment than a sibling are at risk for maladaptive behaviors in a variety of domains, but research has yet to examine links with adolescents’ health-related behaviors nor consider how those links may vary based on adolescents’ personality traits, namely conscientiousness and agreeableness. Two siblings (n?=?590 adolescents; 53% female; M_age?=?15.86, SD?=?1.73) from 295 families reported on their differential conflict and closeness with their fathers and mothers as well as on their personality, sleep habits, exercise habits, and general health habits. Multilevel modeling revealed that, generally, the less conscientious adolescents had better health habits when they had comparatively warmer relationships with their mothers. Less conscientiousness adolescents may be less distressed by inequality in the family, and thus may experience positive effects of relatively better treatment.

     

Relationship of School Context to Rural Youth’s Educational Achievement and Aspirations

Though the poverty encountered by many rural youth encompasses numerous developmental challenges and substantially increases the chances for educational problems, the school context is central to promoting and constraining their development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of school characteristics and schooling experiences to the educational achievement and aspirations of youth from high-poverty rural communities. Differences in the relationship of school characteristics and schooling experiences to the educational outcomes of students from high- versus low-poverty rural communities were also examined. Participants included 6,247 high school students from 43 low-poverty and 21 high-poverty rural communities. Approximately 51.7% of participants were female and the sample was racially/ethnically diverse (66.4% White, 9.2% African American, 8.1% Hispanic/Latino(a), 4.4% Native American, and 11.8% Multiracial). After controlling for student and family background, school characteristics (e.g., lower student–teacher ratio) were predictive of achievement for rural youth from high-poverty communities. Schooling experiences (e.g., positive perceptions of their ability, a sense of school valuing and belonging, and preparation for postsecondary education) were predictive of educational achievement and aspirations for rural youth from high- and low-poverty communities. Overall, the study highlights unique ways schools can positively shape the educational outcomes for rural youth despite community poverty.     

Youth’s Experiences of the Devaluing of Their Contributions Due to Their Ethnicity and Gender

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - The message that one’s contributions are devalued can be a significant way that youth experience marginalization during the transition into adulthood....     

Reciprocal Relationships Between Friends’ and Parental Mediation of Adolescents’ Media Use and Their Sexual Attitudes and Behavior

Research has argued that adolescents are at risk for harmful effects of sexual media, but little is known about the role of parents and friends on adolescents’ media use in regard of these effects. The present two-wave study investigated whether prior parental and friends’ influences on adolescents’ use of sexual media shape their sexual attitudes and behaviors, and vice versa if prior sexual attitudes and behaviors predict parental and friends’ media mediation. At two measurement points 18 months apart, 528 adolescents (12–17 years; 51.3 % girls) reported on permissive sexual attitudes, sexual experience, perceived parental and friends’ mediation of sexual media use, and communication with parents and friends about sex. Structural Equation Modeling shows that parents’ mediation activities on adolescents’ media use were not followed by less sexual experience and less permissive attitudes. On the contrary, parental restrictive mediation of girls’ media use unexpectedly was followed by somewhat more sexual experience. Friends’ interventions with media use did not predict adolescents’ sexual experience and attitudes neither. Inverse relationships showed that prior sexual experience was followed by less restrictive parental mediation among boys, and both among boys and girls that permissive sexual attitudes were followed by less restrictive and less active parental mediation. At the same time, sexually more experienced and more permissive boys and girls did report more media pressure from and sexual communication with their friends later on. Our study thus indicates that the opposite agent roles of parents and friends for adolescents also applies to their usage of sexual media.     

Parental Aspirations for Their Children’s Educational Attainment: Relations to Ethnicity,Parental Education,Children’s Academic Performance,and Parental Perceptions of School Climate

This study examined parental aspirations for their children’s educational attainment in relation to ethnicity (African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic), parental education, children’s academic performance, and parental perceptions of the quality and climate of their children’s school with a sample of 13,577 middle and high school parents. All parents had relatively high educational aspirations for their children, and within each ethnic subgroup, parental education and children’s academic performance were significantly and positively related to parental aspirations. However, moderating effects were found such that Caucasian parents with lower levels of education had significantly lower educational aspirations for their children than did parents of other ethnicities with similar low levels of education. Although the strength of the relationship between parental perceptions of school-related factors and parental aspirations for their children’s educational attainment was not strong, it was most predictive of non-Caucasian parental aspirations for their children.

An Examination of the Reciprocal Relationships Between Adolescents’ Aggressive Behaviors and Their Perceptions of Parental Nurturance

This study examined reciprocal relationships between adolescents’ perceptions of parental nurturance and two types of adolescent aggressive behaviors (indirect and direct aggression) using a transactional model. Three waves of longitudinal data were drawn from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The sample included 1,416 (735 female) adolescents who were 10- and 11-year-olds at Time 1 and became 14-and 15-year-olds at Time 3. The findings failed to support reciprocal effects, but confirmed parental effects at different ages for girls and boys. For girls, perceptions of parental nurturance at age 10 were negatively associated with both indirect and direct aggression at age 12. For boys, perceptions of parental nurturance at age 12 were negatively associated with both aggressive behaviors at age 14. Future research should continue to investigate reciprocal effects in parent-adolescent relationships to identify developmental periods where the effect of adolescents’ or their parents’ behavior may be stronger.     

Safe Schools? Transgender Youth’s School Experiences and Perceptions of School Climate

The magnitude of gender identity-related disparities in school-based outcomes is unknown because of a lack of representative studies that include measures of gender identity. By utilizing a representative sample generalizable to a broader population, this study elucidates the size of gender identity-related disparities, independent of sexual orientation, in school experiences associated with school connectedness and perceptions of school climate. Additionally, the inclusion of and comparison to results of a large non-representative sample allows for more direct comparisons to previous studies of the school experiences of transgender youth. The analyses in this study primarily draw on a sample of 31,896 youth representative of the middle and high school population in California who participated in the 2013–2015 California Student Survey (a subsample of the California Healthy Kids Survey, which includes the largest known sample of transgender youth). Over half the sample identified their sex as female (51.3%), and 398 identified as transgender (1.0%). The sample was racially and ethnically diverse: 30.7% identified as multiracial, 33.0% as White, 11.1% as Asian, 7.4% as Black, and 52.9% as Hispanic. Findings from multilevel analyses show that relative to non-transgender youth, transgender youth were more likely to be truant from school, to experience victimization and bias-based bullying, and to report more negative perceptions of school climate, though did not differ in self-reported grades. The findings have implications for improving school policies and practices to create safer and more supportive school climates for all youth.     

Who Are Truant Youth? Examining Distinctive Profiles of Truant Youth Using Latent Profile Analysis

The present study explored the heterogeneity of truant youth to provide a more nuanced examination of the nature of adolescent truancy and examine distinct profiles of truant youth as they relate to externalizing behaviors. Latent profile analysis was employed to examine the heterogeneity of truant youth by using a nationally representative sample of 1,646 truant adolescents (49.8?% female) from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Five key indicator variables were utilized to identify latent classes: school engagement, participation in school-based activities, grades, parental academic involvement, and number of school days skipped. Additionally, multinomial regression was employed to examine the relationship between latent truant youth classes and externalizing behaviors. Four classes of truant youth were identified: achievers (28.55?%), moderate students (24.30?%), academically disengaged (40.89?%), and chronic skippers (6.26?%). Additionally, group membership was found to be associated differentially with marijuana use, fighting, theft and selling drugs. Results from the present study suggest that truant youth are not a homogenous group, but rather present with different risk profiles as they relate to key indicators, demographic characteristics and externalizing behaviors. Implications for practice, policy and future research are discussed.