   

5% IIHUIHHIWIHIWINIIIHHIWIH{ItHIUIHIHHIIWII

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERS TY LIBRARIES

ll“ Hillllllllllllllll lll'l'llllllllll/lllll

3 1293 00885 0087

 

 

 

 

If

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

The Influence of Parenting Style
on Parent-Adolescent Conflict

presented by

Susan Marie Jackson

has been accepted towards fulﬁllment
of the requirements for

MaSter' S degree in Arts

£14;

/ / V / Major grofemr
Date // /{ 7/

076% MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

University

 

PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINES return on or betore date due.

DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE

' pgsh 653':_\
ljf‘r A‘ 1

v-*\”" C‘ “1““

 

 

 

 

 

a;

AUG 07200
“<3 \

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MSU Is An Afﬁrmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution
each: HHS-9.]

 

THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTING STYLE
ON PARENT -ADOLESCENT CONFLICT

By

Susan Marie Jackson

A Thesis
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Psychology

1991

I")
’1
’»

A
(J

652- 67

ABSTRACT

THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTING STYLE
ON PARENT-ADOLESCENT CONFLICT

By

Susan Marie Jackson

Parent-adolescent conﬂict has become a subject of increasing concern to
researchers and clinicians alike. Although family variables, such as parenting
style, have been shown to be very important to adolescent well-being, an
examination of the inﬂuence of parenting style on how adolescents and
parents perceive conﬂict in the family is lacking in the literature. Therefore,
in this self-report questionnaire study, high-school students and their parents
reported on their perceptions of parenting style and parent-adolescent conﬂict
within their family in order to address these questions. Results indicate that
adolescents' perceptions of parents' authoritativeness were the strongest
predictors of both parents' and adolescents' perceptions of low parent-
adolescent conﬂict. In addition, adolescents' perceptions of mothers' and
fathers' authoritarianism were positively related to parents' reports of
conﬂict, and adolescents' perceptions of fathers' authoritarianism were

positively related to adolescents' perceptions of conﬂict with fathers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Gary Stollak, for his
continued support and guidance throughout this project. His constructive
‘ feedback, encouragement, and excitement were always motivating forces. I
would also like to thank Dr. Susan Frank and Dr. Frank Floyd for serving on
my committee and for their invaluable assistance and advice.

I am very grateful to my Thesis Action Committee for the many hours
of support and assistance they gave me. They were always able to give the
needed reassurance, inspiration or nudge, at just the right time. I am also
very appreciative of my partner, John, for being a stable force in my life
through the good times and the more stressful times.

Finally, I would like to thank my family for always being there for me
with their love and support. It is their encouragement and faith in me that
has given me confidence in myself and my abilities, and has made my

achievements attainable.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

I.

IV.

INTRODUCTION

Conﬂict
Topics of Conﬂict
Adolescent Variables Inﬂuencing Conﬂict
Family Variables
Quality of Communication
Problem-Solving Skills
Parenting Styles
Parenting Styles and Conﬂict
Parents' and Adolescents' Perceptions of the Family
Hypotheses

METHOD

Subjects
Procedure
Measures

RESULTS

Demographic Variables

Comparisons Between Each Family Member's Perceptions
Comparisons of Aggregate Responses

Adolescents' Reports of Conﬂict

Parents' Reports of Conﬂict

Regression Analyses

DISCUSSION

Methodological Concerns

iv

Page

vi

BHHHI—I
ouwoxooom-hoo

24

24
24
25

29

29
3O
32
33
35
36

40

Page

APPENDICES
A. Letter to Student and Parents 50
B. Informed Consents 51
C. Demographics Questionnaire 53
D. Conﬂict Behavior Questionnaire - Adolescent and Parent
Versions 54
E. Parental Authority Questionnaire - Adolescent and Parent
Versions 56
BIBLIOGRAPHY 6O

LIST OF TABLES

Table

1. Means and Standard Deviations on Parental Authority
Questionnaire for Present Sample and Normative Sample

2. Means and Standard Deviations on Conﬂict Behavior
Questionnaire for Present Sample and Normative Sample

3. Correlations between Parents' and Adolescents' Perceptions
of Conﬂict

4. Correlations between Parents' and Adolescents' Perceptions
of Parenting Style

5. Correlations between Parenting Style and Conﬂict

6. Multiple Regressions of Parenting Styles on Conﬂict

vi

Page

26

28

30

31

37

INTRODUCTION

Over the years, parent-adolescent relationships and, more specifically,
parent-adolescent conﬂict have become subjects of increasing concern to
' researchers and clinicians alike. The understanding of relationships between
parents and their adolescent children has recently undergone a series of
transformations from the prevailing theoretical view of conﬂict as essential
and inevitable during this stage. On the contrary, empirical studies of parent-
adolescent relationships in the 1960's suggested that this stage was much less
conﬂictual than had previously been imagined and that, in fact, parent-
adolescent relationships were quite harmonious (Offer, 1969; Douvan 8:
Adelson, 1966). This was later tempered by the currently popular view that
mild conﬂict is a normal part of family relations at this time of the life cycle,
although a small portion of families experience quite severe conﬂict
(Montemayor, 1983). Severe conﬂict has been shown to be associated with
many negative outcomes for adolescents, including drug abuse, juvenile
delinquency, physical abuse, dropping out of school, running away from
home, emotional disturbances, and suicide (Hall, 1987; Montemayor, 1983). It
is unclear whether conﬂict is the cause, the outcome, or merely a concomitant
of these problems, yet regardless of causal directions, severe parent-adolescent
conﬂict is certainly symptomatic of other adolescent difficulties (Montemayor,
1983), and cannot be ignored.

The study of parent-adolescent conﬂict to date has been primarily

limited to quantification of conﬂict, examination of the issues surrounding

2

conﬂict, and adolescent variables which may inﬂuence the conﬂict. However,
many researchers have noted the need for an investigation of family
variables which predict parent-adolescent conﬂict (Montemayor, 1983; Papini
& Sebby, 1988). "Transitional" stages are commonly considered to be the locus
of increased stress and conﬂict within families (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988). A
child's passage into adolescence is often a particularly difficult transition
stage, because the adolescent begins to make increasing demands for
behavioral autonomy1 and control within the family, necessitating changes
in the family's customary interactional and relational patterns. Some
families appear to find the process of adjusting their expectations about
responsibility and decision-making more difficult than others, which is likely
to lead to greater conﬂict within these families. It is unclear, however, what
factors mediate the ease or difficulty with which the transition occurs.

Belsky 8: Vondra (1985) argue that parents must be ﬂexible in response to
their children's changing developmental needs, and that throughout
childhood they must make efforts to direct their children's behavior without
denying their developing sense of individuality. Parents who raise their
children in this manner, most characteristic of the authoritative parenting
style as delineated by Baumrind (1971), will be more prepared for the
transition to adolescence. They will be accustomed to allowing their child to
maintain an optimal level of autonomy, making it less difficult to allow the
adolescent increasing amounts of freedom and personal control within the
family. Thus, parenting style may have strong implications for how

1 Early to middle adolescents are primarily concerned with behavioral autonomy (manifested
in seeking more inﬂuence in family interactions, making decisions about dating, friends,
employment, economic resources, etc.; Garbarino, 1985) as opposed to emotional autonomy,
which is not generally achieved until much later in adolescence or young adulthood. Therefore,

references to autonomy throughout this paper generally refer to behavioral autonomy unless
otherwise specificed.

3

families handle the transition to adolescence and how they manage conﬂict.
Although parenting style has been shown to be very important to adolescent
self-esteem (Gecas 8t Schwalbe, 1986; Buri et al., 1988; Buri, 1989b) and school
performance (Dornbusch et al., 1987b; Steinberg et al., 1989), with
authoritative parenting relating positively to adolescent well-being, an
examination of the inﬂuence of parenting style on family conﬂict at

adolescence is lacking in the literature.

CONFLICT

Although adolescence has often been referred to as a period of stress
and conﬂict, attention has traditionally been focused on the stressful and
tumultuous nature of individual adolescent development. Later, this view
was expanded to include the supposed turmoil of family relations, and the
adolescent's inevitable and essential rebellion or separation from his/ her
parents. Theorists have claimed that one of the primary tasks of the
adolescent is to establish an identity and become separate and independent
from the parents (Erikson, 1950). As the notion that adolescents must
inevitably rebel and families must experience extreme conﬂict in order for the
adolescent to become independent was not supported by empirical evidence,
other researchers broadened traditional views of identity formation. They
refer to the process of becoming an autonomous individual as individuation,
in which the developmental task of the adolescent is to attain an independent
identity, yet the adolescent does so within the relational context of the family
(Sabatelli 8: Mazor, 1985; Grotevant 8: Cooper, 1986; Bell 8: Bell, 1983). That is,
the family is an integral part of the adolescent's attempts at gaining

independence, and the task of individuation is transactional rather than

4

individual. Therefore, the developmental task of the adolescent becomes the
developmental task of the family.

This process clearly demands change within the family and, as
Montemayor (1983) found, the mild conﬂict which appears to be a normal
part of family relations during adolescence reﬂects the difficulties inherent in
this transition. However, it is important to stress that some conﬂict is to be
expected, but severe conﬂict is not. While it is impossible to delineate a
particular point when mild conﬂict turns into severe conﬂict, the extremes
are distinguishable by the intensity, frequency, and duration of the
disagreements (Robin 8: Foster, 1984). Thus, parent-adolescent conﬂict can be
conceptualized as existing along a continuum of severity, from "normative"
conﬂict to more troublesome conﬂict.

A large body of literature has addressed the issue of normative parent-
adolescent conﬂict. The existing research has focused on several questions: 1)
What are adolescents and parents arguing about, or what is the content of
their conﬂicts?; 2) When during adolescence do different kinds of conﬂict take
place?; and 3) When is conﬂict in general the greatest? An examination of
these questions will help to better understand the process which is taking

place during adolescence.

Topics of Conﬂict

What are the topics and issues on which parents and adolescents most
commonly disagree? Montemayor and Hanson (1985) looked at the amount
and nature of parent-adolescent conﬂict and found that the conﬂict primarily
concerned relatively ordinary interpersonal issues such as teasing, annoying
behaviors, and disagreement about tum-taking, and concerned rule

enforcement much less frequently. These issues were the same ones which

5

tended to cause conﬂicts with the adolescents' siblings, indicating that, for the
most part, the conﬂict consists of general interpersonal issues which tend to
create problems between any set of people who interact regularly. Hill 8:
Holmbeck (1987) and Montemayor (1982), too, suggest that parent-adolescent
conﬂict generally involves common, everyday issues, such as schoolwork,
chores, and disobedience, rather than the more "serious" topics of sex, drugs,
religion, and politics. In fact, in a review of 17 studies conducted between
1929 and 1982, Montemayor (1983) found that the conﬂictual issues between

parents and adolescents have remained remarkably consistent over time.

Adolescent Variables Inﬂuencing Conﬂict

In addition to conﬂict content, researchers have attempted to
determine when different kinds of conﬂicts occur and when conﬂict is
greatest, examining adolescent variables such as age and pubertal status.
Smetana (1988) asked adolescents in fifth through twelfth grades and their
parents who they felt should make decisions concerning conﬂictual issues.
She found that the age of the adolescent and the type of issue were important
in differentiating who should make the decision. Both parents and
adolescents generally agreed that moral issues, such as stealing, lying, and
hitting siblings, and conventional issues, such as doing chores, keeping
parents informed of one's activities, and calling parents by first names were
subject to parental jurisdiction. However, personal issues, such as sleeping
late on a weekend, and talking on the phone when no one else wanted to use
it, and multifaceted issues (entailing a personal component but also seen as
violating parental conventions), such as hanging out with a friend that
parents do not approve of, and dressing in "punk" clothes were much less

subject to parental jurisdiction than the moral and conventional issues. In

6

addition, the older the adolescent, the more likely parents and adolescents
were to judge the personal and multifaceted issues as under the adolescents'
jurisdiction. However, at all ages, the adolescents were more likely to view
these issues as under their personal jurisdiction than were parents, suggesting
that parent-adolescent conﬂict may be related to the discordant expectations
parents and adolescents have regarding legitimacy of parental decision-
making power.

The findings of Feldman 8: Quatrnan (1988) also indicated that
adolescents have earlier age expectations for autonomy-related behaviors (e.g.
choosing clothes, hairstyles, how to spend own money etc.) than do parents.
There was strong agreement across the sample concerning the sequence in
which these events should come under adolescent jurisdiction, but there was
discrepancy between parents and adolescents as to when these events should
occur. It was concluded that these discrepancies have the potential to become
serious disagreements, and may play a large part in parent-adolescent conﬂict.

Researchers have also suggested that pubertal status, more so than
age, may be the important factor in family conﬂict during adolescence. Papini
8: Sebby (1988) found that families with prepubertal and transpubertal
adolescents experienced more conﬂict over leisure and time management
issues than families with postpubertal adolescents. Steinberg 8: Hill (1978)
and Steinberg (1981) found that conﬂict between mothers and adolescent sons
was greatest during early puberty. As adolescents became more assertive,
family conﬂict increased. Mothers and sons began to interrupt each other
more in discussions, but the sons deferred to their mothers less. During the
later part of puberty, the conﬂict decreased, and mothers began to defer to
their sons more. Fathers, however, became more inﬂuential over their sons

during this period.

7
Hill et al. (1985b) found that boys' oppositional behavior was highest

during the apex of puberty, and maternal satisfaction and boys' involvement
in family activities decreased during this time. With adolescent girls, Hill et
al. (1985a) found that when menarche occurs at approximately the average
time, disturbances in the relationship increase between mothers and
daughters at menarche and then decrease again within one year. When
menarche occurs earlier than average, however, the pattern differs in that the
disturbances do not decrease within the next year. Thus, there appears to be a
consistent pattern of increased conﬂict during puberty when puberty occurs
approximately "on-time"; however, this pattern may be altered when puberty
occurs "off-time".

Hauser et a1. (1985) also examined the effect of pubertal timing, that is,
whether the adolescent is on- or off-time as compared to his/ her peers. They
found that for on-time adolescents, there was less explaining by adolescents
and mothers and more constraining by mothers and fathers at the time of
puberty, again supporting findings of a pattern of increased family conﬂict at
puberty. Off-time adolescents, both early and late maturers, differed
considerably however, exhibiting more explaining and less constraining than
the on-time group, indicating that pubertal timing significantly affects the
normative pattern of family interactions at puberty.

Papini et al. (1988) suggest that perhaps there may be a decrease in
affective interactions, rather than increased conﬂict, at the transpubertal stage
as opposed to the pre- and postpubertal stages. In accordance with previous
findings, the mother-adolescent dyad was particularly unsupportive during
the height of the pubertal stage. Adolescents' assertive interactions increased
during puberty and then decreased postpubertally, while parents' assertive

interactions remained constant. The researchers concluded that during

8
puberty, adolescents are redefining their relationship with their parents by
decreasing affective interactions and increasing assertive interactions.

Other adolescent characteristics in addition to pubertal status and age
have been examined in terms of their relevance to family interaction and
conﬂict at adolescence, including emergence of formal thinking (Steinberg 8:
Hill, 1978), and development of social-cognitive abilities (Smetana, 1987).
Although it appears that conﬂict may vary as a function of pubertal status,

‘ age, etc., it seems clear that in addition to these adolescent variables, the

family variables that relate to parent-adolescent conﬂict need to be explored.

FAMILY VARIABLES

Although the content of parent-adolescent conﬂict has been
extensively explored, the process by which decisions are made and
disagreements are resolved in the family has been a more recent question
raised in the literature. The ways in which family members interact and
communicate, and mutually inﬂuence one another, largely determine how
conﬂicts are handled within the family. Steinberg (1987) refers to a shift in
research in which "unidirectional models of parent-child socialization [are
moving] toward the more reciprocal and systemic approaches to the study of
the family" (p. 193). Within systems theory, conﬂict is clearly viewed as
endemic to the family system, rather than the adolescent alone (Hall, 1987).
Again, developmental issues are essential in understanding the mutual
forces adolescents and parents place upon each other. As children begin to
undergo the biological, psychological, and social changes which signify the
beginning of adolescence, they begin to reassess their role in the family. The
adolescent seeks a more symmetrical, egalitarian relationship with his/ her

parents than had previously existed (Crotevant 8: Cooper, 1986), which

9

necessitates ﬂexibility within the system. This challenges interaction patterns
which have previously been successful, and upsets the family's balance or
homeostasis. The family's ability to negotiate a new homeostatic
arrangement determines its level of functionality (Goldenberg 8: Goldenberg,
1980).

Sabatelli 8: Mazor (1985) discuss the characteristics which affect the way
that families negotiate this stage and regain homeostatic functioning. The
system's level of differentiation, or the ability to regulate interpersonal
distances such that cohesion is maintained but individuality allowed, is
highly relevant in determining how the family will adapt to the adolescent's
attempts at individuation. A well—differentiated system can easily adjust itself
to an individual's independence needs, while the poorly differentiated
system resists change and finds it difficult to accomodate the adolescent's
needs for autonomy. This factor is likely to affect both the frequency and

intensity of parent-adolescent conﬂict (Robin 8: Foster, 1984).

Quality of Communication

Given that disagreements are likely to occur to some extent in parent-
adolescent relationships, there are several factors which may affect the
severity of parent-adolescent problems and conﬂict. The quality of the
family's communication is one factor which researchers have examined.
Indeed, poor communication and low levels of positive communication are
commonly found in distressed families and families with a disturbed
adolescent (Hall, 1987; Robin 8: Weiss, 1980; Alexander, 1973). Alexander
(1973) found that families with a delinquent adolescent exhibited more
defensive communications, or threatening and punishing communications

which invite defensive behaviors in return, while "normal" families

10

exhibited more supportive communications, or interaction characterized by
information seeking and giving, problem solving, and understanding. Also,
"normal" families allowed the adolescent to partake in more independent
and adult-like communication than the delinquent families did. Smetana
(1990) found that enabling family interactions, as opposed to constraining
interactions, predicted successful conﬂict resolution. Grotevant 8: Cooper
(1983) claimed that positive communication helped families to maintain an

' optimal level of separateness and connectedness between the members.

Problem-Solving Skills

In addition to quality of communication, the family's conﬂict
resolution skills appear to play a major role in troubled parent-adolescent
interactions. Vuchinich (1987) points out that verbal conﬂicts can produce
positive results, including more open communication, as long as conﬂict
management skills prevent conﬂict from becoming too frequent or severe.
Indeed, a study by Martin et al. (1987) showed that verbally and physically
violent families report much less successful outcomes from conﬂict
resolution than do nonviolent families.

Foster 8: Robin (1988) propose that conﬂict resolution involves both
communication skills and problem-solving skills, among other things. They
explain that these factors interact to determine how and whether or not
problems get resolved. For instance, the family may lack problem-solving
skills entirely, or they may have the skills but they also engage in negative
communication habits, such as personal attacks, hostile criticism, and
unresponsiveness, which prevent them from utilizing those skills. When
problem-solving skills are lacking or are not utilized and disagreements are

not resolved, conﬂicts continue to occur and with greater antagonism (Foster

ll

8: Robin, 1988). Robin (1981) suggests that parent-adolescent conﬂict, in
particular, is the result of a deficit in the problem-solving skills necessary to
dealing with the adolescent‘s movements towards independence. Again,
although all families are likely to experience some difficulties with this stage,
many families have sufficient skills to deal with the problems so that conﬂict
does not escalate to unmanageable levels. Other families lack basic skills and
cannot overcome the obstacles of adolescence without severe difficulties.

Social learning theory-based treatment approaches have focused on the
problem-solving skills of parents and adolescents, in which the intent is to
help the family to resolve their disagreements democratically (Robin, 1981).
This involves practices taken from Gordon's Parent Effectiveness Training
(1970), including explanations of rules by parents, non-threatening
communication, listening to and understanding each other, negotiating
solutions which meet each other's needs, etc.. Outcome studies have
indicated that implementing problem-solving communication training
(which involves other components in addition to problem-solving training)
improves problem-solving skills (Robin et al., 1977) and produces
improvement on self-report measures of communication and conﬂict (Robin,
1981).

However, an examination of the way that "normal" families resolve
conﬂict indicated that 36% of conﬂicts are stopped before they truly get
underway, 35% are ended with specific social arrangements, and 61% end in a
standoff. The researchers conclude that most conﬂicts simply "run their
course," without negotiation or compromise (Vuchinich, 1987).

Although there are clearly differences between distressed and
nondistressed families in communication and problem-solving abilities, the

causes of these differences remains unclear. If some degree of conﬂict is

12

common in adolescence, what factors enable some families to work through
the conﬂict and adapt to the changes engendered by the transition to
adolescence easier than other families? The existing research on parent-
adolescent conﬂict focuses on the content and the process of conﬂict, but
studies examining predictive factors are lacking. Montemayor, in his review
of parent-adolescent conﬂict (1983), states that studies using adolescent or
parent characteristics, or types of family organization to predict different
levels of conﬂict simply do not exist. Steinberg (1990), too, concludes that
studies have not examined how earlier family characteristics are linked to the
nature of the family's transition to adolescence. The question continues to be
raised in the literature: why is this transition to adolescence so difficult for
some families and not others (Montemayor, 1983; Robin 8: Foster, 1984; Hall,
1987; Grotevant, 1989)?

It has been suggested that how parents have resolved conﬂict in the
past will have much to do with how they work through conflict once
adolescents begin demanding more autonomy (Hall, 1987). Belsky 8: Vondra
(1985) argue that parents must be ﬂexible in response to their children's
changing developmental needs, and that throughout childhood they must
make efforts to direct their children's behavior without denying their
developing sense of individuality. Successful parents will have "set the
stage" for the transition to adolescence, because they will be accustomed to
allowing the child to maintain an optimal level of autonomy; thus, it will not
be a huge leap to allow the adolescent more freedom and control over his/ her
actions and decisions. As Hall (1987) points out, children learn patterns of
interaction from their parents, so the way that parents socialize their children
will largely inﬂuence how parents and adolescents deal with conﬂict. If the

family's interaction patterns have undergone a gradual, rather than abrupt,

l3

shift and have allowed the members to slowly become comfortable with their
new roles, the family will find the transition less stressful (Montemayor,
1983). It follows from this that families who have and who utilize conﬂict

resolution skills will also be less challenged by conﬂict in adolescence.

Parenting Styles

Clearly, the way that parents socialize their children will have strong
implications for how they handle the transition to adolescence. How families
respond to the adolescent's autonomy-seeking behaviors may be determined
in large part by their parenting or child-rearing style. In particular,
Baumrind's (1971) typology of authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive
parenting styles may be quite useful in examining how families handle
conﬂict at adolescence. Brieﬂy, Baumrind defines authoritarian parents as
those who expect their children to conform to a rigid set of standards. The
parents are the sole decision-makers, and children are expected to obey
unquestioningly. Often, they use harsh, punitive methods of discipline.
Authoritative parents also guide their children firmly, but they attempt to
explain their reasoning and allow their children input into decision-making.
In addition, their firm discipline and control are accompanied by warmth and
respect. Although permissive parents are also warm and supportive, they
avoid the use of control and regulation. They allow their children to make
their own decisions, and do not take responsibility for shaping their
childrens' behavior (Baumrind, 1989).

In an examination of "normal" adolescents' perceptions of their
parents' typical parenting practices, Douvan 8: Adelson (1966) found that
approximately 33% of the adolescents sampled reported that their parents

displayed patterns of authority most similar to the authoritarian parenting

14

style, while 50—75% described their parents in a way most similar to the
authoritative pattern. Offer's (1969) study showed that about 20% of his
sample thought their parents were too lenient, 20% thought that their parents
were too strict, and 60% thought that their parents' disciplinary techniques
were variable and unpredictable.

Based on adolescent self-report data, Kandel 8: Lesser (1969) found that
American adolescents perceived their parents as being significantly more
authoritarian, with fathers being more authoritarian and mothers more
democratic, than did Danish adolescents. In addition, authoritarian patterns
were found to be more common in families of lower socioeconomic status
(Jurkovic 8: Ulrici, 1985; Dornbusch et al., 1987a). It appears that families of
higher SES exhibit a more gradual shift of authority, allowing adolescents to
contribute to the decision-making process before allowing them complete
autonomy. Lower SES families tend to shift more abruptly from parents
having complete control over decision-making to adolescents having control,
without going through a process of joint decision-making (Dornbusch et al.,
1987a).

Other researchers have examined how parents and their adolescents
typically resolve disagreements in order to determine parents' authority
practices. Youniss (1988) claimed that conﬂict resolution between parents and
adolescents usually involved the adolescent complying with the parents'
wishes, but that there was commonly discussion between parents and
adolescents first, and parents usually offered explanations for their views.
Although Selman (1981) and Maccoby 8: Martin (1983) suggested that
collaboration and compromise may be more mature and healthy methods of
resolving conﬂicts, Smetana (1990), utilizing a laboratory family interaction

task with adolescents and their parents, found that there was no increase in

15

compromise with adolescents' age. She did find, however, that adolescent
concession to parents decreased with age.

Researchers have examined the relationship between different
parenting styles and various measures of social and academic success in
adolescence. Buri (1989b) and Buri et al. (1988), using a questionnaire
developed by Buri to assess parenting style, found that authoritative
parenting is positively related to adolescents' reported self-esteem, while
authoritarian parenting is negatively related to adolescents' self-esteem.
These relationships were particularly salient for girls. Permissive parenting
was not found to relate to self-esteem. Gecas 8: Schwalbe (1986) broke down
the authoritative pattern of parenting into separate aspects of
control / autonomy, parental support, and participation in a questionnaire
they derived from two other measures of parental behavior commonly used
with children. They found that parental control/ autonomy strongly affected
boys' feelings of self-esteem, while parental support and participation affected
girls' feelings of self-esteem. In addition, fathers' child-rearing behaviors
were more closely related to self-esteem than were mothers' child-rearing
behaviors, and both parents had a stronger inﬂuence on boys' self-esteem
than on girls' self-esteem. Using adolescents' reports on questionnaires
regarding parental behavior and adolescent self-esteem, Litovsky 8: Dusek
(1985), too, found that parental acceptance and the granting of psychological
autonomy were related to high self-esteem. However, in contrast to Gecas 8:
Schwalbe's study, their results indicated that mothers' child-rearing practices
were more closely related to the child's self-esteem than were the fathers'
child-rearing practices.

Other researchers have looked at the association between parenting

styles and school performance. Bowerman 8: Elder (1963), using a structured

l6

questionnaire, found that adolescent boys who had high scholastic
performance and goals tended to have fathers who were democratic in child-
rearing. Dornbusch et al. (1987b) developed a questionnaire assessing
adolescents' perceptions of their parents' parenting styles and discovered that
authoritativeness in parents related to adolescents' self-reported grades and
grade point average, while permissiveness and authoritarianism were
negatively related to school success. Steinberg et a1. (1989), in a longitudinal

‘ questionnaire study, extended the above research by examining the unique
contribution of the different aspects of authoritativeness to school success.
They found that separate components of authoritative parenting, that is,
acceptance and allowance of psychological autonomy (as opposed to
psychological control), each contributed to the positive relationship between
authoritativeness and academic success.

In addition, Steinberg et al. (1989) addressed the issue of how and why
authoritative parenting is related to positive outcomes in adolescence. They
delineated the characteristic of psychosocial maturity, which was a factor
comprised of self-reliance, identity, and self-direction, as being an important
mediator in the relationship between authoritativeness and academic success.
The researchers found that the impact of parenting style on academic success
was mediated by psychosocial maturity, and that the factors of acceptance,
psychological autonomy, and behavioral control each contributed
independently to psychosocial maturity. Thus, they concluded that
authoritative parenting facilitates, rather than simply accompanying, school
success. Similarly, the process by which authoritativeness leads to other
positive outcomes in adolescents may well be mediated by the family's
interactional patterns, and their methods of handling the conﬂict associated

with this transitional stage.

17

Finally, Steinberg et al. (1991) questioned whether the relationships
researchers were finding between authoritative parenting and positive
adolescent outcomes were limited to certain ethnic groups or socioeconomic
classes. They conducted a large-scale self-report questionnaire study with a
diverse sample of high school students and found relationships between
authoritativeness and four measures of adolescent adjustment, including
school performance, self-reliance, anxiety and depression, and delinquent
behavior. Moreover, these relationships were consistent across ethnic
background, socioeconomic status, and family structure (intact versus
nonintact families). The findings of Dornbusch et al. (1987b) also indicated
that the positive consequences of authoritativeness and the negative

consequences of authoritarianism were consistent across ethnic backgrounds.

PARENTING STYLES AND CONFLICT

When adolescents begin to seek more autonomy, the legitimacy of
parental authority will need to be renegotiated (Smetana, 1987), and parents
and adolescents will need to learn to relate in an increasingly egalitarian
manner (Smith 8: Forehand, 1986). These changes often throw the family
into disequilibrium, resulting in increased stress within the parent-adolescent
relationship (Montemayor, 1982). Montemayor (1983) points out the
importance of ﬂexibility and the need to be able to adjust parenting styles with
the changes of adolescence, suggesting that the parenting skills which have
previously been successful may no longer work in adolescence. Smetana
(1987), too, states that parents' patterns that were functional in childhood may
become maladaptive in adolescence. However, as was suggested earlier,
parents' responses to adolescent demands will depend largely upon previous

patterns of response. Thus, as adolescents begin to question parental control,

18

parents who are used to reasoning with their children and explaining their
points of view (authoritative parents) will find adolescent demands less
threatening. Parents who use more ﬂexible parenting styles will be able to
accomodate shifts in relationships and allow adolescent individuation, and
are likely to negotiate this stage with relative ease.

On the contrary, parents who have always exerted complete dominance
over their children and have not allowed their child any say in decision-
making (authoritarian parents) will find this stage more trying and
conﬂictual. The ﬂexibility that is necessary and the new roles that are
demanded will be unfamiliar to the family, making the restoration of
homeostasis a difficult process. If the parents are unable to adapt to the
adolescent's emerging needs for autonomy, it is likely that the adolescent will
be very unsatisfied and possibly rebellious (Garbarino, 1985). Parents' rigidity
will get in the way of conﬂict resolution skills, leading to hostility and
escalating negative responses within the family (Foster 8: Robin, 1988).
Holmbeck (1990) found that when the mother was not willing to grant
autonomy to an adolescent who desired more autonomy, which is most
characteristic of the authoritarian parenting style, mothers reported more
frequent and intense conﬂict, and adolescents reported more emotional
detachment from mothers and had more emotional and behavioral
problems. Over time, this pattern resulted in the greatest increase in
adolescent reported conﬂict and the greatest decreases in adolescent self-
concept.

Children who have never been offered any direction in decision-
making, that is, those with permissive parents, may feel insecure and
neglected, and may have a difficult time making appropriate decisions. As

the consequences of inappropriate decisions may be more severe in

19

adolescence than in childhood, parents may suddenly find the adolescent's
decisions unacceptable, where previously they have not questioned their
child's judgment, and conﬂict may be intensified. Holmbeck (1990) described
a pattern most characteristic of the permissive parenting style, in which the
mother was willing to grant more autonomy to the adolescent but the
adolescent did not desire more autonomy. He found that these adolescents
were likely to be impulsive, aggressive, and lacking in self-governance, and
that mothers reported more conﬂict while adolescents reported less conﬂict

and more emotional detachment.

Parents' and Adolescents' Perceptions of the Family

In addressing the above hypotheses, it is necessary to consider the
varying perceptions of different family members. It has been argued, based on
a symbolic-interactionist perspective, that an individual's perception of a
phenomenon is the most important variable affecting his/ her own behavior
(Gecas 8: Schwalbe, 1986; Buri et al., 1988). Thus, researchers often rely on
self-report data from only one family member (Buri et al., 1988). However,
the reliance on self-report data, and particularly on only one family member's
report, raises many important issues. Perhaps the mbst commonly raised
issue concerns the similarity or difference between different family member's
perceptions of a phenomenon. If each family member has a different
"reality", is it truly sufficient to rely on only one person's report?

Some researchers have suggested that parents and children differ
systematically in their presentations of the family. Havighurst 8: Davis (1955)
and Miller 8: Swanson (1958), for example, suggest that mothers may give
socially appropriate or idealized responses when answering questions

regarding their own parenting practices. In the same vein, Herbst (1952) and

2 0
Ausubel et al. (1954) have suggested that children tend to be less biased and
better reporters of family life than their parents.

This issue is particularly important when dealing with parents' versus
adolescents' perceptions of family characteristics, due to the nature of the
parent-adolescent relationship. Callan 8: Noller (1986) suggest that some of
the stress found in families with adolescents may be related to the differing
perceptions of parents and adolescents regarding their family. They suggest
that as adolescents begin to seek increasing autonomy and freedom from the
family, they may also become more critical of it. At the same time, parents
may be invested in presenting their family in a positive light. Indeed,
researchers who have compared parents' and adolescents' reports of family
characteristics have suggested that parents tend to give more socially desirable
responses than adolescents do, and adolescents tend to present a more
discordant picture of family life (Niemi, 1974; Callan 8: Noller, 1986). N iemi
(1974) concluded that parents were perhaps minimizing actual differences
between themselves and their adolescents, while adolescents were perhaps
exaggerating actual differences. Similarly, Lerner 8: Knapp (1975) found that
adolescents tended to overestimate the number of different attitudes between
themselves and their parents, while parents underestimated their differences.

Although Jessop (1981) found differences between parents and
adolescents, she also found that parents and adolescents reported similar
levels of closeness in the family. The primary difference between the reports
of parents and adolescents was that each member tended to exaggerate the
amount of inﬂuence and control 5/ he had over the family, rather than one
member systematically presenting a more or less idealized picture of family

life. Callan 8: Noller (1986) concurred that parents and adolescents did not

21

differ in reports of friendliness, and Smith 8: Forehand (1986) similarly found
that parents and adolescents had similar perceptions of conﬂict.

Niemi (1974) pointed out that although each person's report may
indeed reﬂect his/ her perception of the relationship, comparisons between
parents' and adolescents' reports indicate only level of agreement, rather than
accuracy, when there is no objective measure of the variable with which to
compare reports. Noller 8: Callan (1988) attempted to address this issue by
’ comparing parents' and adolescents' reports of family interaction with the
reports of outside observers. In addition to parents' and adolescents' reports
of the behavior of themselves and one another (the "insider" family), the
researchers had a trained observer and another family consisting of two
parents and an adolescent (the "outsider" family) rate the interactions of the
first family. They found that, overall, ratings of the outsider family were
more negative than those of the insider family and that the ratings of the
trained observer were more closely related to, but less negative than, the
ratings of the outsider family. In addition, the adolescents rated their own
families more similarly to the outsider family than to their own parents, and
the perceptions of parents and adolescents were more similar in the outsider
family than in the insider family. Finally, ratings of the self by both parents
and adolescents were more similar to the trained observer's and the outsider
family's ratings than were their ratings of other family members, indicating
that they were more able to be objective about themselves than about other
family members.

Although parents and their adolescent children clearly differ in their
perceptions of at least some aspects of their families, it is important to
determine if any member's perception tends to be more relevant in predicting

either adolescent or family outcomes. Gecas 8: Schwalbe (1986) found that

22

there was little relationship between parents' and their children's reports of
parental behavior, and that the children's reports were much more strongly
related to children's self-esteem. Buri (1989b), too, found that adolescents'
reports of their parents' behavior were more strongly related to adolescents'
self-esteem than were parents' reports of their own behavior. Similarly,
Smith 8: Forehand (1986) found that adolescents' perceptions of parental
conﬂict were more consistent predictors of conﬂict with parents than were
parents' perceptions of parental conﬂict. Although Wierson et al. (1988)
found that parents' reports of interparental conﬂict were significantly related
to their adolescent children's functioning (e.g. school performance, behavior
problems, cognitive and social competence), the adolescents' perceptions of
interparental conﬂict accounted for unique variance (ranging from 2% to 10%
depending on the measure of adolescent functioning) beyond that contributed

by the parents' reports.

HYPOTHESES

It is hypothesized that perceptions of authoritative parenting will relate
to low levels of perceived conﬂict between parents and adolescents while
perceptions of authoritarian and permissive parenting will relate to higher
levels of perceived conﬂict. Based on the equivocal nature of existing
literature regarding the importance of permissiveness as compared to
authoritativeness and authoritarianism on adolescent outcomes, it is
expected that the relationships between conﬂict and both authoritativeness
and authoritarianism will be stronger than those between conﬂict and
permissiveness.

The assessment of both parents' and adolescents' perceptions of

parenting style and conﬂict will allow examination of the relationship

23

between different family members' perceptions of the variables, and also
which member's perceptions of parenting style, if any, are more predictive of
level of conﬂict. It is predicted that each family member's own perception of
parenting style will be most closely related to his/ her own perception of
conﬂict. However, as parent-adolescent conﬂict is an interactional variable, it
is likely that the experience of each person involved will play a role in the
prediction of conﬂict. Therefore, it is also hypothesized that other family
members' perceptions of parenting style will relate to the individual's own
perception of conﬂict (e.g., mothers' perceptions of their parenting styles will
relate to adolescents' perceptions of conﬂict, and adolescents' perceptions of
mothers' parenting styles will relate to mothers' perceptions of conﬂict).
Moreover, it is expected that the combination of both adolescents' and
parents' perceptions of parenting style will best predict perceptions of conﬂict.
That is, parents' perceptions of parenting style are expected to account for
unique variance beyond that accounted for by adolescents' perceptions of
parenting style in predicting adolescents' perceptions of conﬂict. Conversely,
adolescents' perceptions of parenting style are expected to account for unique
variance beyond that accounted for by parents' perceptions of parenting style

in predicting parents' perceptions of conﬂict.

METHOD

Subjects

Twenty-five adolescents (sixteen girls and nine boys), twenty-five
mothers, and twenty-three fathers (two families were single-parent families)
volunteered to participate in the study. Five of these families had a
stepparent living in the home. Adolescents ranged in age from 14 to 17, with
a mean age of 15 1 / 2 years. Four percent of the sample were 14 years old, 48%
were 15, 36% were 16, and 12% were 17 years old. Students were in 9th
through 12th grades, with the majority (sixteen) being in 10th grade. Subjects
were recruited through students' classes in two public high schools in a
middle to upper-middle class community. Participants included those
students and their parents who completed and returned the instruments

given to the student in school.

Procedure

Approximately four hundred students in two midwestern high
schools, grades 9-12, were given an envelope containing a letter describing
this study, informed consent forms for parents and student, and an
individual packet of questionnaires for the student and for each parent. Each
family member was given a questionnaire about parent-adolescent
interactions (Conﬂict Behavior Questionnaire), and a questionnaire about
parenting beliefs (Parental Authority Questionnaire). The student filled out

each questionnaire twice, once regarding his/ her mother and once regarding

24

25

his/ her father. In addition, the student's packet included a demographics
questionnaire. The student and parents were asked to sign the consent forms
if they agreed to participate in the study. They were then asked to fill out the
questionnaires and return them in the stamped, self-addressed envelope
provided. They were told that their voluntary agreement to take part in the
study would be indicated by the signed consent forms and the return of the
envelope. Anonymity of the participants was ensured by the absence of any

' identifying information on the forms, with the exception of the informed
consent forms. The consent forms were removed from the packet when it
was returned to the researchers. Twenty-five packets were returned with
complete information (all questionnaires filled out by the student and each

parent living in the home), giving a return rate of 6%.

Measures

The demographics questionnaire provides information regarding the
subject's age, sex, grade, and a list of the members in the family (unnamed).
The adolescent was asked to fill out the questionnaires regarding the parents
with whom s/ he was currently living.

The Parental Authority Questionnaire, developed by Buri et al. (1988),
measures authoritarianism, authoritativeness, and permissiveness in
parenting practices. The 30 questions on the FAQ are based on Baumrind's
(1971) prototypes of parental authority. There are 10 items on each of the
three scales, and each item is answered on a 5-point scale ranging from
"strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". Thus, the total score on each variable
ranges from 10 to 50. Test-retest studies resulted in reliabilities ranging from
.77 for father's permissiveness to .92 for father's authoritativeness (Buri,

1989a). Content validity was achieved by having 21 professionals evaluate

26

each of the items as to its appropriateness in reﬂecting the construct in
question. Ninety-five percent agreement was required in order to include an
item on the scale. Discriminant validity was shown in the divergence of
responses on the three different scales. Scores on one scale were either
insignificantly related or inversely related to scores on the other scales (Buri,
1989a). Means from a normative sample (adolescents only) reported by Buri
(1989a), in addition to means on the FAQ for the present sample, are
presented in Table 1.

In this study, the PAQ was filled out twice by the adolescent, once in
reference to his/ her mother and once in reference to his/ her father, reﬂecting
the adolescent's perception of the parenting practices of each of his / her
parents while 5 / he was growing up. The PAQ was also reworded so that it
could be answered by the parents, and was filled out by each parent reﬂecting

beliefs about his / her own parenting practices while the adolescent was

growing up.

Table 1

Means and Standard Deviaﬂms on Parental Authorigg Questionnaire for
Present Sample and Normative Sample

 

 

 

Present Sample Norm Sample
Adolescent Parent Adolescent
Parenting Style Mean SD. Mean SD. Mean SD.
Mother
Authoritativeness 35.76 6.44 43.92 3.75 36.82 5.12
Authoritarianism 26.68 7.99 23.92 8.07 27.20 7.12
Permissiveness 24.60 5.68 22.20 4.66 25.38 5.31
Father
Authoritativeness 34.26 7.41 41.35 5.73 33.20 8.24
Authoritarianism 29.13 7.57 26.78 7.47 29.03 8.54

Permissiveness 24.04 6.71 22.87 5.44 23.48 5.64

27

The Conﬂict Behavior Questionnaire assesses positive and negative
interactive behaviors exhibited by parents and adolescent, yielding a score of
overall distress in the relationship (Foster 8: Robin, 1988). The twenty items
are answered as either true or false. Test-retest reliability with distressed
parents and adolescents ranges from 37-85 over a period of 6-8 weeks.
Internal consistency ranges from .88 for the mothers' report of adolescents'
behavior to .95 for the adolescents' report of mothers' behavior. There is 66-
68% agreement between parents and adolescents in distressed families, while
in nondistressed families, there is 84% agreement, indicating that particularly
in distressed families, this scale should be recognized as measuring perceived
conﬂicted interaction. The CBQ has also been shown to reliably discriminate
distressed from nondistressed families (Robin 8: Foster, 1984; Foster 8: Robin,
1988).

In this study, the CBQ was filled out by both parents and twice by the
adolescent (once for father and once for mother), thus providing a measure of
each family member's perception of parent-adolescent conﬂict. Because the
20-item version (CBQ-20) has been shown to correlate .96 with the longer
form (Foster 8: Robin, 1988), it was used. Means from the CBQ-20 for a
normative nonclinic sample, in addition to means for the present sample, are

presented in Table 2 (Foster 8: Robin, 1988).

28

Table 2

Megs and Standard Deviations on Conﬂict Behavior Questionnaire for

Present Sample and Normative Sample

 

 

 

 

Present Sample Normative Sample
Family Member Mean SD. Mean SD.
Mother
Adolescent 3.6 4.5 2.0 3.1
Parent 3.5 3.9 2.4 2.8
Father
Adolescent 3.9 5.1 1.6 1.6

Parent 4.2 4.7 3.2 3.0

 

RESULTS

Demographic Variables

Preliminary analyses were conducted on the data in order to determine
if scores on the conﬂict and parenting style variables were related to the
demographic variables of sex or age. Because there were very few 14 and 17
year olds, age was separated into two groups: 14 and 15 year olds, and 16 and
17 year olds. Sex and age were then entered into one-way ANOVAs with each
of the conﬂict and parenting style variables (both adolescent and parent
perceptions). A consistent sex difference was found in both parents' and
adolescents' perceptions of parents' authoritarianism. Sex was related to both
mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their own authoritarianism, with
mothers (F[1, 23]=8.04, p<.009) and fathers (F[1, 21]=20.51, p<.001) reporting
more authoritarianism with daughters than with sons. Sex was also related
to adolescents' perceptions of their mothers' authoritarianism (F[1, 23]=7.30,
p<.01), with girls reporting that their mothers were more authoritarian than
did boys. Finally, there was a trend towards significance, consistent with the
above findings, in adolescent girls' perceptions of their fathers'
authoritarianism as compared to adolescent boys' perceptions, with girls
reporting that their fathers were more authoritarian (F[1, 21]=3.34, p<.08).
There were no significant differences across sex or age on any of the other

parenting style variables or on the conﬂict variables.

29

3 0
Comparisons Between Eagh Family Member's Perceptions

Correlation coefficients were computed to explore the relationships
between adolescents' and parents' reports of conﬂict and of parenting style
within their families in order to determine the similarity of different family
members' reports. The correlation matrices are represented in Tables 3 and 4.
Significant associations were found between adolescents' and parents' reports
of conﬂict. Specifically, adolescents' reports of conﬂict with mothers and with
fathers were significantly correlated (r=.59, p<.01), as were mothers' reports of
conﬂict with their adolescents and fathers' reports of conﬂict with their
adolescents (r=.44, p<.05). A significant relationship was also found between
adolescents' reports of conﬂict with their mothers and mothers' reports of
conﬂict with their adolescents (r=.43, p<.05).

Significant relationships were also found between adolescents' reports
of mothers' and fathers' permissiveness (r=.64, p<.01), mothers' and fathers'
authoritativeness (r=.70, p<.01), and mothers' and fathers' authoritarianism
(r=.72, p<.01), indicating that the adolescents believe that their parents have

similar parenting styles. Also, a significant relationship was found between

Table 3

Correlations between Parents' and Adolescents' Perceptions of Conﬂict

 

 

 

 

Mother (n=25) Father (n=23)

Family Member Adolescent Parent Adolescent Parent
Mother

Adolescent 1.00 .43" .59“ .33

Parent .43" 1.00 .09 .44"
Father

Adolescent .59“ .09 1.00 .33

Parent .33 .44" .33 1.00
I‘p<.05

"p<.01

31

Eve.- 8.8..

mm": £858 8m “mm": $85.08 8m 882

 

8.— 8. mo: 3.
ma. 2: 8r thew.

nor cor 2: mm.
3. :wc. mm. 84

«cm.- omr mm. 9.-
SN.- 3r om. MN.-

mor *ovr mo. mm.-
mﬁ- our 8.. mm.-

cor my. «.0. mo.
co. nor 3: on.-

..mvr no. ma.- 5.-
wo. co. 5.- 5.-

58 39¢ 8% 33w
858m .8562
mmmcmzmﬂﬁumm

vmr va mo: mp.-
cmr Sc.- ..ev: om.-

NN. cu. 8. mo.-
mwr NNr mum.- em.-

OOA 35$. :mm. 93%.
:59. OOH :wm. :Nh.

3mm. 1.0m. 84. :m0.
:vc. ENE. :50. GOA

8.- mo. 9. co.
«m.- vmr a? mu.-

mo. 5. mm. cm.
omr mﬁ- mac mm.-

..mm 33w 8m _oo<
85mm .8502
Emmammcmzcoﬁsao.

cor co. *mvf mo.
ma. war 8. co.
g. m—..- MNF we...
mo. omr ~N... kw..-
.- .- no. ON.-
mo. .- :. mm...
mu. war wN. mu.-
wo. mNﬁ cm. MN...
84 awv. mo... av.
*vv. DOA N. :05.
nor N. 8% ma.
av. :om. mo. OOH

8m 33‘ 8m 33‘
.853 8502
m88>=ﬂto£=<

:88“—
2888—638.
85am
:88m
Emu88p<
.8502
mmmcmzmmmﬁumm
288m
2868—034
85am
E38
2868—35.
8:82
82:38:85.3».
.838
2868—084
858m
:88;
Emu88p<
.8562
8883838534.

 

83m 3282mm .0 macro-88m .mEmumﬂoEm 98. .388m @8383 macaw—3.80

v 833.

32

mothers' reports of their own authoritarianism and fathers' reports of their
own authoritarianism (r=.58, p<.01), but not between mothers' and fathers'
reports of their own authoritativeness or permissiveness, suggesting that
parents perceive their parenting as being highly similar only in the domain of
authoritarianism.

As predicted, significant associations were also found between
adolescents' reports of fathers' authoritativeness and fathers' reports of their
own authoritativeness (r=.44, p<.05), and adolescents' reports of fathers'
authoritarianism and fathers' reports of their own authoritarianism (r=.67,
p<.01). In addition, adolescents' reports of mothers' authoritarianism were
significantly related to mothers' reports of their own authoritarianism (r=.63,

p<.01).

Comparisons of Agggegate Responses

T-tests were performed on mean conﬂict and parenting style scores in
order to examine overall group differences between parents and adolescents.
Again, Tables 1 and 2 present the mean scores on each of the conﬂict and
parenting style variables for this sample, as well as for normative samples.
Although there were many similarities between perceptions of conﬂict and
parenting style by parents and adolescents from the same families, it is
important to also examine aggregate response patterns to determine if there
are any systematic differences between parents and adolescents. An
examination of aggregate responses indicates that, overall, parents and
adolescents reported similar levels of conﬂict in their relationships. The
mean conﬂict scores of fathers and adolescents, of mothers and adolescents, of
fathers and mothers, and of adolescents regarding their mothers and their

fathers showed no significant group differences.

33

However, an examination of group means for parents' and
adolescents' reports of parenting styles indicates that both mothers and
fathers tended to give more socially desirable reports of their parenting styles
overall than adolescents did. Although the following group differences were
statistically significant, in all cases the mean scores of both mothers and
fathers were in the direction of what was hypothesized as being more positive
(i.e. more authoritative, less authoritarian, and less permissive) than the
mean scores of adolescents. A significant difference was found between
mothers' and adolescents' reports of mothers' authoritativeness (t[25]=5.55,
p<.001), with mothers reporting that they were more authoritative than
adolescents reported. A similar difference was also found between fathers'
and adolescents' reports of fathers' authoritativeness (t[23]=4.79, p<.001).
Therefore, although the reports of fathers' authoritativeness by fathers and
adolescents from the same families were significantly related, in the
aggregate, fathers reported that they were more authoritative than did
adolescents. Additionally, mothers reported that they were less authoritarian
than adolescents reported (t[25]=2.00, p<.05). Again, within individual
families, mothers' and adolescents' reports of mothers' authoritarianism
were related, yet overall mothers reported that they were less authoritarian
than did adolescents. Finally, there was a trend towards significance in
mothers' reports of their permissiveness as compared to adolescents' reports
of mothers' permissiveness, in that mothers reported less permissiveness

(t[25]=2.07, p=.057).

Adolescents' Repgrts of Conﬂict
Correlation coefficients were computed to explore the relationships

between each conﬂict variable (i.e. adolescents' reports of conﬂict with fathers

34

and with mothers, mothers' reports of conﬂict with adolescents, and fathers'
reports of conﬂict with adolescents) and the parenting style variables (i.e.
adolescents' and mothers' reports of mothers' authoritarianism,
authoritativeness, and permissiveness, and adolescents' and fathers' reports
of fathers' authoritarianism, authoritativeness, and permissiveness). This
correlation matrix is represented in Table 5. Looking first at adolescents'
reports of conﬂict, the hypothesized inverse relationship between

' authoritativeness and conﬂict was strongly supported for adolescents' reports
of conﬂict and parenting style for both parents. As expected, significant
inverse relationships were found between perceptions of conﬂict with
mothers and adolescents' perceptions of their mothers' authoritativeness
(r=-.62, p<.01), and perceptions of conﬂict with fathers and their perceptions of
their fathers' authoritativeness (r=-.67, p<.01), indicating that adolescents who
perceive their mothers and fathers to be high on authoritativeness report low

levels of conﬂict with parents.

Table 5

Correlations between Parenting Styles and Conﬂict

 

 

 

 

Parenting Style
Authpritativeness Authoritarianism Permissiveness
Conﬂict Adol Parent Adol Parent Adol Parent
Mother (n=25)
Adolescent -.62“ .29 .28 .28 .09 .17
Parent -.69’” .07 .48" .15 -.10 -.21
Father (n=23)
Adolescent -.67“ -.48* .45" .42* -.26 -.17
Parent -.53“ -.27 .44" .43" -.08 -.38
a‘p<.05

“p<.01

35

Also, as predicted, a positive relationship was found between
perceptions of conﬂict with fathers and their perceptions of their fathers'
authoritarianism (r=.45, p<.05), indicating that adolescents who perceive their
fathers to be high on authoritarianism report higher levels of conﬂict with
their fathers. This relationship held true only for fathers, as adolescents'
perceptions of mothers' authoritarianism did not relate significantly to
adolescents' perceptions of conﬂict with mothers.

In addition to the within-subject associations, adolescents' reports of
conﬂict with father were also inversely related to their fathers' reports of their
own authoritativeness (r=-.48, p<.05) and positively related to their fathers'
reports of their own authoritarianism (r=.42, p<.05). This did not hold true
for adolescents' reports of conﬂict with their mothers and mothers' reports of

parenting style.

Parents' Reports of Conﬂict
Interestingly, not only were adolescents' reports of parenting style

closely related to their own reports of conﬂict, but they were also more closely
related to parents' reports of conﬂict than were parents' own reports of their
parenting styles. Adolescents' reports of both mothers' and fathers'
authoritativeness and authoritarianism related to parents' reports of conﬂict
in the predicted directions. Specifically, a significant inverse association was
found between mothers' reports of conﬂict and adolescents' reports of their
mothers' authoritativeness (r=-.69, p<.01), while a significant positive
relationship was found between mothers' reports of conﬂict and the
adolescents' reports of their mothers' authoritarianism (r=.48, p<.05).

Similar to mothers' reports, fathers' reports of conﬂict were inversely related

to adolescents' reports of their fathers' authoritativeness (r=-.53, p<.01) and

3 6
positively related to adolescents' reports of their fathers' authoritarianism
(r=.43, p<.05).

Only fathers' reports of their own authoritarianism followed the
expected relationship to their own reports of conﬂict, with reports of
authoritarianism relating positively to reports of conﬂict (r=.43, p<.05).
Contrary to prediction, fathers' reports of conﬂict were unrelated to their own
reports of their authoritativeness. Moreover, mothers' reports of conﬂict
were not significantly related to their own reports of their parenting styles.
Although fathers' reports of their own permissiveness were not statistically
significantly related to their reports of conﬂict, the inverse association

between the two is not small (r=-.38) and runs contrary to prediction.

Regression Analyses

Stepwise multiple regression analyses were computed with each of the
parenting style variables (both adolescents' and parents' perceptions)
predicting the four conﬂict variables. Table 6 summarizes the results of these
regressions, with only the significant predictors remaining. The regression
analyses corroborated the correlational data, indicating that, across the board,
adolescents' reports of parents' authoritativeness were the strongest
predictors of low parent-adolescent conﬂict, regardless of whose report of
conﬂict was being examined. Not only were adolescents' perceptions of
parents' authoritativeness most highly predictive of their own perceptions of
conﬂict but they were also most highly predictive of mothers' and fathers'
perceptions of conﬂict. In fact, adolescents' perceptions of parents'
authoritativeness accounted for more of the variance in mothers' and
fathers' perceptions of conﬂict than in adolescents' own perceptions of

conﬂict.

37

 

m883m$582 :30

 

8. 8. 8. N3- 8- 8. :2: cc 22888: .2223:

888285053: .9855

om. am. :5. m3.- Nur S..- 50 805808; 2808—034-
ANNHE 3808—05: 5:5 85:00 50 205808.“ .9855

82383882“ .9855

8. 2. so. 8:.- :m- 8- :o 83888: 858863.

388385055: 8.855

S. 3. so. 3.»- 8.- 8, :o 22883: 2.8863
A-u5 9855 5:5 85:00 “.0 305808.“ 280883:-

Emmgtﬂtgtsa 8850::

am. mm. 8. :2 em. 3. :o 23888: .9583?

888383855: .9850:—

me. .3. :5. N3. 8.. 37 8 23888: 859863
Ammué 3808—05: 51$ 85:00 20 305.82% @8502

888385050: .9859:

8. mm. :5. Rm- 8.. 3- cc 22888: 858833
GNHE 2850:: 55» 8:.wl:00 ”.0 3058055 8.80.835"

NM .5:- E H wwm :- e8m m 88:85

 

 

85:00 :0 8.5m MEEPQA 50 m:0_m8._iwmm 835:2

e 2%:-

38

It is recognized that the small sample size in this study pushes the
limits of this test's reliability since the minimum number of subjects tested
should be approximately four to five per independent variable when
executing multiple regressions (Bordens & Abbott, 1988; Pedhazur, 1982). For
this reason, and because of the possibility that outlying subjects would
significantly influence the findings, the sample was scrutinized for outliers.
First, a regression was run on adolescents' perceptions of conﬂict with their
mothers. The six relevant parenting style variables were entered together:
adolescents' and mothers' perceptions of mothers' authoritativeness,
authoritarianism, and permissiveness. As expected, adolescents‘ perceptions
of their mothers' authoritativeness was the strongest predictor of adolescents'
perceptions of conflict with their mothers. This variable accounted for 36%
(p<.001) of the variance in conﬂict with mothers. However, none of the other
variables significantly increased the predictive ability of the equation beyond
that accounted for by this variable.

A second regression was executed with adolescents' perceptions of
conﬂict with their fathers as the dependent variable. The following predictor
variables were entered: adolescents' and fathers' perceptions of fathers'
authoritativeness, authoritarianism, and permissiveness. An outlier was
discovered in this analysis. As suggested by Bordens & Abbott (1988), due to
the small sample size and the possibility that the outlier would significantly
skew the results, it was removed from the data set. Adolescents' perceptions
of their fathers‘ authoritativeness accounted for 41% (p<.001) of the variance
in adolescents' perceptions of conflict with their fathers. In addition,
adolescents' perceptions of their fathers' permissiveness significantly

increased the predictive ability of the equation to 67% (p<.001) of the variance

39

in conﬂict with fathers. Contrary to expectation, permissiveness predicted
low levels of conﬂict with fathers rather than high levels.

A regression was run on mothers' perceptions of conﬂict with their
adolescents with the following variables entered as predictors: mothers' and
adolescents' perceptions of mothers' authoritativeness, authoritarianism, and
permissiveness. Adolescents' perceptions of mothers' authoritativeness
accounted for 45% (p<.001) of the variance in mothers' perceptions of conﬂict
with adolescents. The only variable which accounted for a significant
amount of variance beyond that afforded by the first variable was adolescents'
perceptions of their mothers' authoritarianism, which increased the variance
accounted for in mothers"reports of conﬂict with their adolescents to 54%
(p<.03).

Finally, a regression was executed on fathers' perceptions of conﬂict
with their adolescents with the following predictors entered: fathers' and
adolescents' perceptions of fathers' authoritativeness, authoritarianism, and
permissiveness. Again, an outlier was found and was removed from the
analysis. Adolescents‘ perceptions of their fathers' authoritativeness
accounted for 50% of the variance in fathers' perceptions of conﬂict with their
adolescents. Additionally, fathers' perceptions of their own permissiveness
significantly increased the predictive ability of the equation to 60% (p<.03).
Again, high permissiveness predicted low levels of conﬂict, which runs
contrary to our hypothesis. In no case (mothers', fathers', or adolescents'
perceptions of conﬂict) did the combination of both adolescents' and parents'

perceptions of parenting style best predict perceptions of conﬂict.

DISCUSSION

The results of this examination of parents' and adolescents'
perceptions of parenting style and conﬂict indicate that when adolescents
' perceive their parents to be highly authoritative, there is little conﬂict
perceived in the parent-adolescent relationship. Moreover, this finding holds
true when parent-adolescent conﬂict is reported by either adolescents or their
parents. The finding that authoritative parenting is consistently the strongest
predictor of perceived conﬂict is concordant with other researchers' findings
regarding the importance of authoritative parenting to various positive
adolescent outcomes. Buri et al. (1988), for example, found that parental
authoritativeness was very important to adolescents' self-esteem, and was
more highly related to self-esteem than authoritarianism or permissiveness.
Steinberg et al. (1989), in an elaboration of a study by Dornbusch et al. (1987b)
which examined the relationship between different parenting styles and
academic success, chose to focus specifically on the effects of authoritative
parenting in their study. They discovered that authoritative parenting
facilitates, rather than just accompanies, school success, and that this
relationship is mediated through the effects of authoritative parenting on the
adolescent's psychosocial maturity. This suggests that the mechanism
through which authoritativeness engenders positive outcomes in adolescents
is its promotion of certain skills in children and adolescents.

In this study, the associations between authoritative parenting and low

conﬂict were found to be stronger and more consistent than the associations

4O

41

between authoritarian parenting and high conﬂict. The stronger effects of
positive versus negative parenting suggest that perhaps authoritative
parenting actually promotes skills within the family which lead to low levels
of parent-adolescent conﬂict. Rather than simply being the absence of
negative interaction, it is suggested that authoritativeness promotes more
positive interaction.

Steinberg (1990) asserts that parent-adolescent conﬂict may have
positive benefits for the family and for the adolescent's development, as long
as the conﬂict is accompanied by parent-child closeness. That is, positive
parent-child relationships may moderate the effect of conﬂict on the family.
It is important to point out that the conﬂict Steinberg is referring to is
disagreements between parents and adolescents, or perhaps the somewhat
"normative" conﬂict of parents and adolescents, while our definition of
conﬂict (as measured by the CBQ) is more strongly affective and indicative of
a negative relationship between parents and adolescents. One of the
functions of parent-adolescent conﬂict, Steinberg suggests, is that
disagreements and negotiations between parents and adolescents help in the
development of more mutual and mature relationships. Likewise,
Vuchinich (1987) points out that verbal conﬂicts can have positive outcomes,
as long as family members have good conﬂict management or conﬂict
resolution skills. In addition, Foster 8: Robin (1988) note that when families
do not have good problem-solving skills, conﬂicts continually recur and with
increased antagonism each time. More specifically, this indicates that parent-
adolescent conﬂict may be the result of a deficit in the skills needed in the
family to resolve normative disagreements and allow the adolescent to gain

more freedom and control within the family. Indeed, Robin (1981) found that

42

teaching parents and adolescents how to resolve disagreements
democratically lowered conﬂict.

It is suggested that authoritative parenting may be responsible for those
skills needed for redefining relationships in the family and adapting to the
changes engendered by the transition to adolescence. Children clearly learn
skills and patterns of interaction from their parents through modeling (Hall,
1987), and authoritative parents purportedly teach their children the skills of
negotiation and compromise by the models they provide as democratic
parents. They demonstrate ﬂexibility in their parenting and gradually allow
children to take part in decision-making processes. Therefore, when the child
begins to move towards adolescence, the family should be better equipped to
renegotiate parental control and decision-making power, allowing the
adolescent to become more independent. Thus, the skills promoted by
authoritative parents are likely to enable the family to deal with adolescence
with a minimum of parent-adolescent conﬂict. However, further research
examining how parents and adolescents actually work through disagreements
would be necessary to determine whether authoritative families do indeed
utilize problem-solving skills more effectively than other families.

Although the strongest associations were found between
authoritativeness and low conﬂict in this study, positive relationships were
found between fathers' authoritarianism, as reported by both fathers and
adolescents, and reports of conﬂict by fathers and their adolescents,
supporting the hypothesis that fathers' authoritarian parenting is associated
with high levels of conﬂict. Associations between mothers' authoritarianism
and conﬂict were less consistent, as adolescents' reports of mothers'
authoritarianism were significantly related only to mothers' reports of

conﬂict. Permissiveness was not significantly related to levels of conﬂict in

43

any case; however, the failure to find a significant relationship between
fathers' reports of their permissiveness and fathers‘ reports of low conﬂict, in
particular, may be due to the limited power engendered by our small sample
size.

The regression analyses also indicated that in addition to the predictive
power of authoritativeness, several other factors play a role in predicting
perceptions of conﬂict. In the mother-adolescent relationship, adolescents'
perceptions of mothers' authoritarianism is also a significant factor in
predicting mothers' perceptions of conﬂict. In the father-adolescent
relationship, fathers' permissiveness accounts for unique variance in both
fathers' and adolescents' perceptions of conﬂict. In addition to the beneficial
inﬂuence of the democratic discipline of authoritativeness, it is suggested that
the dimension of warmth in parenting may inﬂuence the experience of
parent-adolescent conﬂict. Specifically, when adolescents perceive that their
mothers lack warmth (authoritarian parenting), it has particularly negative
repercussions for mother-adolescent conﬂict. Contrarily, the presence of
warmth in fathers (permissive parenting), even without the context of firm
parental control, has positive benefits for father-adolescent relationships. As
Steinberg (1990) points out, closeness between parents and children plays a
role in determining the effects of conﬂict. This appears to be particularly
salient when mothers, who are stereotypically thought to parent with
warmth, l_a_ck warmth, and when fathers, who are stereotypically thought to
parent with less warmth, do parent warmly.

The relationship between fathers' permissiveness and conﬂict is
particularly interesting given the predicted negative effects of permissiveness.
However, existing literature regarding permissiveness is equivocal due to the

varying definitions of permissiveness, ranging from Baumrind's original

44

conception of permissiveness (warm, caring parents who offer little control)
to neglectfulness (parents with lax control gm; little warmth). When
permissiveness is defined as lax supervision and discipline, with no
indication of parental warmth, permissiveness is generally found to have
negative effects (Dornbusch et al., 1987b). However, when parental warmth
clearly accompanies lax discipline, findings are more conﬂicting and
permissiveness is often unrelated to the variables in question (i.e. self-esteem:
Buri et al., 1988; Buri, 1989b). Here, the combination of warmth and firm,
democratic control characterizing authoritative parenting is most conducive
to low conﬂict; however, in addition to this factor, the warmth of permissive
parenting in fathers is also predictive of low conﬂict.

It appears that adolescents' perceptions of their parents are most
important to perceived parent-adolescent conﬂict. That is, how adolescents
perceive their parents' behaviors is most predictive of the reports of conﬂict
by both parents and adolescents. This finding lends credence to the argument
of many researchers that the way that adolescents perceive their parents'
behavior is most important to their own attitudes and behavior (Gecas 8:
Schwalbe, 1986; Buri et al., 1988). However, adolescents' perceptions of their
parents' behavior were also most predictive of parents' reports of conﬂict,
which can be explained in one of two ways. First, this finding could indicate
that adolescents' perceptions of their parents’ behavior towards them are the
critical factors in the parent-adolescent relationship, regardless of the way
parents perceive their own behavior or of the way that they actually behave.
Thus, it would follow that when adolescents perceive their parents to be
warm and receptive to their opinions and to gradually allow them increased
input into decision-making, neither parents nor adolescents are likely to be as

threatened by the transition to adolescence and lower levels of conﬂict result.

45

Alternatively, this finding could indicate that adolescents' perceptions
of their parents' behavior are closer to their parents' actual behavior than
parents' perceptions of their own behavior, as parents may be invested in
presenting themselves in a positive light. Although there is no measure here
of parents' actual behavior in a naturalistic situation, and thus no way of
verifying this explanation, an examination of the aggregate responses of
parents and adolescents further clarifies the differences between perceptions
of parents and adolescents. The results indicate that parents did indeed tend
to perceive their parenting styles in a more positive light than did their
adolescents, particularly on the scale of authoritativeness. In addition,
mothers perceived themselves as less authoritarian than did their
adolescents. This is consistent with existing research which suggests that
parents tend to perceive aspects of the family, and particularly parental
behavior, in a more socially desirable light than do adolescents (Niemi, 1974;
Callan 8: Noller, 1986).

However, parents' and adolescents' reports of conﬂict did not differ
significantly, which is consistent with Smith 8: Forehand's (1986) finding that
parents and adolescents had similar perceptions of conﬂict and Jessop's (1981)
finding that parents and adolescents rate family members similarly on
friendliness. This seemingly disparate finding may be due to the fact that
questions referring to parenting style clearly reﬂect on the parent, and are
thus subject to social desirability bias, while a measure of conﬂict may be seen
to reﬂect as much or more on the child than on the parent. Additionally, the
only situation in which parents' reports of their own parenting behaviors
were related to their own reports of parent-adolescent conﬂict was fathers'

perceptions of their authoritarianism to fathers' perceptions of conﬂict.

46

Fathers' perceptions of their authoritarianism was the parenting style
variable which received the strongest parent-adolescent agreement.

Finally, a consistent sex difference was found indicating that parents
with daughters were reported as being more authoritarian than parents with
sons. The pattern of greater authoritarianism with daughters than with sons
is consistent with typical sex-role patterns and may be due to parents' beliefs
that they need to be stricter with their daughters as their daughters need more
protection than sons. Moreover, adolescent boys are commonly considered to
be more independent than adolescent girls (Belsky 8: Vondra, 1985; Steinberg,
1987), and thus, parents may believe boys need less structure. Additionally,
Douvan 8: Adelson (1969) found that adolescent boys desired more
independence from parental control and wanted more responsibility for their
decisions and behavior than did adolescent girls. This finding may have
important implications for parent-daughter relationships during adolescence
given the associations between authoritarianism and many negative
adolescent outcomes, including parent-adolescent conﬂict. Although a
significant sex difference was not found here in levels of conﬂict with parents,
girls' mean conﬂict scores with both mothers and fathers were higher than
were boys' mean conﬂict scores. In addition, other studies have found that
girls experience more conﬂict with their parents than do boys (Montemayor,

1982).

Methodological Concerns
The following limitations of this study should be noted. The

 

population sampled in this study was a predominantly Caucasian, middle-
middle to upper-middle class community, which limits the ability to

generalize findings to more diverse populations. In addition, participation in

47

this study was voluntary, and the low response rate and small sample size
obtained in this study make it difficult to determine representativeness even
of the larger population from which it was drawn. Obtaining demographic
information on the parents would have been helpful in determining if there
was a selection factor. However, it is important to note that comparison of
this sample to other normative samples indicates that the subjects in this
study have characteristics which are roughly comparable to similar
predominantly Caucasian, middle class samples (See Tables 1 and 2).
Specifically, reports of parents' parenting styles by the adolescents in our study
are remarkably similar to reports of parenting styles by the adolescents in
Buri's (1989a) original normative sample. In addition, reports of conﬂict by
both parents and adolescents in our sample are similar, but slightly higher,
than reports of a nonclinic, normative sample found in Foster 8: Robin
(1988).

The small sample size also restricts our ability to conduct more in-
depth examinations of our variables. For instance, factor analysis of the
conﬂict measure might result in several factors (e.g. affective vs. behavioral
conﬂict) perhaps differentially relating to the various parenting styles. In
addition, we have examined the relationship between conﬂict and the three
different styles of parenting behavior, yet these styles are not necessarily
mutually exclusive. As it is possible for a parent to obtain a high score on
more than one parenting style scale, it would be useful to tease out the effects
of combinations of parenting styles. That is, what is the relationship to
conﬂict when a parent primarily uses one parenting style versus using a
combination of two different styles? However, it is important to note that for
the most part, the parenting styles which would theoretically be expected to be

negatively related (e.g. authoritativeness and authoritarianism, and

4 8
authoritarianism and permissiveness) did indeed show negative correlations,
particularly in adolescents' reports.

In addition, it is important to note that adolescents and their parents
were asked about parenting practices "while the adolescent was growing up".
Although it was hypothesized that perceptions of parenting practices during
childhood would be related to parent-adolescent conﬂict and, indeed, this
relationship was found, it is possible that some parents change their
parenting practices in response to their developing adolescent. In this study,
it was decided that it was theoretically defensible to assume that past parental
behavior would be the best predictor of future parental behavior. However, it
would be interesting to administer the parenting style questionnaire to
adolescents and their parents twice, once regarding parenting practices during
childhood and once regarding parenting practices during adolescence in order
to determine whether some parents are able to adapt their parenting styles to
the needs of the developing adolescent, and whether these families fare as
well as families with parents who have utilized an authoritative parenting
style all along.

Finally, our utilization of self-report measures means that although we
can compare agreement between parents and adolescents, and can determine
if one family member's perceptions of a variable are more highly predictive
of another variable than other family member's perceptions, we cannot
determine the accuracy of any member's perceptions. Behavioral
observations used in conjunction with self-report measures would be
beneficial in determining the similarity of reports to more objective measures
of the variables of interest. In addition, our reliance on self-report measures
restricts our ability to verify the assumption that the use of better problem-

solving or conﬂict resolution skills is responsible for the lower conﬂict in

49

authoritative families. It would be important in further research to
supplement the self-report data with behavioral observations of families
engaged in conﬂict resolution of disagreements either in an experimental
situation (e.g. a family interaction task) or a more naturalistic situation (such
as that utilized by Montemayor 8: Hanson, 1985 or Vuchinich, 1987) in order
to determine how families truly work through conﬂict and whether
authoritative families do indeed utilize problem-solving skills more

effectively.

APPENDIX A

Letter to Student and Parents

5 0
APPENDIX A

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

 

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
EAST LANSING ' MICH - 4882
PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH BUILDING IGAN 4-lll7

Dear Student and Parent(s):

The East Lansing Public School Administration has kindly let us get in
touch with you by allowing us to give you this envelope. This envelope is
being brought home only by students in Health and Psychology classes.

We are researchers from Michigan State University who are interested
in learning more about high school students and their relationships with
their parents. We are asking you to help us to better understand family life by
agreeing to take part in this study. If you do agree to help us, we would ask
you each to fill out several questionnaires.

You will find three packets in this envelope, one for each of you.
Included in each packet are separate forms for students and for parents. In the
student's packet, there is also a brief form which simply asks your age, grade,
sex, and the number of people in your family.

The forms that you fill out will be marked with a code number, not
your name, so your answers will be anonymous. No one will see what you
write except the people doing the study, and they will not know who you are.
We are doing things this way in order to protect your privacy, and to let you
feel free to write what you really think.

You can let us know that you agree to take part in the study by signing
the enclosed Informed Consent forms, and filling out all of the
questionnaires and returning them in the envelope we have provided. If you
are interested in receiving a report of the results of this study, please print
your name and address in the spaces at the bottom of the Informed Consent
form. If you have any questions about this study, either before agreeing to
participate or at any time after this, we’d be happy to answer them. You can
call or leave a message at 353-8877. Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely,

ﬂared/7 ﬂats-8227

Sus

 

Professor of Psychology

APPENDIX B

Informed Consents

52

INFORMED CONSENT - PARENT (S)

I have been informed that the purpose of this study is to better
understand relationships between high school students and their parents. My
participation in this study will include filling out several questionnaires,
which will take approximately 30 minutes. I have been told that these
questionnaires ask for information about family life.

I understand that the questions being asked are fairly personal, and that
my participation is entirely voluntary. I may choose to withdraw from the
study at any time, and I know that I have the right not to answer certain
questions if I choose not to. However, I understand that all of my answers are
valuable to the study and that my decision to not answer certain items may
make it difficult to use the information that I do provide. I have also been
told that information from both student and parent(s) is important to this
study, and that I should only return the envelope if all questionnaires have
been completed and both student and parent(s) have signed this Informed
Consent form.

I understand that my answers will be anonymous, and that the
information I provide will be identified by code number only. I have been
told that this form is not marked with a code number and will be kept apart
from all other information, and that my confidentiality will be thus
guaranteed.

Lastly, if I have any questions or concerns regarding this study, I know
that I am encouraged to contact Dr. Gary Stollak or Susan Jackson at 353-8877

in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University to discuss these
concerns.

Signature of Parent Date

I would like to receive a report of the results of this study.

Name (please print)

 

Add ress

 

 

—“
‘--——---------------———-—-—------

APPENDIX C

Demographics Questionnaire

5 3
APPENDIX C

DEMOGRAPHICS QUESTIONNAIRE

Your age:

 

Your birthday:
Your grade:

Your sex:

 

Please list the members of your family; that is, list their relationship to you
(e.g. mother, stepfather, sister, brother), but do n_ot write their names; also
indicate their ages, and if they are living at home with you or not:

Relationship Age Living at Home?

PLEASE FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONNAIRES REGARDING
THE PARENT (S) WITH WHOM YOU ARE PRESENTLY LIVING.

However, if you are living with a stepparent, or have not always lived with
one or both parents who you are living with now, please answer the
questions below regarding this parent (or parents):

Which parent have you not lived with all of your life?
At what age did you begin living with this parent?
How many years or months have you lived with this parent? _yrs_mos

 

 

Please feel free to add any information that will help to clarify the above
questions: _

APPENDIX D

Conﬂict Behavior Questionnaire -
Adolescent and Parent Versions

5 4
APPENDIX D

CBQ: ADOLESCENT VERSION FOR FATHER

These statements below have to do with you and your father. Read the
statement, and then decide if you believe the statement is true, or mostly true.
If it is true, then circle :31; and if you believe the statement is not true, circle
f_al§_e_. You must circle either true or false, but never both for the same item.
Please answer all items. Your answers will not be shown to your parents.

true
true
true
true
true
true
true
true
true
true
true
true
true
true

true
true
true
true
true
true

false
false
false
false
false
false
false
false
false
false
false
false
false
false

false
false
false
false
false
false

H
PPWNSI‘SJ‘PPJNH

t—I
g—I

r—lr-It—I
99°F,-

15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

My father doesn't understand me.

My father and I sometimes end our arguments calmly.
My father says I have no consideration for him.

We almost never seem to agree.

I enjoy the talks we have.

When I state my own opinion, my father gets upset.
At least three times a week, we get angry at each other.
My father listens when I need someone to talk to.

My father is a good friend to me.

My father understands me.

At least once a day, we get angry at each other.

My father is bossy when we talk.

The talks we have are frustrating.

My father understands my point of view, even when he
doesn't agree with me.

My father seems to be always complaining about me.
In general, I don't think we get along very well.

My father screams a lot.

My father puts me down.

If I run into problems, my father helps me out.

I enjoy spending time with my father.

55

FATHER FORM

CBQ: PARENT VERSION

You are the child's
You are filling this questionnaire out regarding your
daughter (check one) who is years old.

mother X father (check one).
son

 

 

These statements below have to do with you and your child. Read the
statement, and then decide if you believe the statement is true, or mostly true.
If it. is true, then circle true, and if you believe the statement is not true, circle

false. You must circle either true or false, but never both for the same item.
Please answer all items. Answer for yourself, without talking it over with
your spouse. Your answers will not be shown to your child.

true' false 1. My child is easy to get along with.

true false 2. My child is receptive to criticism.

true false 3. My child is well behaved in our discussions.

true false 4. For the most part, my child likes to talk with me.

true false 5. We almost never seem to agree.

true false 6. My child usually listens to what I tell him/ her.

true false 7. At least three times a week, we get angry at each other.

true false 8. My child says that I have no consideration of his/ her
feelings.

true false 9. My child and I compromise during arguments.

true false 10. My child often doesn't do what I ask.

true false 11. The talks we have are frustrating.

true false 12. My child often seems angry at me.

true false 13. My child acts impatient when I talk.

true false 14. In general, I don't think we get along very well.

true false 15. My child almost never understands my side of an
argument.

true false 16. My child and I have big arguments about little things.

true false 17. My child is defensive when I talk to him/ her.

true false 18. My child thinks my opinions don't count.

true false 19. We argue a lot about rules.

true false 20. My child tells me he/she thinks I am unfair.

APPENDIX E

Parental Authority Questionnaire -
Adolescent and Parent Versions

5 6
APPENDIX E

PAQ: ADOLESCENT VERSION FOR MOTHER

Instructions: For each of the following statements, fill in the circle on the attached answer
sheet which corresponds to the number on the 5—point scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly
agree) that best indicates how that statement applies to you and your mother. Try to read and
think about each statement as it applies to you and your mother during your years of growing up
at home (that' 15, until approximately age 13). There are no right or wrong answers, so don t
spend a lot of time on any one item. We are looking for your overall impression regarding each
statement. Be sure not to omit any items.

1 2 3 4 5
Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Neither agree Moderately agree Strongly agree
nor disagree

1. ' While I was growing up my mother felt that in a well-run home the children should have
their way in the family as often as the parents do.

2. Even if her children didn't agree with her, my mother felt that it was for our own good if
we were forced to conform to what she thought was right.

3. Whenevermyrnothertold metodo somethingaslwasgrowingup,sheexpectedmetodo it
immediately without asking any questions.

4. As I was growing up, once family policy had been established, my mother discussed the
reasoning behind the policy with the children in the family.

5. My mother has always encouraged verbal give-and-take whenever I have felt that
family rules and restrictions were unreasonable.

6. My mother has always felt that what children need 15 to be free to make up their own
minds and to do what they want to do, even if this does not agree with what their parents
might want.

7. As I was growing up my mother did not allow me to question any decision that she had
made.

8. As I was growing up my mother directed the activities and decisions of the children in the
family through reasoning and discipline.

9. My mother has always felt that more force should be used by parents in order to get their
children to behave the way they are supposed to.

10. Aslwasgrowingupmymotherdid notfeel thatlneeded toobeyrulesand regulationsof
behavior simply because someone in authority had established them.

11. AsIwasgrowinguplknewwhatmymotherexpectedofmeinmyfamily,butlalsofelt
free to discuss those expectations with my mother when I felt that they were
unreasonable.

12. My mother felt that wise parents should teach their children early just who is boss in the
family.

13. As I was growing up, my mother seldom gave me expectations and guidelines for my
behavior.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24-

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

57

Most of the time as I was growing up my mother did what the children in the family
wanted when making family decisions.

As the children in my family were growing up, my mother consistently gave us direction
and guidance in rational and objective ways.

As I was growing up my mother would get very upset if I tried to disagree with her.

My mother feels that most problems in society would be solved if parents would M restrict
their children’s activities, decisions, and desires as they are growing up.

As I was growing up my mother let me know what behaviors she expected of me, and ifI
didn't meet those expectations, she punished me.

As I was growing up my mother allowed me to decide most things for myself without a lot

'of direction from her.

As I was growing up my mother took the children's opinions into consideration when
making family decisions, but she would not decide for something simply because the
children wanted it.

My mother did n_ot view herself as responsible for directing and guiding my behavior as I
was growing up.

My mother had clear standards of behavior for the children in our home as I was growing
up, but she was willing to adjust those standards to the needs of each of the individual
children in the family.

My mother gave me direction for my behavior and activities as I was growing up and she
expected me to follow her direction, but she was always willing to listen to my concerns
and to discuss that direction with me.

Aslwasgrowing up mymotherallowed me to formmyownpointofviewon familyrnatters
and she generally allowed me to decide for myself what I was going to do.

My mother has always felt that most problems in society would be solved if we could get
parents to strictly and forcibly deal with their children when they don't do what they are

supposed to as they are growing up.

As I was growing up my mother often told me exactly what she wanted me to do and how
she expected me to do it.

As I was growing up my mother gave me clear direction for my behaviors and activities,
but she was also understanding when I disagreed with her.

As I was growing up my mother did not direct the behaviors, activities, and desires of the
children in the family.

As] wasgrowinguplknew whatmymotherexpectedofmeinthefamilyand sheinsisted
that I conform to those expectations simply out of respect for her authority.

As I was growing up, if my mother made a decision in the family that hurt me, she was
willing to discuss that decision with me and to admit it if she had made a mistake.

58

FAQ: PARENT VERSION

Instructions: For each of the following statements, fill in the circle on the attached answer
sheet which corresponds to the number on the 5—point scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly
agree) that best indicates how that statement applies to your beliefs regarding children. Try to
read and think about each statement as it applies to you and your child during his/ her years of
growing up at home (that is, until approximately age 13). There are no right or wrong answers,
so don't spend a lot of time on any one item. We are looking for your overall impression
regarding each statement. Be sure not to omit any items.

1 2 3 4 5
Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Neither agree Moderately agree Strongly agree
nor disagree

1.’ . While my child was growing up, I felt that in a well-run home the children should have
their way in the family as often as the parents do.

2. Even if my child didn't agree with me, I always felt that it was for his/ her own good if
he/ she was forced to conform to what I thought was right.

3. Whenever I told my child to do something as he/ she was growing up, I expected him/ her
to do it immediately without asking any questions.

4. As my child was growing up, once family policy had been established, I discussed the
reasoning behind the policy with the children in the family.

5. I have always encouraged verbal give—and-take whenever my child has felt that family
rules and restrictions were unreasonable.

6. I have always felt that what children need is to be free to make up their own minds and to
do what they want to do, even if this does not agree with what their parents might want.

7. As my child was growing up I did not allow him/ her to question any decision that I had
made. ~ '

8. As my child was growing up I directed the activities and decisions of the children in the
family through reasoning and discipline.

9. I have always felt that more force should be used by parents in order to get their
children to behave the way they are suppom to. '

10. As my child was growing up I did not feel that he/she needed to obey rules and regulations
of behavior simply because someone in authority had established them.

11. As my child was growing up he/she knew what I expected of him/her in my family, but
he/ she also felt free to discuss those expectations with me when he/ she felt that they
were unreasonable.

12. I have always felt that wise parents should teach their children early just who is boss in
the family.

13. As my child was growing up, I seldom gave him/ her expectations and guidelines for
his/ her behavior. '

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25-

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

59

Most of the time as my child was growing up I did what the children in the family wanted
when making family decisions.

As my children were growing up, l consistently gave them direction and guidance in
rational and objective ways.

As my child was growing up I would get very upset if he/ she tried to disagree with me.

I feel that most problems in society would be solved if parents would not restrict their
children's activities, decisions, and desires as they are growing up.

As my child was growing up I let him/ her know what behaviors I expected of him/ her,
and if he/ she didn't meet those expectations, I punished him/ her.

As my child was growing up I allowed him/ her to decide most things for him/ herself
without a lot of direction from me.

As my child was growing up I took the children's opinions into consideration when making
family decisions, but I would not decide for something simply because the children wanted
it.

I did n_o_t view myself as responsible for directing and guiding my child's behavior as
he/ she was growing up.

I had clear standards of behavior for the childrenin our home as my child was growing up,
but I was willing to adjust those standards to the needs of each of the individual children
in the family.

I gave my child direction for his/ her behavior and activities as he/ she was growing up
and I expected him/ her to follow my direction, but I was always willing to listen to
his/ her concerns and to discuss that direction with him/ her.

As my child was growing up I allowed my child to form his/ her own point of view on
family matters and I generally allowed him/ her to decide for him/ herself what he/ she
was gbing to do.

I have always felt that most problems in society would be solved if we could get parents to
strictly and forcibly deal with their children when they don‘t do what they are supposed
to as they are growing up.

As my child was growing up I often told him/ her exactly what I wanted him/ her to do and
how I expected him/ her to do it.

As my child was growing up I gave my child clear direction for his/ her behaviors and
activities, but I was also understanding when he/ she disagreed with me.

As my child was growing up I did not direct the behaviors, activities, and desires of the
children in the family.

As my child was growing up he/ she knew what I expected of him/ her in the family and I
insisted that he/ she conform to those expectations simply out of respect for my authority.

As my child was growing up, if I made a decision in the family that hurt him/ her, I was
willing to discuss that decision with him/ her and to admit it if I had made a mistake.

2

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexander, LP. (1973). Defensive and supportive communications in normal
and deviant families. Iournal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
40, 2, 223-231.

Alexander, ].F. 8: Parsons, B.V. (1973). Short-term behavioral intervention
with delinquent families: Impact on family process and recidivism.
Iournal of Abnormal Psychology, 81, 219-226.

Ausubel, D., Balthazar, E.E., Rosenthal, I., Blackman, L.S., Schpoont, S., 8:
Wellkowitz, J. (1954). Perceived parent attitudes as determinants of
children's ego structure. Child Development, 25, 173-183.

Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental
Psychology Monoggaphs, 4 (1) Part 2.

Baumrind, D. (1983). Socialization and instrument competence in young
children. In W. Damon (Ed.), Social and Personality Development:

Essays 9n thg growth of the Child. New York: W.W. Norton 8: Co.

Baumrind, D. (1989). Rearing competent children. In W. Damon (Ed),
Child Development Today and Tomorrow. San Francisco: Iossey-Bass.

Bell, DC. 8: Bell, LG. (1983). Parental validation and support in the
development of adolescent daughters. In H.D. Grotevant and CR.

Cooper (Eds), Adolescent Development in the Family: New Directions
for Child Development, no. 22. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Belsky, I. 8: Vondra, I. (1985). Characteristics, consequences, and determinants
of parenting. In L. L'Abate (Ed), The Handbook of Family Psychology
and Therapy (Vol. 1). Chicago: The Dorsey Press.

Bordens. RS. 8: Abbott, BB. (1988). Research Desigr_r and Methods. Mountain
View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co.

Bowerman, CE. 8: Elder, CH. (1963). Variations in adolescent perception of

family power structure. American Sogiological Review, 551-567.

60

61

Buri, ].R. (1989a). An instrument for the measurement of parental authority
prototypes. Paper presented at the 6lst Annual Meeting of the
Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.

Buri, ].R. (1989b). Self-esteem and appraisals of parental behavior.
lournal of Adolescent Research, 4, 1, 33-49.

Buri, ].R., Louiselle, P.A., Misukanis, T.M., Mueller, RA. (1988). Effects of
parental authoritarianism and authoritativeness on self-esteem.

Personalig and Social Psychology Bulletin, 14, 2, 271-282.

Callan, VJ. 8: Noller, P. (1986). Perceptions of communicative relationships
in families with adolescents. lournal of Marriage and the Family, 48,
813-820.

Carter, B. 8: McGoldrick, M. (1988). The Changing Family Life Cycle: A
Framework for Family Therapy. New York: Gardner Press.

Dornbusch, S.M., Gross, R.T., Duncan, RD, 8: Ritter, P.L. (1987a).
Stanford Studies of Adolescence Using the National Health
Examination Survey. In RM. Lerner 8: T.T. Foch (Eds), Biologigal-

Psychosocial Interactions In Early Adolescence. Hillsdale, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Dornbusch, S.M., Ritter, P.L., Leiderman, P.H., Roberts, DR, 8: Fraleigh, M.].
(1987b). The relation of parenting style to adolescent school
performance. Child Development, 58, 1244-1257.

Douvan, E. 8: Adelson, I. (1966). The Adolescent Experience. New York:
John Wiley and Sons.

Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and Society. New York: W.W. Norton 8: Co.

Feldman, 5.5. 8: Quatrnan, T. (1988). Factors inﬂuencing age expectations for
adolescent autonomy: A study of early adolescents and parents.

lournal of Early Adolesceng, 8, 4, 325-343.

Foster, S.L. 8: Robin, AL. (1988). Family conﬂict and communication in
adolescence. In E.]. Mash 8: LG. Terdel (Eds), Behavioral Assessment
of Childhood Disorders (2nd Edition, unabridged, pp. 717-775). New
York: Guilford Press.

Garbarino, I. (1985). Adolescent Development: An Ecological Persmctive.
Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company.

6 2
Gecas, V. 8: Schwalbe, ML. (1986). Parental behavior and adolescent self-
esteem. lournal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 37-46.

Goldenberg, I. 8: Goldenberg, H. (1980). Family Therapy: An Overview.
Monterey, CA: Brooks/ Cole Publishing Co.

Gordon, T. (1970). Perent Effectiveness Treining. New York: David McKay
Company, Inc.

Grotevant, H.D. (1989). Child development within the family context. In W.
Damon (Ed.), thle Development Today and Tomorrow.

San Francisco: Iossey-Bass

Grotevant, H.D. 8: Cooper, CR (1983). The Rele ef Family Communication
' Patterns in Adolescent Identity and Role Taking. Meeting for the

Society of Research in Child Development, Detroit.

Grotevant, H.D. 8: Cooper, GR. (1986). Individuation in family relationships:
A perspective on individual differences in the development of identity
and role-taking skill in adolescence. Human Development, 29, 82-100.

Hall, ].A. (1987). Parent-adolescent conﬂict: An empirical review.
Adolescenee, 22, 88, 767-789.

Hauser, S.T., Liebman, W., Houlihan, 1., Powers, S.I., Jacobson, A.M., Noam,
G.G., Weiss, B. 8: Follansbee, D. (1985). Family contexts of pubertal
timing. lournal of Youth and Adolescence, 14, 4, 317-337.

Havighurst, RJ. 8: Davis, A. (1955). A comparison of the Chicago and
Harvard studies of social class differences in child rearing. American

Sociological Review, 20, 438-442.

Herbst, PG. (1952). The measurement of family relationships. Human
Relations 5, 3-30.

 

Hill, ].P., Holmbeck, G.N., Marlow, L., Green, TM. 8: Lynch, M.E. (1985a).
Menarcheal status and parent-child relations in families of seventh-

grade girls. legrnal of Youth engi Adolescence, 14, 4, 301-316.

Hill, J.P., Holmbeck, G.N., Marlow, L., Green, TM. 8: Lynch, M.E. (1985b).
Pubertal status and parent-child relations in families of seventh-grade

boys. lournal of Early Adolescence, 5, 1, 31-44.

Hill, ].P. 8: Holmbeck, G.N. (1987). Disagreements about rules in families

with seventh-grade girls and boys. lournal of Youth and Adolescence,
16, 3, 221-227.

6 3
Holmbeck, G.N. (1990). Discrepancies between maternal and adolescent
perceptions of decision-making and desired behavioral autonomy:
Longitudinal effects on family functioning and adolescent adjustment.

In R. Montemayor (Chair), §hared constructions of the family:

Individual variation and implications for development. Symposium
conducted at the third biennial meetings of the Society for Research on

Adolescence, Atlanta, GA.

 

Jessop, DJ. (1981). Family relationships as viewed by parents and adolescents:

A specification. leurnal of Merriege engi the Family, 43, 95-107.

Jurkovic, G]. 8: Ulrici, D. (1985). Empirical perspectives on adolescents and
their families. In L. L'Abate (Ed.), The Handbook of Family Psychology
and Therapy (Vol. 1). Chicago: The Dorsey Press.

Kandel, DB. 8: Lesser, GS. (1969). Parent-adolescent relationships and
adolescent independence in the United States and Denmark. lournal

of Marriage and the Family, 31, 348-358.

Lerner, RM. 8: Knapp, IR. (1975). Actual and perceived intrafamilial
attitudes of late adolescents and their parents. lournal of Youth and
Adolescence 4, 1, 17-36.

 

Litovsky, V. 8: Dusek, J. (1985). Perceptions of child rearing and self-concept
development during the early adolescent years. lournal of Youth and
Adolescence. 14, 5, 373-387.

Maccoby, E. E. 8: Martin, MJ. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family:
Parent-child interaction. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.,) H__a___ndbook of

Child Psychology Vol. IV: Social and Personality Development (pp. 1-
102). New York: John Wiley and Sons.

 

Martin, M.J., Schumm, W.R., Bugaighis, M.A., Jurich, A.P. 8: Bollman, SR.
(1987). Family violence and adolescents' perceptions of outcomes of

family conﬂict. lournal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 165-171.

Miller, DR 8: Swanson, GE. (1958). The Changing American Perent. New
York: John Wiley and Sons

Montemayor, R. (1982). The relationship between parent-adolescent conﬂict
and the amount of time adolescents spend alone and with parents and
peers. Child Development, 53, 1512-1519.

Montemayor, R. (1983). Parents and adolescents in conflict: All families
some of the time and some families most of the time. lournal of Early
Adolescence 3, 83-103.

 

64

Montemayor, R 8: Hanson, E. (1985). A naturalistic view of conﬂict between
adolescents and their parents and siblings. lournal of Early
Adolescence 5, 1, 23-30.

 

Niemi, KG. (1974). How Family Members Perceive Each Other:
Political and Social Attitudes in Two Generatiens. New Haven:
Yale University Press.

Noller, P. 8: Callan, V.J. (1988). Understanding parent-adolescent interactions:
Perceptions of family members and outsiders. Develepmental
Psychology, 24, 5, 707-714.

Offer, D. (1969). The Psyehologicel World ef the Teenager. New York:
' Basic Books.

Papini, D.R., Datan, N. 8: McCluskey-Fawcett, K.A. (1988). An observational
study of affective and assertive family interactions during adolescence.

lournal of Youth and Adolescence, 17, 6, 477-492.

Papini, DR. 8: Sebby, RA. (1988). Variations in conﬂictual family issues by
adolescent pubertal status, gender, and family member. lournal of

Early Adolescence, 8, 1, 1-15.

Pedhazur, EJ. (1982). Multiple Regtession in Behavioral Research:
Explanation end Prediction. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Robin, A.L. (1981). A controlled evaluation of problem-solving
communication training with parent-adolescent conﬂict. Behavior
Therapy, 12, 593-609.

Robin, A.L., Kent, R., O'Leary, K.D., Foster, S.L., 8: Prinz, RJ. (1977). An
approach to teaching parents and adolescents problem-solving
communication skills: A preliminary report. Behavior Therapy, 8,
639-643.

Robin, A.L. 8: Foster, S.L. (1984). Problem-solving communication training:
A behavioral-family systems approach to parent-adolescent conﬂict. In
P. Karoly 8: 1.]. Steffen (Eds), Adolescent Behavior Disorders:
Foundetions and Contemporary Concerns (pp. 195-240). Lexington,
MA: D.C. Heath.

Robin, A.L. 8: Weiss, JG. (1980). Criterion-related validity of behavioral and
self-report measures of problem-solving communication skills in
distressed and nondistressed parent-adolescent dyads. Behavioral
Assessment 2, 339-352.

 

65

Sabatelli, RM. 8: Mazor, A. (1985). Differentiation, individuation, and
identity formation: The integration of family system and individual
developmental perspectives. Adolescence 20, 79, 619-633.

 

Selman, KL. (1981). The development of interpersonal competence: The role
of understanding in conduct. Developmental Review, 1, 401-422.

Smetana, LG. (1987). Concepts of self and social convention: Adolescents'
and parents' reasoning about hypothetical and actual family conﬂicts.

In M.R. Gunnar (Ed.), let Minnesota Symposium on th1d
Psycholgy. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Smetana, JG. (1988). Adolescents' and parents' conceptions of parental
' authority. Child Development, 59, 321-335.

Smetana, J.B., Yau, 1., Restrepo, A. 8: Hanson, S. (1990). Conﬂict resolution in
families with adolescents. Paper presented as part of a symposium on
Family Stress, Conﬂict, and Mental Hea_ltl; at the biennial meetings of
the Society for Research on Adolescence, Atlanta, GA.

Smith, K.A. 8: Forehand, R. (1986). Parent-adolescent conﬂict: Comparison
and prediction of the perceptions of mothers, fathers, and daughters.

lournal of Early Adolescence, 6, 4, 353-367.

Steinberg, L.D. (1987). Recent research on the family at adolescence: The
extent and nature of sex differences. lournal of Youth and
Adolescence 16, 3, 191-197.

 

Steinberg, L.D. (1981). Transformations in family relations in puberty.
Developmental Psychology, 17, 833-840.

Steinberg, L.D. 8: Hill, JP. (1978). Patterns of family interaction as a function
of age, the onset of puberty, and formal thinking. Developmental
Psycholegy, 14, 683-684.

Steinberg, L.D., Elmen, J.D., Mounts, NS. (1989). Authoritative parenting,
psychosocial maturity, and academic success among adolescents. Child
Development, 60, 1424-1436.

Steinberg, L.D. (1990). Autonomy, conﬂict, and harmony in the family
relationship. In S. Feldman 8: G. Elliot (Eds), At the Threshold: The
Developing Adolescent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vuchinich, S. (1987). Starting and stopping spontaneous family conﬂicts.

lournal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 591-601.

66

Wierson, M., Forehand, R. 8: McCombs, A. (1988). The relationship of
early adolescent functioning to parent-reported and adolescent-
perceived interparental conﬂict. lournal of Abnormal Child

135mm 16, 6, 707-718.

Youniss, J. (1988). Parent-adolescent relationships. In W. Damon (Ed.), Child
Develepment Tegiay ane Tomorrew. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

"‘lllllllllllllllllli