Individual and Sibling Characteristics: Parental Differential Treatment and Adolescent Externalizing Behaviors

Adolescents’ reports of parental differential treatment have been linked to increased externalizing behaviors. The current study investigated whether adolescent self-esteem and sibling relationship characteristics (age-spacing and sibling relationship quality) moderated associations between parental differential treatment and later externalizing behavior. Data was gathered at two assessments from 708 sibling pairs (94% White; 51% male; same-gender pairs <4 years apart in age). Older/younger siblings were aged M_Assessment1?=?13.5/12.1 and M_Assessment2?=?16.2/14.7 years. We found that higher levels of maternal differential treatment predicted greater residualized gains in externalizing behavior among older siblings who were (a) the same age as their sibling or near-to and had low self-esteem or (b) three years older than their sibling and had higher self-esteem. Higher levels of paternal differential treatment predicted greater residual gains in externalizing for older siblings with wider age ranges (regardless of self-esteem), and among older siblings with high levels of self-esteem (regardless of age difference). Surprisingly, maternal differential treatment was protective in one case: for adolescents with low self-esteem who were at least three years older than their siblings, maternal differential treatment predicted reduced externalizing behaviors. Paternal differential treatment was protective for more youth than maternal differential treatment: older siblings with low self-esteem who experienced paternal differential treatment exhibited decreased externalizing behaviors across adolescence, regardless of age difference. The findings highlight the importance of self-esteem and sibling age-spacing as particularly salient contextual influences in older siblings’ perceptions of maternal and paternal differential treatment, and that maternal and especially paternal differential treatment does not always serve as a risk factor for externalizing problems.     

A Tri-Directional Examination of Parental Personality,Parenting Behaviors,and Contextual Factors in Influencing Adolescent Behavioral Outcomes

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Links between parental personality, parenting, and adolescent behavior have been well established. However, extant research is limited by the sole focus on...     

The Impact of Pubertal Timing and Parental Control on Adolescent Problem Behaviors

This study examined the relationship among pubertal timing, parental control, and problem behaviors. There were 267 participants, whose ages ranged from 9 to 16 years. Both maternal and paternal psychological control predicted problem behaviors over and above the effects of behavioral control. For boys, early maturation and high levels of paternal psychological control, whereas for girls, on-time maturation and low levels of paternal psychological control were associated with low levels of internalizing problem behaviors. Early maturation and high levels of maternal psychological control predicted high levels of externalizing problem behaviors. The implications of these findings were discussed in terms of the detrimental effects of psychological control on adolescent wellbeing, the role that pubertal timing may or may not play during this period, and finally the need to separately examine fathers’ parenting and mothers’ parenting while investigating the impact of parental control on adolescent problem behaviors. Rübab G. Arım is a Doctoral Student at the University of British Columbia. She received her M.A. degree in Human Learning, Development, and Instruction from the University of British Columbia. Her major research interests include evaluating the long-term impact of biological and contextual factors on adolescent problem behaviors. Jennifer D. Shapka is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Applied Psychology from the University of Toronto. Her major research interests include identifying patterns of risk and protective factors impacting adolescent well-being over time.     

Victimization and Relational Aggression in Adolescent Romantic Relationships: The Influence of Parental and Peer Behaviors, and Individual Adjustment

Consistent with the view that adolescent relationships are established in the context of important characteristics of their social networks, we examined the effects of adolescents’ experiences of parenting (psychological control and positive monitoring) and of peer aggression and victimization, on their self reports of dating victimization and aggression. We also examined the effects of individual differences in emotional and behavioral problems. We used questionnaire data from a population-based sample of youth 12–18 years old who were in dating relationships (n = 149). Parental monitoring emerged as a protective factor in reducing both dating victimization and relational aggression. Our findings also point to a significant transfer of aggression in peer relationships to relational aggression in dating relationships.

The Role of Perceived Parental Knowledge on Emerging Adults’ Risk Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to gain a clearer understanding of the relation between parents’ knowledge of their emerging-adult children and emerging adults’ risk behaviors. Participants included 200 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 25 (121 women, 78 men; M _age = 19.59, SD = 1.62) and both of their parents. Results revealed that knowledge of the emerging-adult child’s activities varied as a function of parent- and child-reports, and that child outcomes associated with parental knowledge were generally positive, including less drinking, drug use, and risky sexual behavior (although this varied as a function of reporter). The links between maternal knowledge and lower drug and alcohol use were particularly strong in the presence of maternal closeness. Implications for understanding the parent–child relationship during the transition to adulthood were discussed.

Associations Between Shyness and Internalizing Behaviors,Externalizing Behaviors,and Relationships during Emerging Adulthood

Many studies have documented the ways in which shyness can be a barrier to personal well-being and social adjustment throughout childhood and adolescence; however, less is known regarding shyness in emerging adulthood. Shyness as experienced during emerging adulthood may continue to be a risk factor for successful development. The purpose of this study was to compare shy emerging adults with their non-shy peers in (a) internalizing behaviors, (b) externalizing behaviors, and (c) close relationships. Participants included 813 undergraduate students (500 women, 313 men) from a number of locations across the United States. Results showed that relatively shy emerging adults, both men and women, had more internalizing problems (e.g., anxious, depressed, low self-perceptions in multiple domains), engaged in fewer externalizing behaviors (e.g., less frequent drinking), and experienced poorer relationship quality with parents, best friends, and romantic partners than did their non-shy peers.

Parental Monitoring Mediates the Effects of Age and Sex on Problem Behaviors Among African American Urban Young Adolescents

Adolescent delinquency, drug use and aggression remain societal concerns. These problems are more common with adolescent boys than girls, and tend to increase with age. Although a lack of parental monitoring has been found to be related to problem behaviors, the mediating role of monitoring on the relationship of sex and grade to problem behaviors has not been directly studied. This paper examined parental monitoring as a mediator of the relationship of sex and age to delinquency, drug use, and aggression in a sample of urban African American young adolescents. Our findings indicated that in general, boys and older adolescents reported higher rates of delinquency, drug use, and aggressiveness. Boys and older adolescents also indicated less monitoring by parents. Parental monitoring was found to mediate the effects of sex and grade on some of the behavioral problems.     

Identity Style,Parental Authority,and Identity Commitment

The role that parental authority patterns and social-cognitive identity styles may play in establishing identity commitments was investigated. The results indicated that family authority and identity style variables combined accounted for 50% of the variation in strength of identity commitment. As hypothesized, the relationship between parental authority and identity commitment was mediated by identity style. The findings are consistent with the view that family authority patterns may contribute to the way in which late adolescents negotiate the task of constructing a sense of identity. Alternative explanations of the findings are considered.     

Are Developmental Processes Affected by Immigration? Family Processes, Internalizing Behaviors, and Externalizing Behaviors

The current study compared levels of family processes, internalizing behaviors, and externalizing behaviors as well as developmental processes, namely the associations among family processes and measures of internalizing or externalizing behaviors, in native Swiss, 2nd and 1st generation immigrant adolescents (N=3,540). Findings provided evidence that both 2nd and 1st generation immigrant youth experienced higher rates of internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety) than native Swiss youth. Comparisons of how individual family processes were associated with internalizing and externalizing behaviors provided evidence of few differences across groups. Thus, developmental processes were largely invariant by immigrant status. Although the immigration process may increase the risk for internalizing and some externalizing behaviors, it does not seem to affect how key family processes are associated with measures of adolescent adjustment.Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University. His research interests include etiological risk factors in adolescent problem behaviors, deviance, and delinquency, criminological theory, and the cross-cultural/cross-national comparative method in the study of human development and behavior. Some of his recent publications have appeared in the Journal of Research on Adolescence, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. Vazsonyi is the editor of The Journal of Early Adolescence and an editor of the forthcoming Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior. Doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University. Her current interests include the importance of parenting and family processes on the etiology of internalizing and externalizing behaviors as well as risky sexual behaviors in youth, with a particular emphasis on Hispanic immigrant populations.Doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University. Her current interests include criminological theory and the etiology of crime and deviance. She is particularly interested in the emerging problems related to crime and deviance in China.     

Effects of Perceived Control on the Relationship Between Perceived Parental Rearing Behaviors and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Nonclinical Preadolescents

This study examined mediational and moderational effects of perceived control on the relationship between perceived parental rearing behaviors and symptoms of anxiety and depression in a nonclinical sample of youths aged 11–14 years. Correlational analyses demonstrated that higher levels of negative parental rearing practices were associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression, which at the same time were related to lower levels of perceived control. Furthermore, no evidence was found for the presence of mediational effects of perceived control on the link between perceived parental rearing behaviors and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Finally, there was a moderational effect of perceived control on the link between anxious rearing and anxiety symptoms. While the presence of low perceived control and high anxious rearing yielded relatively high anxiety levels, it was especially the combination of high perceived control and low anxious rearing that clearly yielded the lowest anxiety levels.     

The Tangled Web: Delinquency, Deception, and Parental Attachment

Delinquent youth display weaker attachment to their parents than do other youth, but the reasons for this remain unclear. One explanation is that delinquent youth poison their relations with parents by lying to them about their friends, behavior, whereabouts, and more. Analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reveals that lying to parents is an exceptionally strong and robust correlate of delinquent behavior, and is associated with a variety of surreptitious behaviors – late bedtimes, hanging with friends, concealing whereabouts. Lying to parents appears to have a progressively negative impact on the parent-child bond, meaning that the well-established attachment/delinquency association is not solely a parent effect. Youth who lie to their parents do not appear to do so blithely, however. Compared to other youth, they hold themselves in lower regard and are more often depressed. Although parents are often angered by and distrustful of deceitful children, their children's fabrications may say less about their regard for their parents than about the strength of other loyalties.

Family Structure, Community Context, and Adolescent Problem Behaviors

A number of models have been proposed to explain the relationship between family structure and adolescent problem behaviors, including several that consider parent-child relations, family income, stress, and residential mobility. However, studies have not explored whether the different types of communities within which families reside affect the association between family structure and problem behaviors. A community context model also suggests that the relationship between family structure and problem behaviors may be conditioned by community characteristics. The results of a multilevel regression model that used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS; n = 10,286) indicated that adolescents from homes with a recently divorced mother, a mother and stepfather, a single mother, or a single father reported more problem behaviors regardless of the community context. Moreover, adolescents living in communities with a high proportion of impoverished residents, female headed households, or jobless males reported more problem behaviors irrespective of family structure.

The Role of Peer Contacts in the Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Adolescents' Externalizing Behaviors: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach

The purpose of the present study was to examine the direct and indirect effects (through peer contacts) of parental knowledge on adolescents’ delinquent and aggressive problem behavior, using latent growth curve modeling. A sample of 457 13- to 14-year old adolescents at first measurement wave (M=13.27; SD=0.45 years) filled out questionnaires about their parents, peers, and problem behavior three times with 1-year intervals in between. Regarding initial levels of behavior, both direct and indirect effects of parental knowledge were found on aggressive as well as on delinquent behavior. When the rate of change in behaviors was considered, only direct effects were found for both types of problem behavior, whereas indirect effects were absent. Gender differences were also found, with stronger effects of parenting on both aggressive and delinquent problem behavior for boys and stronger effects of peer contacts on aggressive behavior for girls. The present study shows that different behaviors of the externalizing spectrum have different trajectories and diverse relations with parenting and should not be treated as identical.

Differential Parental Treatment,Sibling Relationships and Delinquency in Adolescence

The present study examined the moderating effect of the quality of the sibling relationship on the longitudinal association of parental treatment with theft, vandalism, and violence in adolescence. Participants were 416 sibling pairs which were studied over a one-year period. The younger siblings were aged 13 to 15, the older siblings 14 to 17 at Time 1. No significant effects were found for mixed-sex dyads. For same-sex dyads, the results suggested that when the relationship was of poor quality, younger boys who felt treated less favorably by their mothers were most likely to show high levels of vandalism and violence, while younger girls who felt treated less favorably were most likely to show high levels of theft. No such effects were found for older siblings. These findings indicate that differential parental treatment and the quality of the sibling relationship have gender-specific effects on adolescents’ delinquency and have a different meaning for younger than for older siblings.

Parental Depressive Feelings, Parental Support, and the Serotonin Transporter Gene as Predictors of Adolescent Depressive Feelings: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Parental support and parental depressive feelings are found to be associated with depressive feelings in adolescent boys and girls, but results are inconsistent. In addition, the 5-HTTLPR genotype has been found to interact with environmental stressors in predicting adolescents?? depressive feelings, but this has not been examined longitudinally. Therefore, the present study examined the relationships between parental support, parental depressive feelings, and adolescent depressive feelings. In addition, the relationships between the 5-HTTLPR genotype and adolescent depressive feelings were explored, as well as gene-environment interactions. Adolescents (N = 306; Girls = 53.3%; M _{age T1} = 13.4) filled out questionnaires at five annual waves and provided saliva samples for DNA. Latent growth curve modelling (LGCM) was used to examine the baseline level and the change in depressive feelings over time. Maternal support was related to baseline levels of depressive feelings in girls, whereas paternal support was related to baseline levels in boys. Paternal depressive feelings were only related to boys?? depressive feelings at baseline, and maternal depressive feelings were not related to any outcome measures. Furthermore, no associations were found between 5-HTTLPR genotype and adolescent depressive feelings, and no gene-environment interactions emerged. Limitations of the study and implications of the findings are discussed.     

Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Youths: Separation-Individuation,Parental Attitudes,Identity Consolidation,and Well-Being

The study examines separation-individuation during adolescence and young adulthood for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths, and evaluates the consequences of parent-youth relationships for well-being and sexual orientation identity development. Seventy-two youths completed interview and questionnaire measures of relatedness, autonomy, and conflictual independence in relation to mothers and fathers, along with self-reports of parent attitudes, identity consolidation, and well-being. When youths perceived that their parents had relatively accepting attitudes regarding sexual orientation they demonstrated closer relatedness and greater conflictual independence with parents, but not greater autonomy. Both accepting parental attitudes and greater separation-individuation predicted more positive well-being for the youths, though only parental attitudes predicted greater consolidation of sexual orientation identity. Although mothers were generally closer and more supportive than fathers, relationships with both parents were important, independent predictors of personal adjustment. The discussion proposes mutual influences among separation-individuation, perceived acceptance by parents, identity consolidation and well-being.     

Parental Smoking-specific Communication,Adolescents’ Smoking Behavior and Friendship Selection

In this study, we investigated whether parental smoking-specific communication is related to adolescents’ friendship-selection processes. Furthermore, we investigated whether adolescents and their best friends influence each other over time, and what role parents play in this process. In the present study we used data from the Family and Health project in which at baseline 428 full families participated. In this 2-year, three-wave longitudinal study data were available from fathers, mothers, early adolescents (aged M = 13.4 years, SD = .50), and middle adolescents (aged M = 15.2 years, SD = .60). The majority of the participating adolescents were of Dutch origin (>95%). There was an almost equal distribution of boys and girls, and adolescents with lower, middle, and higher educational levels were equally represented. Analyses were conducted by means of Structural Equation Modeling. Results demonstrate that a high quality of the smoking-specific communication is related to a lower likelihood of adolescent smoking, whereas the frequency is positively associated with adolescent smoking. Both the quality and frequency of parental smoking-specific communication were related to adolescents’ selective affiliation with (non-)smoking friends. The findings suggest that parental smoking-specific communication is associated with adolescent smoking directly but also indirectly by influencing the friends the adolescents will associate with.

Adolescents' Achievement Strategies, School Adjustment, and Externalizing and Internalizing Problem Behaviors

The present study investigated the relationships between the achievement strategies adolescents deploy in a school context, and their self-esteem, school adjustment, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. A total of 1185 14-to-15-year-old adolescents filled in the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire (SAQ), Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, and scales measuring school adjustment, depression and externalizing problem behavior. The adolescents' parents were also asked to evaluate their children's achievement strategies, school adjustment and, externalizing problem behavior. The results revealed that low self-esteem was associated with adolescents' use of maladaptive achievement strategies which, in turn, was associated with their maladjustment at school, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Moreover, the association between adolescents' maladaptive strategies and their externalizing problem behavior was partly mediated via their school adjustment. The results suggest that the achievement strategies adolescents deploy are reflected not only in their school adjustment but also in their overall problem behavior.