Acculturation, parent-adolescent conflict, and adolescent adjustment in Mexican American families

We tested an acculturation model in a community sample of Mexican American families (146 mothers, 137 fathers, and 146 adolescents) that proposed that differences between parents and adolescents in acculturation would be associated with parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment problems. Contrary to hypotheses, we found that families who exhibited an acculturation gap were not more likely to report parent-adolescent conflict or adolescent adjustment problems. In fact, familial conflict and adolescent sexual experience were associated with high levels of acculturation among adolescents and their parents. Pending replication, these findings suggest that both parent and children acculturation may independently predict familial processes and youth outcomes, irrespective of an acculturation gap. Future research should consider other factors aside from acculturation differences that might account for parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment in Mexican American families.     

Parent-Adolescent Relationship and Adolescent Psychological Functioning among African-American Female Adolescents: Self-Esteem as a Mediator

African-American female adolescents living in urban areas are at increased risk for adverse adjustment outcomes. The present study accomplished two goals. First, the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship across age groups was examined for differences among younger (i.e., 12'14) versus mid-range (i.e., 15'16) versus older (i.e., 17'18) adolescents. Second, self-esteem was examined as a possible mediator of the relationship between the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship and adolescent psychological functioning in a sample of 608 African-American urban adolescent females. With regard to developmental shifts in the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship, midrange adolescents reported a significantly poorer relationship with their mother than older adolescents. Results also indicated that self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between parent-child relationship and adolescent psychological functioning. Mental health professionals can broaden their interventions that aim to improve adolescent psychological functioning by either focusing on the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship or adolescent self-esteem.     

Discrepancies Between Parent and Adolescent Beliefs About Daily Life Topics and Performance on an Emotion Recognition Task

Parents and children and adolescents commonly disagree in their perceptions of a variety of behaviors, including the family relationship and environment, and child and adolescent psychopathology. To this end, numerous studies have examined to what extent increased discrepant perceptions—particularly with regard to perceptions of the family relationship and environment—predict increased child and adolescent psychopathology. Parents’ and children and adolescents’ abilities to decode and identify others’ emotions (i.e., emotion recognition) may play a role in the link between discrepant perceptions and child and adolescent psychopathology. We examined parents’ and adolescents’ emotion recognition abilities in relation to discrepancies between parent and adolescent perceptions of daily life topics. In a sample of 50 parents and adolescents ages 14-to-17 years (M?=?15.4 years, 20 males, 54 % African-American), parents and adolescents were each administered a widely used performance-based measure of emotion recognition. Parents and adolescents were also administered a structured interview designed to directly assess each of their perceptions of the extent to which discrepancies existed in their beliefs about daily life topics (e.g., whether adolescents should complete their homework and carry out household chores). Interestingly, lower parent and adolescent emotion recognition performance significantly related to greater parent and adolescent perceived discrepant beliefs about daily life topics. We observed this relation whilst accounting for adolescent age and gender and levels of parent-adolescent conflict. These findings have important implications for understanding and using informant discrepancies in both basic developmental psychopathology research and applied research in clinic settings (e.g., discrepant views on therapeutic goals).     

Validity of Adolescent and Parent Reports on the Six-Item ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-6) in Clinical Assessments of Adolescent Social Anxiety

Adolescents experiencing social anxiety often experience co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Yet, assessing for social anxiety poses challenges given the already time-consuming task of distinguishing social anxiety from other commonly co-occurring internalizing conditions (e.g., generalized anxiety, major depression). Assessors need short screening devices to identify socially anxious adolescents in need of intensive ADHD assessments. A six-item version of the ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-6) was originally developed to identify adults who likely meet diagnostic criteria for ADHD, but its psychometric properties have yet to be examined among adolescents. We tested the psychometric properties of the ASRS-6 when administered in clinical assessments for adolescent social anxiety. Eighty-nine 14–15 year old adolescents and their parents (67.4% female; 62.1% African American; 30 Clinic-Referred; 59 Community Control) completed the ASRS-6, measures of adolescent social anxiety and depressive symptoms, and parent-adolescent conflict. Adolescent self-reported and parent-reported ASRS-6 positively related with scores from established measures of social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and parent-adolescent conflict. Further, adolescent self-reported (but not parent-reported) ASRS-6 scores significantly discriminated adolescents on referral status. Adolescent self-reported (but not parent-reported) ASRS-6 scores incrementally predicted social anxiety over-and-above depressive symptoms, which commonly co-occur with social anxiety. Conversely, parent-reported (but not adolescent self-reported) ASRS-6 scores incrementally predicted parent-adolescent conflict over-and-above depressive symptoms, which commonly co-occur with conflict. When assessing adolescent ADHD symptoms, adolescents’ and parents’ reports meaningfully vary in their links to validity indicators. As such, among adolescents assessed for social anxiety, clinical assessments of adolescent ADHD symptoms should include both parent reports and adolescent self-reports.     

The Significance of Military Contexts and Culture for Understanding Family Well-Being: Parent Life Satisfaction and Adolescent Outcomes

Formal systems and informal networks are presumed to be significant contexts that affect military families. Their effects on both parents and adolescents in active duty military families are examined (N = 236 families). Social organization and contextual model of family stress theories are employed as frameworks for the analyses of how dimensions of military culture influence parents’ life satisfaction, as well as key developmental outcomes of their adolescents (for example, mental health). Key findings from our analyses included a positive relationship between parents support from military leaders and fellow soldiers and parental well-being findings revealed the importance of civilian parents’ satisfaction with military life on adolescent outcomes for families that have experienced stressful military contexts. These findings provide support for the significance of multiple contexts for understanding resilience among military members and their families.     

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

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

Do Marital Conflict Behaviors in Response to a Novel Stressor Uniquely Predict Adolescent Outcomes?

The goal of this study was to examine whether mothers’ and fathers’ marital conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor are uniquely predictive of adolescent outcomes. Previous research establishing the detrimental consequences of marital conflict for child outcomes has relied exclusively on assessments of conflict that measure reoccurring or past conflict. From 153 adolescents and/or both of their parents, reports were gathered on marital conflict, adolescent conflict appraisals, parent-adolescent relationship quality, and adolescent adjustment. Couples engaged in two marital problem-solving interaction tasks—one that elicited conflict behaviors by requiring discussion of salient, reoccurring topics of disagreement and one that prompted conflict behaviors by requiring that couples worked together to solve an unfamiliar problem. Results indicated that compared to behaviors during the marital conflict discussion as well as parent-reports of the frequency, intensity, and resolution of typical conflict, conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor, particularly those displayed by mothers, were uniquely associated with adolescents’ conflict appraisals and dimensions of the parent-adolescent relationship but not adolescent adjustment. Specifically more-negative (relative to positive) conflict behaviors in response to the novel stressor was associated with more-negative adolescent conflict appraisals; mothers’ more-negative conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor were also linked to adolescents reporting less parental monitoring. In contrast, parent reports of typical marital conflict uniquely predicted conflict property appraisals, the affective quality of mother-adolescent relationships, and adolescent adjustment. Implications for future research elucidating associations between conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor on children and families are discussed.     

Maternal Criticism and Adolescent Depressive and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms: A 6-Year Longitudinal Community Study

This 6-year longitudinal study examined the direction of effects (i.e., parent effects, child effects, or reciprocal effects) between maternal criticism and adolescent depressive and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) symptoms, including adolescents’ perceptions of criticism as a potential mediator. Consistent with recent empirical findings on associations between parenting and adolescent internalizing symptoms, we hypothesized stronger child effects than parent effects. A community sample of 497 adolescents (M _age?=?13.03 at T₁, 57 % boys) reported annually on their depressive and GAD symptoms as well as their perceptions of parental criticism. Their mothers (M _age?=?44.41 at T₁) also reported annually on their own critical behavior toward their adolescent. As expected, cross-lagged panel models demonstrated stronger child effects (i.e., adolescent psychopathology predicting maternal criticism) than parent effects (i.e., maternal criticism predicting adolescent psychopathology) for both adolescent depressive and GAD symptoms, including adolescent perceived criticism as a significant mediator. Our results emphasize the importance of considering (1) potential bidirectional influences over time, contrary to a focus on parent effects on adolescent mental health, as well as (2) adolescent perceptions of parenting as an important potential mediator in associations between aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship and adolescent internalizing psychopathological symptoms.     

Exploring Mothers’ and Fathers’ Relationships with Sons Versus Daughters: Links to Adolescent Adjustment in Mexican Immigrant Families

Drawing on ecological and gender socialization perspectives, this study examined mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with young adolescents, exploring differences between mothers and fathers, for sons versus daughters, and as a function of parents’ division of paid labor. Mexican immigrant families (N?=?162) participated in home interviews and seven nightly phone calls. Findings revealed that mothers reported higher levels of acceptance toward adolescents and greater knowledge of adolescents’ daily activities than did fathers, and mothers spent more time with daughters than with sons. Linkages between parent-adolescent relationship qualities and youth adjustment were moderated by adolescent gender and parents’ division of paid labor. Findings revealed, for example, stronger associations between parent–adolescent relationship qualities and youth adjustment for girls than for boys.     

Intra- and Inter-Individual Differences in Adolescent Depressive Mood: the Role of Relationships with Parents and Friends

Utilizing four waves of data from 1126 secondary school Dutch adolescents (Mage = 13.95 at the first wave; 53% boys), the current study examined the interplay between parent-adolescent and friend-adolescent relationship quality (satisfaction and conflict) in relation to adolescents’ depressive mood. Using multilevel analyses, the interacting effects of parent/friend relationship quality on depressive mood were tested at both the intra- and inter-individual level. Analyses at the intra-individual level investigated whether individual depressive mood fluctuated along with changes in their social relationships regardless of one’s general level of depressive mood; and analyses at the inter-individual level examined whether the average differences in depressive mood between adolescents were associated with different qualities of social relationships. We interpreted the patterns of interactions between parent and friend relationships using four theoretical models: the reinforcement, toxic friends, compensation, and additive model. The results demonstrate the covariation of parent- and friend- relationship quality with adolescents’ depressive mood, and highlight that parent and peer effects are not independent from each other—affirming the compensation and additive models at the intra-individual and the reinforcement and additive models at the inter-individual level. The findings highlight the robustness of the protective effects of parent and peer support and the deleterious effects of conflictual relationships for adolescent mental health. The results have implications for both the theoretical and practical design of (preventive) interventions aimed at decreasing adolescents’ depressive mood.     

Occupational Therapist,Biomedical Science Corps Officer and Former Firefighter

Abstract

What the literature reports that adolescents need within their parent-adolescent relationships, as well as what adolescents with serious emotional disturbances may experience within their parent-adolescent relationships are discussed. A framework for providing parent-adolescent group intervention for psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and their parents to promote positive interaction and co-occupation are provided. Summaries of the parent-adolescent activity group experiences of three families are provided to illustrate how different adolescent psychiatric issues and family dynamics might be addressed in a parent adolescent activity group.     

Parent and Adolescent Reports of Parenting When a Parent Has a History of Depression: Associations with Observations of Parenting

The current study examined the congruence of parent and adolescent reports of positive and negative parenting with observations of parent-adolescent interactions as the criterion measure. The role of parent and adolescent depressive symptoms in moderating the associations between adolescent or parent report and observations of parenting also was examined. Participants were 180 parents (88.9 % female) with a history of clinical depression and one of their 9-to-15 year old children (49.4 % female). Parents and adolescents reported on parenting skills and depressive symptoms, and parenting was independently observed subsequently in the same session. Findings indicated adolescent report of positive, but not negative, parenting was more congruent with observations than parent report. For negative parenting, depressive symptoms qualified the relation between the parent or adolescent report and independent observations. For parents, higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with more congruence with observed parenting (supporting a depressive realism hypothesis) whereas an opposite trend emerged for adolescents (providing some supporting evidence for a depression-distortion hypothesis).     

The correlates of conflict: disagreement is not necessarily detrimental.

In this study, the authors examined whether concurrent associations between adolescent outcomes and disagreements with mothers, fathers, and best friends vary as a function of perceived relationship quality. Participants were 469 11- to 18-year-old youths from a culturally diverse community. Negative qualities of parent-adolescent and friend relationships were linked to adjustment problems (aggression, anxiety and depression, delinquency, and withdrawal). Positive qualities of parent-adolescent relationships were linked to school grades and adjustment problems. Nonlinear associations between conflict and adolescent outcomes were moderated by negative qualities of relationships such that increases in conflict from low to moderate levels were linked to (a) higher school grades for adolescents in better but not poorer quality relationships and (b) greater delinquency and withdrawal for adolescents in poorer but not better quality relationships.     

Affective quality of family relations and adolescent identity exploration

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adolescent pubertal status, the affective quality of family relations, and the early adolescent's exploration of a sense of ego identity. Fifty-one intact families with adolescents in the seventh grade agreed to participate. Each family member completed a battery of questionnaires designed to assess familial adaptation to pubertal growth and identity exploration. The results reveal that the affective quality of parent-adolescent relationships and the pubertal status of the adolescent appear to influence the adolescent's exploration of ego identity. The need to establish the functional significance of familial adaptation to adolescent pubertal growth for identity development is discussed.     

Family structure and family processes in Mexican-American families

Despite increases in single-parent families among Mexican Americans, few studies have examined the association of family structure and family adjustment. Utilizing a diverse sample of 738 Mexican-American families (21.7% single parent), the current study examined differences across family structure on early adolescent outcomes, family functioning, and parent-child relationship variables. Results revealed that early adolescents in single-parent families reported greater school misconduct, conduct disorder/oppositional deviant disorder, and major depressive disorder symptoms, and greater parent-child conflict than their counterparts in 2-parent families. Single-parent mothers reported greater economic hardship, depression, and family stress. Family stress and parent-child conflict emerged as significant mediators of the association between family structure and early adolescent outcomes, suggesting important processes linking Mexican-American single-parent families and adolescent adjustment.     

A short-term longitudinal examination of young adolescent functioning following divorce: The role of family factors

The purposes of this study were to examine young adolescent functioning over a 2-year period after divorce and to assess the role of two family factors, interpersonal conflict and the parent-adolescent relationship, in predicting such functioning. One hundred and twelve young adolescents, their mothers, and their social studies teachers served as participants. One-half of the adolescent were from recently divorced families and one-half were from married families. Mothers completed measures concerning interparental conflict and the parent-adolescent relationship, adolescents completed a measure of the relationship, and teachers completed measures assessing four areas of adolescent functioning. The results indicated that adolescents from divorced families were functioning less well than those from married families. There were no changes in adolescent functioning and the parent-adolescent relationship from the first to second year postdivorce. High levels of interparental conflict in divorced families were associated with more parent-adolescent relationship problems. In turn parent-adolescent relationships problems served as the best predictor of concurrent and subsequent difficulty in adolescent functioning.This study was supported, in part, by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.     

Culturally Competent Family Therapy with Latino/Anglo-American Adolescents: Facilitating Identity Formation

On two occasions separated by one year, Chinese adolescents (N = 2,758) responded to instruments measuring their perceived parent-adolescent trust (i.e., paternal trust of the child and the child's trust of the parent) and other dimensions of parent-child relational qualities (satisfaction with parental control, readiness to communicate with the parent, and global satisfaction with the parent-child relationship). Results showed that perceived parent-adolescent trust was concurrently and longitudinally related to other dimensions of parent-child relational qualities. Multiple regression analyses suggest that the relations between perceived parent-adolescent trust and different dimensions of parent-child relational qualities over time were bidirectional in nature. Relative to perceived paternal trust of the adolescent child, adolescent child's trust of their parents exerted a stronger influence on different dimensions of parent-adolescent relational qualities, particularly in the father-adolescent dyad. While the influence of the child's readiness to communicate with the parents on parent-adolescent trust was weak in the father-adolescent dyad, the influence of global satisfaction with the parent-adolescent relationship on parent-adolescent trust was weak in the mother-adolescent dyad. The implications of the present findings on parent education and family therapy are discussed.     

The influence of parent negative emotional expression on adolescents' perceptions of their relationships with their parents

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parent affective expression in interactions and adolescent perceptions of their relationship. Observational and self-report data were collected on 85 intact families with adolescents in grades 5 to 9 (n = 44 males, 41 females). Each parent and adolescent took part in two 8-minute conversations–one about an activity they reported enjoying together and one about a disagreement or area of conflict. Conversations were coded on a speaker turn basis for positive, negative, neutral, mixed, and altered affect (kappa = .76). Physical maturation was related to adolescent perceptions of increased negative communication quality in all parent-adolescent dyads. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that expression by fathers of negative and mixed affect significantly predicted adolescent perceptions of communication quality, psychological autonomy, and firm/lax control, in addition to the effects of adolescent pubertal maturation. Mother affective expression in interactions was less consistently related to adolescent perceptions of relationship satisfaction. Implications for the salience of father versus mother affective expression in interactions with adolescents are discussed.     

A Multi-informant Approach to Assessing Fear of Positive Evaluation in Socially Anxious Adolescents

Fears of positive evaluation form important components of social anxiety. Researchers developed the Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES) to assess these fears. The FPES reliably and validly assesses fears of positive evaluation in undergraduates and adult social anxiety patients. However, it remains unclear if the FPES reliably and validly assesses these fears in clinic-referred adolescents. Further, implementing the FPES in clinical assessments of adolescents likely requires a multi-informant approach. Indeed, long lines of work indicate low cross-informant correspondence in reports of anxiety and anxiety-related constructs, and support the combined use of multiple informants’ reports (e.g., parents and adolescents). We examined the FPES in a clinic-referred sample of adolescents aged 14–17 years (M = 15.11; 20 females; 59.5 % African American). Thirty-seven parent-adolescent pairs completed the FPES, as well as reports of adolescent social anxiety, safety-seeking behaviors, and depressive symptoms. Both parent and adolescent reports on the FPES evidenced adequate levels of internal consistency. Further, when taking both parent and adolescent reports into consideration, the FPES significantly and positively related to measures of social anxiety and safety-seeking behaviors, over and above other widely used measures of adolescent social anxiety and depressive symptoms. The findings indicate that a multi-informant administration of the FPES yields internally consistent and valid estimates of fears of positive evaluation in a clinical sample of adolescents. These findings have important implications for properly assessing and treating social anxiety concerns in adolescents.     

Exploring the Relations Between Parent Depressive Symptoms,Family Religious Involvement,and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: A Test of Moderation

Building on previous research, the current study examined the relations between parent depressive symptoms, family religious involvement, and adolescent depressive symptoms in a convenience sample of 74 parent‐adolescent dyads of southern U.S. families. We used hierarchical regression analysis to explore whether family religious involvement moderated the relations between parent depressive symptoms and adolescent depressive symptoms. Results indicated that family religious involvement did not have a significant moderating effect for adolescent and parent depression. Implications for counseling practice and directions for future research are discussed.