Perceived parental rearing practices and styles of coping

In order to study the relation between parental rearing practices and coping dispositions, 75 females and 65 males completed the Children's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory and the COPE, a measure of general coping dispositions. Those who reported their parents had an authoritative rearing style (warmth and nurturance coupled with close monitoring and age-appropriate demandingness) used more social support and problem-focused coping than those who reported their parents used other rearing styles. In general, perceived parental warmth was related to the greater use of social support and problemfocused coping. Parental firm control was associated with increased problemfocused and reduced emotion-focused coping. The findings are discussed in the context of parental rearing styles indirectly influencing coping dispositions through their impact on feelings of competence and personal control.This research is based on a masters thesis conducted by the first author under the direction of the second author. Portions of this study were presented at the March 1992 Meetings of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Washington, DC.Received Ph.D. from Syracuse University. Research interests include adolescent coping processes.Received Ph.D. from University of Illinois-Urbana. Research interests include adolescent self development and coping.     

Attachment,Coping, and Explanatory Style in Late Adolescence

Using self-report data from 157 college students, we tested hypotheses regarding the relative importance of perceived security in early parental relationships vs. security in adult (nonparental) relationships for understanding respondents' coping dispositions and explanatory styles. In general, more secure attachments were positively related to support-seeking and active problem-solving coping styles and to females' but not males' tendency to explain hypothetical successes and failures in a positive or self-enhancing manner. Security of adult (nonparental) attachments had stronger associations with young women's coping strategies than did security of early attachment to parents, whereas the reverse was true for males—a finding we interpret in terms of girls' earlier development of emotional autonomy from parents and closer ties to friends. Security of early attachment to father appeared to have important implications for young men's willingness to turn to others for support.     

Conflict Resolution Styles in Family Subsystems and Adolescent Romantic Relationships

The purpose of the present study is to examine how conflict resolution styles between one family dyad is related to other family dyads and how conflict resolution styles within these family dyads are related to conflict resolution styles in one relationship outside the family—adolescents' romantic relationships. Late adolescents (n = 217) were asked to report their perceptions of three resolution styles used in interparent, mother–adolescent, father–adolescent, sibling, and romantic couple conflicts. Based on the cases with complete data (n = 163), path analyses indicated that both direct and indirect relationships exist between these dyadic relationships: (1) Resolution styles utilized in the interparent subsystem were found to have a direct relationship with mother–adolescent and father–adolescent resolution and an indirect relationship with sibling and romantic couple resolution. (2) Mother–adolescent and father–adolescent resolution were found to have a direct relationship with sibling and romantic couple resolution. (3) Sibling resolution was found to have a direct relationship with romantic couple resolution for negative resolution styles, but not for the positive resolution style of compromise.     

Coping with Maternal Depressed Affect and Depression: Adolescent Children of Depressed and Well Mothers

This study examined the strategies adolescents use to cope with their mothers' depressive symptoms and/or episodes. An open-ended semistructured interview and a closed-ended coping scale, the Maternal Affectivity Coping Scale derived from the Self-Report Coping Scale (D. L. Causey and E. F. Dubow [1992] Development of a Self-Report Measure for Elementary School Children, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, Vol. 21, pp. 47–59), was administered to pairs of adolescent siblings (N = 179) from families (N = 94) in which the mother was either depressed or well. With a few important exceptions, the results reveal similar coping styles in the offspring of depressed and well mothers. One difference was that mothers' current psychological distress was weakly related to young adolescents' coping patterns (e.g., problem solving, externalizing). Also, adolescents' coping styles (e.g., provide support) were related to the type of depressive symptoms the mother exhibited (e.g., anger, irritability). Second, greater sibling differences were found for emotion-focused coping strategies (e.g., distancing) in children of depressed mothers than in children of well mothers. Third, the results suggest that the sex of the adolescent may be important in attempting to understand individual differences in coping. Females were more likely than males to engage in interpersonally focused coping strategies (e.g., provide support to their mother, seek support from others). The feelings of responsibility for contributing to their mother's depression that were more evident in females than males may offer some insight into gender differences and may also have implications for placing females at higher risk for internalizing disorders.     

Impact of parental holocaust traumatization on offsprings' reports of parental child-rearing practices

The impact of severe parental traumatization on child rearing was investigated in a nonselective nonclinical group of Israeli adolescents, offspring of Holocaust survivors (N=76). Adolescents' reports of parental behavior were correlated with a measure of severity of parental Holocaust traumatization. For boys, the severity of paternal traumatization (PT) correlated negatively with reported child-rearing practices denoting both paternal nurturance and paternal control. Mothers were perceived by boys as withholding nurturance and exerting hostile control as a function of their spouses' degree of traumatization (PT). Females perceived fathers as being inconsistent socializers, with anxiety-provoking and enforcement overtones as a function of PT. PT is, however, uncorrelated with any maternal practices as reported by girls. The severity of maternal traumatization (MT) was correlated with fathers' refrainment with girls from harsh modes, such as control, hostile control, and instilling anxiety. MT correlated for boys with maternal refrainment from harsh child-rearing practices, such as hostile control and enforcement. The results clearly point to the existence of significant associations between degree of parental traumatization and reported child-rearing experiences. The pattern of correlations indicate specific intragender and intergender transgenerational interactions.Received his Ph.D. at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1976. Fulbright scholar in Child Development at UCLA (1977). Major interests are personality assessment, personality development, and transgenerational aftermath of holocaust traumatization.Received his M.D. at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany, in 1952. Major interests are problems of trauma, mourning and bereavement, transgenerational transmission of identity in families, and psychoanalytic aspects of historical processes.     

Parent–Child Interaction During Adolescence,and the Adolescent's Sexual Experience: Control,Closeness, and Conflict

It is often assumed that a good parent–child relationship leads to a later sexual initiation of the adolescent. Using a representative longitudinal sample of 332 (Time One) to 255 (Time Two) mother–adolescent pairs, we sought to reexamine the relations between distal variables (including socioeconomic status, age of mother and child, presence of the father), proximate variables (rearing styles, sexual permissiveness), and the amount of intrafamily conflict and adolescent sexual behavior, by means of structural modeling techniques and logistic regression analysis. Our results did not support the notion of delayed sexual initiation of adolescents as a consequence of positive parent–child relationships. On the contrary, we find that the stronger parental desire to maintain a good relationship with their adolescents, the more likely it is that their sexual initiation will be at a younger age.     

Coping Styles and Sex Differences in Depressive Symptoms and Delinquent Behavior

Building on research that links gender to differences in well-being and differences in stress exposure and vulnerability, the current study examines how coping styles are gendered in ways that may contribute to sex differences in depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior. The study disaggregates stress measures to reflect gender differences in the experience of stress, examining whether avoidant, approach, and action coping condition the relationship between stress and well-being. Regression analyses were conducted using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Results revealed sex differences and similarities. The interaction of avoidant coping and stress helped explain why girls had more depressive symptoms than boys, action coping increased delinquent behavior for girls, while approach coping decreased delinquent behavior for boys and girls. Assisting adolescents in developing coping styles that discourage avoiding problems or taking quick action, but that encourage problem-solving, can improve well-being, regardless of sex

Correlates of drug abuse in adolescents: A comparison of families of drug abusers with families of nondrug abusers

This study was designed to compare drug-abusing adolescents and their families with nondrug-abusing adolescents and their families by (1) a comparison of the adolescents on measures of self-esteem and perceived parental behavior, (2) a comparison of the parents of drug-abusing adolescents with the parents of nondrug-abusing adolescents on child-rearing attitudes and on distortion in perceived parental behavior, and (3) an identification of the salient factors contributing to the prediction of drug-use in adolescents. The subjects in this study were 26 clinical inpatient drug-abusing adolescents and their parents and 26 nondrug-abusing adolescents and their parents. Testdata consisted of the adolescent's self-esteem score on the Self Esteem Inventory (SEI), the adolescent's factor score on the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory—Revised (CRPBI-R), and the parents' scale score on each of the five factors of the Parent Attitude Survey (PAS). Findings indicate that the adolescent's self-esteem and perception of parental behavior, the ability of the parents to predict the child's parental perceptions, and the professed parental attitudes toward confidence and responsibility in child rearing all combine to suggest a set of factors differentiating the drug-abusing adolescent from the nondrug-abusing adolescent.     

Young adults' coping style as a predictor of their alcohol use and response to daily events

Limited resources for coping with stress have been associated with psychological disturbance and alcohol abuse among adults. In the current investigation, both retrospective questionnaires and prospective monitoring measures were used to test young adults' trait coping styles as predictors of their weekly alcohol consumption. Individuals who reported deficits in emotion focused and avoidant coping strategies drank more often than subjects with all other styles of coping. These subjects also exhibited greater overall alcohol consumption that subjects who employed high levels of emotion focused coping but low levels of avoidant coping. Results therefore support the idea that young adults' coping styles are related to their use of alcohol Analyses also showed strong positive correlations between questionnaire and monitored measures of drinking, but only moderate associations between the two measures of coping. Measurement methodologies of the current investigation are discussed in terms of their clinical and research applications.This research was supported in part by a NIAAA grant No. 1R29AA09135-01 to Kim Fromme and by two University of Delaware undergraduate research grants to Kathy Rivet.Received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1988. Major research interest focuses on the ways in which alcohol use influences young adult's participation in a variety of risky activities.     

Who Shapes Whom in the Family: Reciprocal Links Between Autonomy Support in the Family and Parents’ and Adolescents’ Coping Behaviors

Coping research has neglected the study of the reciprocal links between parents’ and adolescents’ coping behaviors and the potential influence of parental support for the development of adolescent autonomy. This study, therefore, analyzed the coping behaviors of fathers, mothers, and children (53% females) in 196 families who participated in a four-year longitudinal study that started when the child was an early adolescent. The results of cross-lagged panel design models examining direct links between parents’ and their children’s coping styles suggested that parents and children do not affect each others’ abilities to cope with family stress over time. However, indirect relationships between parents’ and children’s coping styles via autonomy support in the family were found. Both the parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of autonomy support in the family were important in shaping their respective coping styles. The child’s individual characteristics (e.g., gender and physical maturity) had a greater influence on the fine-tuning of mothers’ coping behaviors than on the fathers’. The findings underscore the significance of autonomy-enhancing parent–child interactions for the development of adolescent coping.     

Attachment Styles and Aggression in Physically Abused and Neglected Children

Attachment theory provides a valuable conceptual model for understanding the role of the parent–child relationship and its consequences for the child's emerging self-concept and view of the social world. Attachment style is an individual-difference variable that is rooted in the child's early rearing experience and provides the context for later emotional, behavioral, and cognitive transactions with the environment. The aim of this study was to compare physically abused (n = 41), and neglected children (n = 38) with nonabused/nonneglected children (n = 35) aged 6–12 years, in terms of their attachment styles and their levels of aggression. We found that the physically abused children were significantly characterized by the avoidant attachment style and manifested significantly higher levels of aggression, and the neglected children were significantly characterized with the anxious/ambivalent attachment style. The strategies that the physically abused and neglected children adapted for interactions with their parents also marked their relationships outside the family. Thus, physically abused children are at risk of antisocial behavior and sustained suspicion toward the others, and neglected children are at risk of social withdrawal, and social rejection and feelings of incompetence.     

Psychosocial Factors in Adolescent and Young Adult Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms: Causal or Correlational Associations?

Using a large longitudinal representative community sample, this study identified three groups of subjects who were depressed either in pre-adolescence, late adolescence or early adulthood, and matched by age and gender to controls without depression. The 90th percentile on one or two self-reported symptom scales [i. e. the Center for Epidemilogical Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) or the subscale Anxious / Depressed subscale on either the Youth Self Report (YSR) or the Young Adult Self Report (YASR)] served as the cut-off for the depression groups. Psychosocial variables under study included life events and life events impact, coping, self-related cognitions, perceived parental rearing style, family relations, perceived school environment, and the internalizing (except anxious/depressed) and externalizing problem scale of the YSR/YASR. The study found a large number of time-related correlations between psychosocial factors and depression. Evidence for causal effect (either antecedent or consequent) was obtained only for self-esteem, perceived maternal rejection, and internalizing problems.     

Adolescent egocentrism: Exploration into possible contributions of parent-child relations

A family relations model for the study of adolescent egocentrism was tested in an exploratory study of the relationship between parental socialization styles and adolescents' imaginary audience behavior. A sample of adolescent boys (n=58) and girls (n=57) responded to Heilbrun's Parent-Child Interaction Rating Scale and Schaefer's Parent-Behavior Inventory and completed Elkind and Bowen's Imaginary Audience Scale. As hypothesized, rejection-control was associated with increased imaginary audience behavior, while physical affect was negatively related to self-consciousness. Sex differences were noted, with rejection-control being most important in predicting self-consciousness for boys and physical affect being the best predictor of girls' egocentrism behavior. The data provide an alternative model to a cognitive developmental perspective of adolescent egocentrism development.Research was partially supported through the Western Regional Research Project W-144, Development of Social Competency in Children, with funding in part from the Science and Education Administration/Cooperative Research of USDA, and the Utah State University Agricultural Experiment Station.Received his M.A. in psychology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Ph.D. in human development from the Pennsylvania State University. Current research interest is personality and social development of children and adolescents.Completed his M.S. Degree in family and human development at Utah State University. Current research interests include the study of interpersonal perception and attraction and human socialization.     

Perceived parental behavior and the social desirability response set

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential effects of the social desirability response set as a confounding variable in research involving self-report measures of perceived parental behavior. Scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C SDS) were correlated with each of the three factors on the Bronfenbrenner Parental Behavior Scale (BPB): (1) Loving, (2) Punishing, and (3) Demanding. Fifty-eight young adults participated in the study; the sample included roughly equal numbers of black and white subjects, male and female subjects, and college students and other community residents. Scores were analyzed by sex of subject and sex of parent as well as in combined groups. Significant correlations (p<.05, p<.01) were obtained from female subjects on BPB factors 2 and 3. Implications for the BPB's validity and suggestions for future research are discussed.Research interests include transition to adulthood, midlife transition, and parenting styles.Currently completing Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Fuller. Research interests include parenting styles, parent-child interactions, and group therapy process and outcome.     

Gender and Gender-Role Orientation Differences on Adolescents' Coping with Peer Stressors

Gender and gender-role orientation differences were explored on adolescents' coping with peer stressors. Eighth-grade and ninth-grade public junior high school students (N = 285) completed the COPE, reporting the strategies they recently used to deal with a stressful peer-related situation. Measures of gender-role orientation (Bem Sex-Role Inventory) and demographic information also were obtained. Factor analysis of the COPE revealed 4 distinct coping factors: active, avoidant, acceptance, and emotion-focused. The most frequently reported stressful event was arguments/fights with same-sex friends. Girls reported more arguments/fights with opposite-sex friends. Boys reported more physical fights and threats. Students' ratings of how much the situation mattered were used as a covariate in a MANCOVA to compare coping by gender and gender-role orientation, to control for perceived stressfulness of situations. Significant gender-role orientation differences were found for active, acceptance, and emotion-focused coping.     

Predicting Use and Maintenance of Use of Substances in Scottish Adolescents

It was aimed firstly to investigate prevalence rates and consumption patterns of smoking, alcohol use, and drug use in a sample of Scottish adolescents, and secondly to study the role of demographic (grade, gender, parental socioeconomic and educational status), school (Quality of School Life (Q.S.L.), school stress), nonschool (well-being) and personality (affectivity, self-esteem, locus of control) factors in predicting use and maintenance of use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs. For the purposes of the study, a set of measures was distributed to secondary school pupils (n = 425), in the Stirling area of Scotland. Differences and predictive values of these factors were investigated for users versus nonusers and regular versus occasional users for smoking, alcohol, and drugs separately. It was found that having tried smoking or alcohol could be predicted at best from school stress but having tried drugs from peer self-esteem. Maintenance of smoking was predicted at best from Q.S.L. and of drinking from peer self-esteem. None of the factors studied in the present research were found to predict significantly maintenance of drug use. Implications of these findings for decreasing prevalence of substance use are discussed.     

Aggression,deviance, and personality adaptation as antecedents and consequences of alienation and involvement in high school

Alienation from, or involvement in, the social and educational systems of the high school are investigated in an effort to determine the extent that school experiences may influence aggressive and deviant behavior in school and personality styles or orientations. Drawing upon longitudinal data collected from 250 boys followed from grades 8 through 12, potential antecedent-consequence relationships between dimensions of alienation and involvement and these two basic types of student outcomes are examined by cross-lagged panel analyses. Differences between cross-lagged panel correlations provide evidence that student reactions and attachments to school manifest relationships with aggression, deviance, and personality, serving as both antecedents and consequences of these student adaptations. The major findings provide evidence that (1) boys who more frequently break school rules and engage in aggressive or deviant behavior may often come to have more negative attitudes toward school staff and less involvement in school; and (2) student involvement and participation in school life can influence certain aspects of adolescent personality. Possible evidence of reciprocal causation is presented and discussed, as are additional theoretical and methodological implications of the data.     

Depression and suicidal ideation in early adolescents

This study sought to determine to what extent depression in young adolescents could be predicted by a variety of demographic and personality measures. A sample of 132 adolescents enrolled in junior high school completed a biographical data sheet, short forms of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), a Sensation- Seeking Scale (SSS), the Family Environment Scale (FES), a social support index (SSI), and a life stress inventory (LSI). The nondepressed group differed from the depressed group on a variety of variables, and stepwise multiple regression suggested a significant relationship between depression and life stress and an inverse relationship between depression and family cohesion.Received Ph.D. from University of North Dakota. Main research interests are family coping and child psychopathology.Received M.A. from University of Washington. Main research interests are adolescent depression and future self-concept.Received M.A. from University of Washington. Main research interests are Projective assessment of Personality.