Emotional support between young adults and their parents

"Ausgehend von Ansätzen der Individuation, die im Jugendalter den Beginn einer Entwicklung zu einer wechselseitigen, partnerschaftlichen Eltern-Kind-Beziehung postulieren, werden für das junge Erwachsenenalter Veränderungen in den Häufigkeiten emotionaler Hilfen zwischen Eltern und Kindern erwartet. Hilfen durch Eltern sollen seltener, Hilfen an die Eltern häufiger werden. Anhand von zwei Querschnitten aus den Jahren 1991 und 1996, die sich im Sinne von Cohort Replacement Studies (n = 4.259) und Cohort Studies (n = 4.671) zusammensetzen lassen, werden Alters-, Kohorten- und Testzeiteffekte in Ost- und Westdeutschland untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die elterlichen Hilfen mit dem Alter der Befragten zurückgehen, vorwiegend im Zusammenhang mit Ablösungsereignissen wie dem Auszug aus dem Elternhaus. Die Hilfen für die Eltern nehmen vor allem dann zu, wenn diese Ablösungsereignisse nicht erreicht werden. Frauen geben und erhalten mehr Hilfen als Männer; in Ostdeutschland werden mehr Hilfen geleistet als im Westen. Kohorten- und Testzeiteffekte sind zu vernachlässigen. Die Bedeutung der Befunde für den Ansatz der Individuation wird diskutiert." (Autorenreferat)Individuation theorists propose that in adolescence, mutual, partner-like parent-adolescent relationships begin to develop. Hence, I assume changes in the frequencies of emotional help between parents and children in young adulthood. Help by parents should become less frequent, help for parents more frequent. Two cross-sectional samples interviewed in 1991 and 1996 are investigated. They are combined to cohort replacement studies (n = 4,259) and cohort studies (n = 4,671). The results show that help by parents became less frequent with age. This age decline was linked to developmental transitions such as leaving the parental home. The help for parents became more frequent mainly if the respondents did not undergo these transitions. Women gave and received more help than men. In East Germany, more help was reported than in West Germany. Cohort and period effects could be neglected. Consequences of these findings for the individuation approach are discussed. (DIPF/Orig.

Ullrich, Manuela: Wenn Kinder Jugendliche werden. Die Bedeutung der Familienkommunikation im Übergang zum Jugendalter. Weinheim und München: Juventa 1999. [Rezension]

Rezension von: Ullrich, Manuela: Wenn Kinder Jugendliche werden. Die Bedeutung der Familienkommunikation im Übergang zum Jugendalter. Weinheim und München: Juventa 1999, 200 S. und 43 S. Anhang

Eltern-Kind-Beziehung und Elternverhalten bei 13- und 16-Jährigen. Individuation oder Ablösung?

Die Individuationstheorie postuliert im Jugendalter zunehmende Abgrenzung und eine quantitativ gleichbleibende, jedoch zunehmend wechselseitig-partnerschaftliche Eltern-Kind-Beziehung. Dies wird an einer weitgehend repräsentativ nach Schulformen geschichteten querschnittlichen Stichprobe von 968 Schülerinnen und Schülern der Jahrgangsstufen 7 und 10 geprüft, wobei außerdem entsprechende Alterseffekte auf den Grad autoritativen Erziehungsverhaltens (Wärme, Verhaltenskontrolle, Gewährung psychischer Autonomie) untersucht werden. Im Vergleich der Siebt- und Zehntklässler stieg die beanspruchte Autonomie an und nahm das elterliche Wissen über die Jugendlichen ab. Die Verbundenheit blieb weitgehend konstant, nahm also auch keine stärker reziproken Formen an. Die väterliche Unterstützung war in der zehnten Klasse geringer als in der siebten. Eltern von Zehntklässlern übten weniger Kontrolle aus; Väter zeigten zudem einen Rückgang an Akzeptanz. Die Vaterbeziehung war weniger eng als die Mutterbeziehung, vor allem bei Mädchen. Außerdem traten Effekte der Schulform auf. Die Befunde werden vor dem Hintergrund der Individuationstheorie und von Ablösungskonzepten diskutiert. (DIPF/Orig.)According to Individuation Theory, adolescents become more and more autonomous while the level of parent-adolescent connectedness is constant. However, connectedness is hypothesized to attain a more reciprocal, peer-like quality. These assumptions were tested using a sample of 968 students of ages 13 and 16. The sample was quite representative with respect to the various German school tracks. Besides effects of age on the relationship, corresponding age differences in the levels of authoritative parenting (affection, behavior control, and psychological autonomy granting) were investigated. At age 16, adolescents claimed more autonomy from parents, and parents had less knowledge of their offspring\u27s life. The parent-adolescent connectedness remained fairly constant across age, that is, it did not change towards reciprocity. Older participants experienced less paternal support than younger subjects. With age, parental behavior control decreased. Fathers also were less affective with increasing age of participants. The father-adolescent relationship was less close than the mother-adolescent relationship, especially for girls. Furthermore, school track differences were revealed. The results are discussed with respect to Individuation Theory and notions of detachment. (DIPF/Orig.

Five years later : effects of parenting styles and parent-adolescent relationships on young adults’ well-being

Parents can support their adolescent child’s psychosocial development by a parenting style which is warm and involved, firm and consistent, and which grants psychological autonomy (the freedom to have one’s own thoughts and feelings). Psychological autonomy granting is regarded as particularly beneficial for the prevention of anxiety, depression, or other kinds of internalizing distress (McLeod, et al., 2007; Steinberg, 2001). However, longitudinal research has produced mixed evidence (Birmaher, et al., 2000; Colarossi & Eccles, 2003; Galambos et al., 2003; Steinberg, et al., 1994). Even less is known on long-term effects into young adulthood. Besides parental behaviors, also the parent-adolescent relationship might be important. Teens who feel close to their parents and who communicate frequently with them might experience a “secure base” which protects against depression and fosters the children’s well-being even in the future. Thus, this study examined reciprocal effects between parenting styles (psychological control and affection) and the parent-adolescent relationship (felt closeness to and communication with parents) and emotional, social and psychological well-being, and depression. This study used the 2002, 2005, and 2007 waves of an ongoing longitudinal study, representative for the USA. Out of 1,319 adolescents aged 11-19 in 2002, 575 young adults, then 18-22 years old were re-interviewed in 2005. By 2007, more adolescents had reached young adulthood, thus, 878 young adults of age 18-24 were re-interviewed in 2007. Also 224 of the originally youngest adolescents were re-interviewed in 2007 as a separate sample. Parenting styles were assessed in the adolescent data collections 2002 and 2007, and parent-child relationships and well-being at all occasions. Albeit adolescents’ perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles were highly correlated, specific effects on well-being occurred in cross-lagged regression analyses. Maternal psychological control in 2002 predicted lowered levels of emotional and social well-being and elevated levels of depression in 2005 (β’s = -.10, -.08, and .11, resp.). In part, these effects were found even after five years in 2007. Maternal support did not have any significant effects. For fathers, only one effect was found, of psychological control 2002 on depressive symptoms 2007 (β = .08). Measures of the parent-adolescent relationship did not predict well-being, with the exception of communication to mothers in 2002 which predicted emotional well-being in 2005. In the opposite direction of effects, depression predicted maternal psychological control five years later (β = .18, p = .023), despite the smaller sample of still adolescent respondents. Also some effects of parenting and of well-being on the parent-young adult relationship occurred. In conclusion, advice to parents might focus on how to avoid psychologically controlling behaviors, especially for mothers were these might conflict most with North-American gender roles. Future research should investigate why such detrimental behaviors occur in response to adolescents’ emotional problems. That parental support as a general style proved unimportant does not mean that support never would be needed: It might be that in key situations of danger or adolescent problems, adolescents need the impression that parents care, and not only abstain from psychological control (Olsson & Wik, 2009).The Panel Study of Income Dynamics is primarily sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Aging, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and is conducted by the University of Michigan.Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), Child Development Supplement (CDS) & Transition into Adulthood Stud

Revisiting Barber's behavioral control : an action-theoretical interpretation of ascribed parental knowledge

Barber (e.g., 1996, 2005) has proposed that parental behavioral control has a unique effect on adolescents’ normbreaking, even if psychological control and support are statistically controlled.  Barber uses a scale of parental knowledge as a measure of behavioral control.  However, parental knowledge and normbreaking are more closely associated with adolescents’ free disclosure of information than with behavioral control.  Moreover, disclosure explains part of the association between knowledge and normbreaking, whereas behavioral control does not (Kerr & Stattin, 2000; Stattin & Kerr, 2000).  This makes parental knowledge a questionable measure of behavioral control, and it suggests that family communication and relationship processes affect normbreaking more than behavioral control does.  However, Kerr and Stattin did not specifically test Barber’s theory.  They did not statistically control psychological control and support which might have “cleaned” parental knowledge of its relationship and communication-associated facets and thus might have left a more valid measure of parental control.  Thus, the first aim of this study is to test whether the unique association of parental knowledge with adolescent normbreaking, after controlling psychological control and parental support, can be explained by parental behavioral control—as Barber proposes—or rather by family relationship processes—as Stattin and Kerr suggest. Given previous empirical findings (e.g., Kerr & Stattin, 2000; Stattin & Kerr, 2000), interpreting parental knowledge as an index of relationship properties or as behavioral control might both be insufficient.  As an alternative, this paper takes an action-theoretical perspective and views parental knowledge as an expectancy in an expectancy-value model.  The extent to which adolescents ascribe knowledge about themselves to their parents can be seen as adolescents’ expectancy that the parents will gain knowledge about their actions.  A value that together with this expectancy might predict less adolescent normbreaking is adolescents’ desire to please and comfort their parents.  According to Individuation Theory (Youniss & Smollar, 1985), this is a common desire among adolescents.  If adolescents expect their parents will be knowledgeable about their activities, and if they do not want to worry them, they might engage in less normbreaking than adolescents who either do not care about their parents’ worries or who expect that the parents will not know about their normbreaking.  The second aim of this study is to test this interaction effect on normbreaking. A German sample of 968 13- and 16-year-olds filled out questionnaires at school.  Scales for parental knowledge, psychological control, parental support, and normbreaking were identical to Barber’s (2005) study.  Behavioral control was measured with scales for spare-time control (curfew rules, low laissez-faire), school control, and harsh punishments.  Family relationship processes were tapped by scales of parental warmth and openness and of adolescents’ caring for their parents.  The latter measure aimed at assessing family processes similar to those covered by Kerr and Stattin’s scale of free disclosure of information.  Finally, the desire to please and comfort their parents was measured with a newly developed scale.  All measures evinced adequate psychometric properties. Concerning the first aim of this study, parental knowledge was strongly related to low normbreaking (Model 0), even after controlling psychological control and parental support (Model 1).  Although the various facets of behavioral control were associated with normbreaking (Model 0), only punishments explained a small part of the effect of parental knowledge (Model 2c).  But punishments were inversely related to parental knowledge and predicted more instead of less normbreaking.  Out of the two family relationship process variables, caring for parents explained a small part of the effect of parental knowledge (Model 2e).  In total, however, the largest part of the effect of parental knowledge remained unexplained (Model 3).  Thus, the results do not support Barber’s idea that parental knowledge is an index of behavioral control.  The findings support Stattin and Kerr’s (2000, Kerr & Stattin, 2000) critique of knowledge as a measure of behavioral control.  However, also family relationship processes explained only little of the association between parental knowledge and normbreaking. The results testing the expectancy-value model of parental knowledge and the desire to please the parents, explaining low normbreaking, were as follows.  Parental knowledge, the desire to please the parents, and their interaction predicted low normbreaking (if latent main effect factors were scaled to SD = 1, beta = –.39, –.22, and ‑.06, resp., all p’s < .05).  The stronger the desire to please the parents, the steeper the decline of normbreaking with increasing parental knowledge.  Most adolescents desired strongly to please their parents.  However, results suggest almost no effect of parental knowledge if adolescents have no desire to please their parents.  In summary, the proposed expectancy-value model is supported by the data. Barber has described parenting as a unidirectional process.  This description rests on studies using parental knowledge as an index for parental behaviors.  As in previous studies, this interpretation of parental knowledge is not supported.  This paper provides initial support for a new view on parental knowledge:  Adolescents actively decide about what they do, in the light of what they expect the consequences to be and how they evaluate them.Projektledare: J. Gowert MascheDarmstadt Student Survey 200