1. Adolescent Psychology
Chapter 8: Families
Lecture 1

2. Today we will discuss… Family processes Parenting styles
Parent-adolescent relationship

3. Family Parent - adolescent relationships vary considerably.
Researchers are finding that for the most part, the relationships are:
Very important aspects of development
More positive than once thought.

4. How does a family work?
Reciprocal Socialization: process by which children & adolescents socialize parents, just as parents socialize them
Not a one-way process
Family as a System
Social system
Constellation of subsystems (gender, role, generation)
Each member is a participant in several subsystems
Reciprocal causality
Family as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Interdependence

5. Family as a System dyadic (involving two people)
Divisions of labor among family members define particular subunits & attachments define others.
Subsystems
dyadic (involving two people)
polyadic (involving more than two people)
father - adolescent -- dyadic subsystem
mother - father (parental subsystem) dyadic
mother - father - adolescent -- polyadic subsystem

6. Interaction Between Adolescents & Their Parents (Direct & Indirect Effects)

7. Does the Marital Relationship effect Parenting?
Yes!!! Nothing in a system can operate in isolation
All parts are connected, what affects one part will have an affect on all other parts of a system
Studies show happily married parents are more
Sensitive, responsive, warm, & affectionate with their children
Supported as parents (by their partner)
Marital satisfaction is related to good parenting!

8. Family Processes: How do we construct relationships?
Psychoanalysts -- Freud
Current explanations
No longer include Freud’s psycho-sexual stages
No longer are limited to the 1st 5 years of life.
Developmental Construction Views
These views share the belief that as individuals grow up they acquire modes of relating to others
There are two main variations
Continuity view: emphasizes the role of early parent-child relationships (Bowlby)
Attachment research supports this view; quality and nature of relating
Discontinuity view: changes in relationships over time; different types of relationships

9. Maturation…A Dual Process?
Adolescent Changes
Parental Changes
Puberty
expanded logical reasoning
increased idealistic thought
Idealistic parent…
violated expectations
changes in schooling
peers, friendships
Dating
movement toward independence
marital satisfaction
economic burdens
career reevaluation
time perspective
health & body concerns

10. Parental Maturation continued…
Delayed childbearing allows for educational & occupational progress
Marital relationship varies with timing of parenthood onset
More egalitarian relationships, men participating in childcare & household tasks (30s)
Older fathers: warmer, communicate better, encourage achievement, demand less, show less rejection with their children
This is a sociohistorical change that has implications for developmental trajectories for many families.
Multiple Developmental Trajectories: how they mesh is important

11. Parents as Managers & Guides
Adolescents must develop the ability to make competent & independent decisions
How do parents facilitate this development???
Managers of adolescents’ opportunities
As monitors of adolescents’ social relationships
As social initiators & arrangers (Parke & Buriel, 2006)
Mothers are more likely than fathers to have a managerial role in parenting.
Monitoring includes supervising adolescent’s choice of social settings, activities, & friends, as well as academic efforts.
Linked with higher grades, lower sexual activity, less depression (2000).
Voluntary disclosure (whereabouts, activities, friends) is linked to positive adjustment
Older adolescent’s tend to disclose less and lie a bit more (Smetana & others, 2009)
Willingness to disclose connected to responsive, positive parenting (authoritative)

12. Parenting Styles Parental competence
Parents should not be punitive or aloof
Parents must develop rules & be affectionate
Consistency is of the utmost importance
Parenting styles vary on dimensions…
Accepting/responsive/ warm  rejecting/unresponsive/ cold
Controlling/ demanding  undemanding
Diana Baumrind (1971, 1991) Emphasized 4 styles of parenting:
Authoritarian: restrictive & punitive; no room for discussion
Often anxious about social comparison, socially incompetent, fail to initiate, poor communication skills
Authoritative: encourages independence, yet sets limits & controls
Socially competent
Neglectful: parent is uninvolved, other parts of parents lives are more important
Socially incompetent, associated with adolescent lack of self-control
Indulgent: parents are highly involved, yet they place little or no demands or controls on them – warm with few restraints (myth)  creative & confident

13. Fourfold Scheme of Parenting Styles

14. Authoritative Parenting Style Best??
Appropriate balance between control & autonomy
Allow adolescents to develop independence while providing guidance that adolescents need
More likely to engage in verbal give-and-take; leading to development of social competencies
Warmth & parental involvement make adolescent more receptive to parents

15. Criticism of “Parenting Styles”
Parenting styles do not capture the important themes of reciprocal socialization & synchrony (Collins & Steinberg, 2006)
Parenting style may vary by ethnicity
Authoritarian parenting used more often by AA, Latino, and Asian Americans
Most research indicates that authoritative produces higher levels of social competence across ethnicity
Some indication that some aspects of authoritarian style within context can have positive outcomes
Parents use a combination of techniques. One technique may be dominant.
Concept of parenting style is too broad
more research needed to “unpack” parenting styles by studying various components that comprise the styles (Maccoby, 2007; Vazsonyi, Hibbert, & Snider, 2004).

16. Gender, Parenting, & Co-parenting
The Mother’s Role
Benefits as well as limitations.
“motherhood”: warm, selfless, dutiful, tolerant
Low prestige (gender roles)
One of the most meaningful experiences of their lives.
Mainly responsible for childrearing
Often more involved
The Father’s Role
Has undergone major changes (Parke & Buriel, 2006)
U.S. fathers are spending more time… vs. mothers ? (Parke & Buriel, 2006; Pleck & Masciadrelli, 2004)
1/3 to ¾ as much time as mothers
Gender difference in parenting involvement occurs cross- culturally in U.S.(Yeung & others, 2001).
Connection with stable father figure
increase likelihood of finding stable employment (AA males), overcoming difficult circumstances
less likely to become unwed parents, go to jail, experience depression
10% of economically disadvantaged children have a stable father figure

17. Co-parenting: “Partners in Parenting”
Increase in research on co-parenting in last 2 decades
Conditions that place children & adolescents at developmental risk (McHale & others, 2002):
poor coordination
active undermining & disparagement of the other parent
lack of cooperation & warmth
disconnection by one parenting partner
Conditions that show clear ties to children’s & adolescents’ prosocial behavior & competence in peer relations (McHale & others, 2002):
Parental solidarity
Cooperation
Warmth

18. Parent – Adolescent Conflict??
Most adolescents & their parents have similar beliefs about the value of hard work, achievement & career aspirations
Most adolescents & their parents often have similar religious & political beliefs.
Early adolescence is a time when parent-adolescent conflict escalates
More conflict with mother than anyone else
% of families engage in prolonged, intense, repeated, unhealthy conflict
20 -25% of families (4-5 million) encounter serious, highly stressful parent-adolescent conflict.
This prolonged, intense conflict is associated with:
moving away from home
juvenile delinquency
school dropout rates
pregnancy & early marriage
membership in religious cults
drug abuse (Brook & others, 1990).
Internalizing and externalizing behaviors
Conflict before adolescents – oppositional children
higher negative emotionality in children with low warmth and positive affect in mothers

19. Autonomy & Attachment
Autonomy: generally means…self-direction & independence
Emotional autonomy: the capacity to relinquish child-like dependencies on parents
De-idealize their parents
Perceive them as people
Less dependent for emotional support
Gender & Cultural Differences
Transitions & Autonomy
Adolescent Runaways

20. Autonomy & Attachment
Autonomy: push for independence, normal in adolescence, can create conflict
Emotional autonomy: capacity to relinquish childlike dependence on parents
Attachment (Bowlby & Ainsworth)
Secure attachment
Infants use caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment
Foundation for psychological development later in childhood, adolescence, & adulthood.
Insecure attachment
Infants either avoid the caregiver or show considerable resistance or ambivalence toward the caregiver.
Related to difficulties in relationships and problems in later development.
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George, Main, & Kaplan, 1984).
Individuals are classified as secure-autonomous or as being in one of three insecure categories:
Dismissing/avoidant attachment
Individuals deemphasize the importance of attachment
Associated with rejection by caregivers
Preoccupied/ambivalent attachment
Hypertuned to attachment experiences
May occur because parents are inconsistently available
Unresolved/disorganized attachment
Unusually high level of fear
Disoriented
Can result from traumatic experiences such as abuse or parent’s death

21. Importance of attachment…
Parent-adolescent conflict & Attachment
Old model: mature, detach, move into world of autonomy
Intense conflict throughout adolescence
New model: parents as attachment figures, adolescent explores world
Moderate conflict during early adolescence is common
Attachment in Adulthood
View of self & others
Securely attached
Relationship satisfaction (trust, commitment & longevity)
Give & receive support; self-esteem, integrated self-concept
Optimistic, resilient
Cognitive representation of security
Insecurely attached
Unwanted yet consensual sexual experiences
Relationship conflict
Attachment is relatively stable; there is the capacity to change thinking/bx