Improving understanding of adolescents' perceptions of their relationships with their parents.

Abstract

Adolescents' perceptions of their relationships with their parents predict the quality of these relationships as well as adolescent psychosocial outcomes. Despite this, adolescent attitudes are under-researched in past literature due to an over-emphasis on parent reports and cohort-level estimates, and the poor availability of non-self-report assessment tools. In three studies, this thesis explored adolescents' unique perceptions of their relationships with their parents and how these perspectives are related to adolescent psychosocial outcomes. Study 1 attempted to address methodological limitations of past research by using an individual participant data meta-analytic approach and gold standard statistical methods (including polynomial regression) to comprehensively test hypothesized links between adolescent-parent report discordance and developmental outcomes, with a large sample. Individual participant data from 26 datasets, including 12,127 adolescents (M age = 14.16; 53.34% female) and their parents (14,319 dyads; 77.96% mothers) was used in order to conduct a one-stage and two-stage analysis of interaction effects and the possible moderating effect of parenting dimension, outcome dimension, age, gender (adolescent and parent), and country. Our findings showed a non-significant relationship between the adolescent-parent report interaction term and adolescent outcomes using the one-stage and two-stage approach. Despite finding significant moderator effects, subgroup analyses showed that there was a non-significant relationship between the adolescent-parent report interaction term and adolescent outcomes across parenting and outcome dimensions, and demographic variables. Study 2 evaluated a novel method of coding adolescents' 3-minute speech samples regarding their affective attitudes (e.g. thoughts and feelings) towards their parent. A community sample of 72 adolescents (M age = 16 years) completed a 3-minute speech sample and several questionnaire measures of the quality of the parent-teen relationship and psychosocial outcomes. Speech samples were coded for critical and warm affective attitudes toward the parent using the Family Affective Attitude Rating Scale (FAARS). FAARS negative relational schemas (NRS) and positive relational schemas (PRS) scales showed good reliability. When included in the same model, adolescents' NRS and PRS were associated with adolescent outcomes over and above existing questionnaire measures of relationship quality. Results suggest that the FAARS coding scheme can reliably assess adolescents' affective attitudes towards their parents and that this information is relevant to understanding adolescents' psychosocial outcomes. Study 3 involved qualitatively analyzing adolescent narratives regarding the overall quality of their relationships with their parents. Speech samples collected during study 2 were examined using thematic analysis to understand key themes in adolescent-parent relationships from adolescents' perspectives. Contrary to past findings from quantitative research, the overall tone of the speech samples was positive. Adolescents valued closeness and emotional support from their parents, and generally respected their authority. They also looked to parents to role model valued traits, such as caring and hard-working. Mentions of conflict were mostly absent from the speech samples and disagreements were often justified as normal and therefore not serious. Overall, these results significantly advance current understanding of adolescents' attitudes and beliefs of their relationships with their parents. Adolescent perspectives are under-researched as compared to parents, yet the results of this thesis suggest that adolescents and parents have varying perspectives on their relationships, that adolescents' attitudes towards parents are linked to adolescent well-being, and that adolescents may have a more positive view of parents than has been suggested by quantitative research. Show more