Navigating Adolescents’ Family Relationships

Adolescents’ Family Relationships - The Adolescent in the Family System - Family systems approach - Dyadic relationships - Each subsystem influences every other subsystem - Change in any member or subsystem creates disequilibrium - Adjustments in family required to restore equilibrium - Parents’ Development During Midlife - Midlife – roughly age 40 to 60 - Decline in energy, physical health, creativity - Increase in wisdom, competence, psychological health, job satisfaction - Gender roles less restrictive - “Empty-nest syndrome - Marital and life satisfaction improve in parents - Sibling Relationships - Five patterns - Caregiver relationship - Most common in traditional cultures - Buddy relationship - Critical relationship - Rival relationship - Casual relationship

- Less conflict and rivalry in emerging adulthood - Extended Family Relationships - Traditional cultures - Young men remain in family home after marriage - American minority cultures - Extended family households common - American majority culture - Contact with extended family infrequent Variations in Parenting - Parenting Styles - Demandingness and responsiveness - Diana Baumrind’s parenting styles - Authoritative - Authoritarian - Permissive - Disengaged - All but authoritarian promote autonomy - The Effects of Parenting Styles on Adolescents - Authoritative associated with most favorable outcome - Balance between autonomy and responsibility - Demanding and responsive - Inconsistency between parents is negative

- Lower self-esteem and school performance - Are the Effects of Parenting on Adolescents Really “Effects”? A More Complex Picture of Parenting - Reciprocal or bidirectional effects - Adolescents may evoke certain behaviors from their parents - Differential parenting - Nonshared environmental influences - Affected behavior and psychological functioning - Parents and adolescents differ in reports of parenting behavior - Beyond American Parenting Styles: Parenting in Other Cultures - Non-western cultures - Authoritative style rare - Role of parent carries inherent authority - Responsiveness expressed differently - American ethnic minority cultures - Authoritarian more likely - Cultural context important to result of parenting styles - Attachments to Parents - John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth’s attachment theory - Secure attachment - Insecure attachment - Primary caregiver in infancy forms foundation for other attachments

- Internal working model - Attachment in adolescence - Secure attachment has favorable outcomes - Balance between autonomy and relatedness - Studies on attachment theory - Predicative power weakens with time - Fades by late adolescence and emerging adulthood - Establishes tendencies modified by later experiences - Parent-Adolescent Conflict - Adolescents and parents agree on most important aspects of life - Arguments are generally over minor issues - Conflict increases sharply in early adolescence - Sources of conflicts with parents - Parents seem less physically imposing - Sexual issues - Increased cognitive abilities – better at arguing - Difference in defining autonomy - Indirect arguments - Culture and conflict with parents - Traditional cultures - Less petty conflicts - Economic independence and beliefs about parental authority

- Western cultures - Independence is goal - Leaving the Nest (and Perhaps Coming Back): Emerging Adults’ Relationships with Parents - Relationship improves - Appreciate their parents more - No day-to-day friction - Returning home - Bridge transition to post college life - Burden of paying own bills - More successful if parents treat them as adults - Staying home more common in Europe Historical Change and the Family - Patterns Over Two Centuries - Major changes - Lower birth rate - Longer life expectancy - Movement from rural to urban residence - Social institutions have taken over many functions - The Past 50 Years - Rise in divorce rate - Rise in the rate of single-parent households - Mother typically custodial parent

- Rise in the rate of dual-earner families Effects of Divorce, Remarriage, Single Parenthood, and Dual-Earner Families - Divorce - Effects - Higher risk of negative outcomes - Drug and alcohol abuse - Sexual intercourse at earlier age - Depressed or withdrawn - Less likely to attend college - Not as significant for adolescents as for younger children - Family structure versus family process - Exposure to conflict - Parenting practices - Economic stress - Combating negative effects - Good relationship with mother - Consistency in parenting - Remarriage - Negative outcomes - Depression; anxiety, conduct disorders - Lower academic achievement - Delinquent activities

- Adolescents adjust worse than younger children do - Causes of negative outcomes - Disrupts family structure - Disrupts family process - Stepfather attempts to exercise authority - Dual-Earner Families - Few substantial effects - Considerations - Number of hours worked - Quality of parent-adolescent relationships Problems in Family Functioning - Physical and Sexual Abuse in the Family - Physical abuse - Causes - Family stresses or problems in parents’ lives - More likely in poor or large families - Effects in adolescents - More aggressive - Antisocial behavior - Substance use - Depression, anxiety - Poor academic performance