Conflicts between daughters and sons and their parents tend to be highest ______.

Chapter Outline

· Research indicates there is little emotional distance between adolescents and their parents
· Among the 25% of families who report difficulty during adolescents, about 80% had problems before the child entered adolescence (or, only 5% of families that did not have serious problems during childhood develop serious problems during adolescence)
· Little evidence for a �generation gap� in values between parents and adolescence
· There are much larger value differences between socio-economic groups than between generations
· There are differences in personal taste, mundane issues
· Arguments over chores, clothing, etc. are at least in part due to the fact that teenagers define these issues as matters of personal choice, while parents define them as matters of right and wrong

I.  Family Relationships at Adolescence

A. The Family as a System
· Family systems theorists maintain that relationships among family members are always changing, while at the same time the system tries to maintain balance, or equilibrium
· Issues such as power, privacy, freedom, and control are inherent in a family system
· A family system must adapt to changes; change is accompanied by imbalance, or disequilibrium, followed by attempts to regain equilibrium

(Add here everything from class about Family Systems Theory)

B. The Family Life Cycle
· Families change in nature as children grow up; not only are the children changing, but the parents are growing through adulthood

C. The Adolescent�s Parents at Midlife
· Typical parent is 40 years old when the first child enters early adolescence
· This period of midlife can be difficult for parents, some experiencing a midlife crisis
· Unlike adolescents, parents are in the process of decline in physical ability, functioning, and attractiveness
· Parents are also becoming aware of time limitations on their future
· Parents are becoming aware of limitations on career changes and aspirations
· Parents tend to be older today when their children enter adolescence
· Parents typically report the least satisfaction in parenting and marital status when their children are passing through adolescence
· Parents tend to experience more distress when a same-sex child goes through adolescence

D. Changes in Family Needs and Functions
· Adolescents require more economic resources than children
· Parents must adapt to the growing importance of the peer group and job status of their adolescents
· Parents must also adapt to the fact that adolescents do not need the same type of parenting that they did as children; adolescents need support, guidance, and direction
· Parents also must adapt to the fact that adolescents look outside of the family for important guidance and support, rather than looking to the parents for everything

E. Transformations in Family Relations
· Parents and adolescents gravitate toward more egalitarian relationships, sharing power and influence with each other
· During early adolescence, children assert themselves with their parents (e.g., interrupting more during conversations), but parents resist such power struggles
· By middle adolescence, teens have learned how to interact more appropriately, and parents allow them more influence
· Parents who resist allowing teens to grow in influence are more likely to experience problems such as juvenile delinquency
· Conflict increases slightly, and closeness diminishes to a degree
· Outright (open) conflict are not the norm, however
· Diminished closeness more often reflected in increases in privacy taken by the adolescent, as well as less frequent physical affection
· Conflicts tend to be resolved through submission or disengagement
· Adolescents are more cognitively capable of understanding their parents� shortcomings; this may contribute to increased conflict with parents
· Parents and adolescents may have very different expectations of family life and roles during adolescence; the differences in these views may also contribute to conflict

II. Family Relationships and Adolescent Development
· Relationships have a reciprocal influence: parenting behaviors influence children, which influence parenting styles, etc.

A.  Parenting styles and their effects
o Diana Baumrind�s research describes two dimensions of parenting that are influential: responsiveness and demandingness
o Responsiveness is the degree to which a parent is accepting and supportive of a child�s needs
o Demandingness is the degree to which the parent expects and demands mature, responsible behavior from the child
o These dimensions exist to different degrees in all parents; hence, there are four basic �types� of parenting styles
o Authoritative parents are very supportive and have high expectations
o Authoritarian parents are not very supportive but have high expectations
o Indulgent parents are very supportive but have low expectations
o Indifferent parents are not very supportive and have low expectations
o Teens raised by authoritative parents are more responsible, self-confident, adaptive, creative, curious, and have higher social and academic skills than other teens
o Teens raised by authoritarian parents are more dependent, passive, have weaker social skills, and are less intellectually curious
o Teens raised by indulgent parents are less mature, responsible, more susceptible to peer pressure, and less capable of adopting leadership positions
o Teens raised in indifferent homes are more impulsive, exhibit delinquent behavior more than others
o Nonresponsiveness tends to influence females more negatively than males
o Nondemandingness tends to influence males more negatively than females
o Abusive parenting is particularly harmful, and is linked to adolescent depression and later domestic violence
o Authoritative parenting includes warmth, structure, and support for autonomy
o Allows teen to develop self-reliance, but also sets standards
o Authoritative families are more capable of adapting to new stages in the family life cycle
o Engaging children in verbal give-and-take helps develop the intellectual ability of the child
o Helps the child understand social systems and social relationships
o Authoritative parenting promotes identification with parents, leading them to be more open to parental influence
o Responsible, mature children elicit authoritative parenting

B. Ethnic differences in parenting practices
· Authoritative parenting is less common among African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic-American families, but these children benefit from it just as much as Caucasian children
· Authoritarian parenting is more common among minority group families; but it does not seem to have negative effects on children that are as strong as they are among Caucasian children
· Authoritarian parenting may be more necessary in the contexts of minority family life

C. Autonomy and attachment in the adolescent�s family
· In verbal interactions, �healthy� families allow individuals to express themselves in autonomous ways while remaining meaningfully connected to each other
· Teens are encouraged to express their own opinions, even if this leads to disagreement
· Stuart Hauser distinguishes between enabling and constraining patterns of interaction
· Enabling interactions include explanations, problem-solving, and empathy
· Constraining interactions are distracting, judgmental, and devaluing
· Teens seem to do best when they grow up in homes that promote both closeness and autonomy
·

D. The sexes: Are there sex differences in adolescents� family relationships?
· Differences between the family relations of sons and daughters is minimal
· Closeness, conflict, rules, activities are similar
· Adolescents tend to be closer to their mothers, but also have more arguments with their mother
· Fathers and daughters may be more distant from one another, perhaps due to unconscious taboos against incest

E. Adolescents� relationships with siblings
· Relationships become more egalitarian, but more distant and less emotionally intense
· Relationships tend to remain stable; those who are close remain close
· Can ameliorate not having many friends outside the family
· Conflict definitely increases during adolescence
· Siblings are more different from each other than they are alike, on personality characteristics
· Behavioral Genetics research: shared environmental experiences, and nonshared environmental experiences
· Nonshared experiences are very salient and influential during adolescence
· Children will likely experience the same family environment differently
 

III. The Adolescent�s Family in a Changing Society
· An increasing number of families in American society came from other countries
· 1/5 of youngsters are only children, while 1/6 have three or more siblings
· The family remains an extremely important influence on adolescent development
· Having positive and warm family relationships remains a powerful predictor of healthy psychosocial growth during adolescence
· Demographers estimate that 2/3 of all marriages will experience divorce or separation, and that 50% of teenagers today will spend on average 5 years in a single parent home
· Only 15% of adolescents in single parent homes live with their father
· More than 75% of divorced parents remarry
· The divorce rate is higher for second marriages
· Nearly 80% of single mothers with adolescents work outside the home
· Nearly 25% of adolescents grow up in poor families

IV.  Adolescent Development and the Changing Family

A. Adolescents, divorce, and single-parent families
· The quality of the parenting matters more than the number of parents
· In fact, teens in divorced, single parent homes describe their parents as friendlier, and are in a relatively more positive mood when with their family than when with friends
· The PROCESS of going through the divorce is very negative on kids, rather than life after divorce
· Immediate negative effects seem to be stronger for boys than girls
· Also more negative when divorce occurs during childhood or preadolescence
· Social and financial support after divorce mediates the effects of divorce

B. The scientific study of adolescence: Parental divorce and the well-being of adolescents
· Apparent inconsistencies between different studies is more common when the effect size is small. The effect size is the difference between two groups being compared in one study.
· Due to different sample sizes in different studies, similar effect sizes can be statistically judged to be �significant� in one study and not the other
· A statistical procedure called �meta-analysis� is used to combine the results of different studies, thus �summarizing� the results and providing a clearer picture of the nature of the issues and characteristics in question
· Amato & Keith conducted a meta-analysis of research on the effects of divorce, and found that while divorce clearly affects children�s well-being, the average effect size is small.
· The effects tend to be smaller for U.S. children than for those outside the U.S. This finding is likely due to the fact that divorce is a more common event in the U.S.

C. The specific impact of marital conflict
· Usually conflict exists long before divorce
· Children are harmed more by open than hidden conflict
· More harmful when conflict leads to feelings of insecurity, self-blame, or threat
· More harmful when marital conflict affects parent-child relationships

D. The longer-term effects of divorce
· Effects can last years � more drug use, behavior problems, lower school performance, trouble in relationships with others during adulthood
· �sleeper� effects

E. Custody, contact, and conflict following divorce
· children seem to fare better with mother after divorce
· existence of conflict, and consistency of discipline, affect adjustment

F. Remarriage
· typically have more problems than not
· multiplication of possible conflict between adults, and inconsistent discipline
· girls show more difficulty adjusting to remarriage

G. Parental employment and adolescent adjustment
· Maternal employment has positive effects on daughters but mixed effects on sons
· Girls with working mothers have higher career aspirations
· Maternal employment is associated with lower school aspirations among boys but not girls (at least in middle- and upper-class homes)
· It may be that boys need more vigilant parental monitoring
· Boys have more arguments with family members if the mother works
· The level of satisfaction the mother has toward working factors into the type of effects maternal employment has upon the family

H. Economic stress and poverty
· Parental income loss is associated with disruptions in parenting, which can lead to increases in problem behaviors in adolescents
· Associated with more frequent problems between fathers and sons
· Increases mothers� and fathers� feelings of depression
· Increases conflicts between parents and children regarding money
· Poverty undermines parental effectiveness, is associated with harsher parenting, and emotional difficulties in the parents
· Poor children are more likely to be victims of violence, to feel more alienated from school, and experience more stress
· Adequate sources of social support and religious affiliation can ameliorate the effects of poverty
· Promotive strategies, which focus on effective parenting at home and facilitating positive connections for the child outside the home, and
· Restrictive strategies, which strive to restrict the child�s exposure to neighborhood dangers, both have positive effects on child development

Important Concepts, Terms and Individuals

The following terms are listed as they appear in the chapter:

 generation gap                      shared environmental influences
 family systems theorist          non-shared environmental influences
 family life cycle                     diversity
 mid-life crisis                        demographers
 Diana Baumrind                    effect size
 parental  responsiveness        correlation
 parental demandingness          meta-analysis
 authoritative parents               sleeper effects
 indulgent  parents                   noncustodial parent
 indifferent parents                  promotive strategies
 authoritarian parents               restrictive strategies
 enabling interactions
 constraining interactions
 behavior genetics

Multiple Choice Questions - Please circle the correct answer.

1. According to recent research, about ___ percent of families who have few problems  during childhood can expect to develop serious problems in adolescence.
 a. 5
 b. 15
 c. 33
 d. 50

2. Intergenerational differences tend to occur in issues involving:
 a. hard work
 b. education
 c. religion
 d. personal taste
 

3. The parenting style that combines low levels of demandingness with low levels of  responsiveness is commonly known as:
 a. indulgent parenting
 b. authoritative parenting
 c. authoritarian parenting
 d. indifferent parenting

4. The type of parenting where the child is expected to accept parental dictates without  question is:
 a. indulgent parenting
 b. authoritative parenting
 c. authoritarian parenting
 d. indifferent parenting

5. This parenting style tends to be associated with immature, irresponsible children:
 a. indulgent parenting
 b. authoritative parenting
 c. authoritarian parenting
 d. indifferent parenting

6. The parenting style associated with the healthiest psychological and social  development is:
 a. indulgent parenting
 b. authoritative parenting
 c. authoritarian parenting
 d. indifferent parenting

7. Stuart Hauser refers to parent-adolescent interactions that oriented toward  problem solving and empathy as ________ interactions.
 a. promotive
 b. constraining
 c. growth producing
 d. enabling

8. The closest parent-child relationship tends to be:
 a. mother-daughter
 b. mother-son
 c. father-daughter
 d. father-son

9. Adolescents report their highest levels of interpersonal conflict with:
 a. parents
 b. siblings
 c. friends
 d. teachers

10. Which child is most likely to live in a single-parent household?
 a. Asian American child
 b. Hispanic child
 c. White child
 d. African American child
 

11. More than ___ percent of divorced parents remarry.
 a. 10
 b. 25
 c. 50
 d. 75

12. The approximate percentage of American adolescents living in relative poverty is:
 a. 10
 b. 25
 c. 33
 d. 50

13. Over the past 25 years, the ______ class has experienced the most  shrinkage.
 a. upper
 b. middle
 c. lower
 d. working

14. Based on the research literature, which child would you expect to have the most  immediate problems with a parental divorce?
 a. A young female child
 b. A young male child
 c. A female adolescent
 d. A male adolescent

15. A measure of the strength of association between two variables is a(n):
 a. correlation
 b. reliability coefficient
 c. effect size
 d. association index

16. During which developmental period is parental remarriage most difficult?
 a. Infancy
 b. Middle childhood
 c. Early adolescence
 d. Late adolescence

17. Which of the following statements about the effect of maternal employment on child  and adolescent development is false:
 a. both male and female children of working mothers are more likely to have    school performance problems than children whose mothers don't work; b. female children of working mothers tend to have higher career aspirations    than female children of nonworking mothers;
 c. male children of working mothers tend to have more arguments with their    mothers than male children of mothers that don't work;
 d. male and female children of working mothers tend to be more independent    and self reliant than children of nonworking mothers.
 

18. Which theoretical approach to understanding families considers the developmental  concerns of the parent and adolescent?
 a. Family systems theory
 b. Parenting styles theory
 c. Family life cycle theory
 d. Behavior genetics theory

19. Authoritative parenting is most prevalent in:
 a. Asian American families
 b. White families
 c. African American families
 d. Hispanic families

20. Social scientists who study changes in the composition of the population are:
 a. behavior geneticists
 b. family systems theorists
 c. epidemiologists
 d. demographers

21. What percent of married American women with adolescents are employed?
 a. 20
 b. 40
 c. 60
 d. 80

22. Who has developed a scheme for categorizing different types of parenting?
 a. Michael Rutter
 b. Mavis Hetheington
 c. August Hollingshead
 d. Diane Baumrind

23. In the past 25 years the proportion of children living in luxury in the United States has ________.
 a. increased
 b. decreased
 c. remained the same
 d. none of the above

24. Which of the following factors has been found to have the least harmful  influence on adolescent adjustment:
 a. the number of adults in the family
 b. the level of family conflict
 c. the economic status of the family
 d. the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship

25. A technique used to combine the results of many studies on the same topic is:
 a. correlation
 b. effect sizing
 c. factor analysis
 d. meta-analysis

True/False Questions - Mark each statement either True (T) or False (F).

1. The generation gap is alive and well in American families

2. The developmental concerns of parents at midlife can clash with the concerns of  their adolescent children.

3. Indifferent parents are very emotionally responsive, but not very demanding of their  children.

4. Authoritative parents are warm and firm.

5. Authoritarian parenting encourages the development of autonomy in children.

6. Indulgent parenting is associated with the most positive psychosocial outcomes in  adolescence.

7. Authoritarian parenting is practiced more in ethnic minority families than White  families.

8. Enabling interactions tend to inadvertently support adverse psychosocial  development in adolescents.

9. Male and female adolescents tend to interact with their parents in very different  ways.

10. The father-son relationship is the closest family relationship.

11. Adolescents report that their sibling relationships are more conflictual than other  interpersonal relationships.

12. Researchers have found that despite shared genetic and environmental influences,  siblings are remarkably different from each other.

13. The divorce rate in the United States peaked around 1980 and has since leveled off.

14. Approximately 30 percent of young people live with their father following divorce.

15. The rate of divorce in second marriages is lower than the rate of divorce in first  marriages.

16. About 50percent of married women with adolescents are employed.

17. Since the mid 1970s the number of children living in poverty in the United States  has increased.

18. Studies looking at the effect of divorce on adolescent's well being have found that  the number of parents in the family plays a significant role in explaining the  deleterious effects of divorce.

19. Generally, male children adjust better to divorce than female children.

20. Meta-analysis is used to dissect the findings of one particular study.

21. If two variables are correlated, it suggests that one variable has a causal influence  on the other variable.

22. Adolescents whose parents divorced during their childhood are more likely to have  drug and alcohol problems than adolescents whose parents did not divorce.

23. Generally, male children adjust better to parental remarriage than female children.

24. Maternal employment appears to have similar influence on male children as it does  on female children.

25. Researchers have found that familial perceptions of maternal employment play an  important role in the extent to which it will have a positive effect on the children  in the family.

26. Economic stress and poverty tend to lead to increased home and family  responsibility for female children.

27. Financial strain has very little effect on quality of parenting.

28. The "Leave It to Beaver" family of the 1950s is still a very common form of family  in the United States today.

29. An important contributor to the rise of familial poverty in the United States is the  growth of single-parent families.

30. Researchers have found that consistency in child rearing practices following divorce  is linked with healthy adjustment in children.
 

Matching Questions - Choose the term that most accurately fits the description.

___ 1. very responsive, but not demanding                             a. generation gap
___ 2. family exchanges that are distracting                           b. family systems theorist
and judgmental                                                                      c. family life cycle
___ 3. the study of the relative contributions                           d. Diana Baumrind
of biology and experience                                                       e. parental demandingness
___ 4. attitude and value differences                                       f. authoritative parents
between parents and children                                                  g. indulgent parents
___ 5. delayed developmental outcomes                                  h. authoritarian parents
___ 6. absolute size of the difference                                       i. constraining interactions
between comparison groups                                                     j. behavior genetics
___ 7. factors in the environments of                                       k. nonshared environmental
siblings that are not similar influences
___ 8. 75 to 150 percent median family                                    l. demographers
income                                                                                   m. middle class comfort
___ 9. very responsive and very demanding                              n. effect size
___ 10. study changes in the composition of                              o. correlation
the population                                                                          p. meta-analysis
___ 11. the degree of association between                                q. sleeper effects
two variables                                                                          r. noncustodial parents
___ 12. developmental phases of a family                                 s. promotive strategies
___ 13. created parenting styles scheme                                   t. diversity
___ 14. degree to which parents expect
mature, responsible behavior
___ 15, parent the child does not live with
___ 16. mechanisms designed to enhance the
adolescent's competence
___ 17. not very responsive but very
demanding
___ 18. concerned with changes in family
relationships
___ 19. systematically combines the results
of different studies
___ 20. varied ethnic and racial backgrounds

Answer Key
 

Multiple Choice Questions

1. a   11. d   21. d
2. d   12. b   22. d
3. d   13. b   23. a
4. c   14. b   24. a
5. a   15. a   25. d
6. b   16. c
7. d   17. a
8. a   18. c
9. b   19. b
10. d   20. d
 

True/False Questions

1. F   11. T   21. F
2. T   12. T   22. T
3. F   13. T   23. T
4. T   14. F   24. F
5. F   15. F   25. T
6. F   16. F   26. T
7. T   17. T   27. F
8. F   18. F   28. F
9. F   19. F   29. T
10. F   20. F   30. T
 

Matching Questions

1. g   11. o
2. i   12. c
3. j   13. d
4. a   14. e
5. q   15. r
6. n   16. s
7. k   17. g
8. m   18. b
9. f   19. p
10. l   20. t
 

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