Parent-Adolescent Relationship

Parent-Adolescent Relationship

1. Family Processing and Parenting

   • Reciprocal Socialization
     • Process by which children and adolescents socialize parents, just as parents socialize them
     • As a social system, family can be thought of as constellation of subsystems defined in terms of generation, gender, and role
   • Parents as managers
     • Important developmental task in adolescence is learning to make competent decisions in an increasingly independent manner
     • Parents can assume important roles as effective managers who find info, make contacts, structure choices, provide guidance
     • Maintaining structured family environment eg. Bedtimes, homework, chores, etc.
     • Effective monitoring especially important in adolescence Includes social settings, activities, and friends
   • Adolescent's Information Management
     • Management of parents' access to information, especially extent to which adolescents disclose or hide info; adolescent disclosure to parents linked to positive adolescent adjustment
   • Parenting
     • Be your child's best friend = no guts for management; be the parent and accept child will get angry with you
     • Put your marriage last = child producing unit with nothing left for the couple, design family schedule with time for the parents
   • Parenting Styles
     • Authoritarian, Authoritative, Neglectful, Indulgent
     • Parenting styles don't capture important themes of reciprocal socialization and synchrony; many parents use combination of techniques rather than single technique
   • Coparenting
     • Parental solidarity, cooperation, warmth show clear ties to children; when parents show cooperation and all that good stuff, it helps children develop positive attitudes towards males and females
   • Parent-Adolescent Conflict
     • Early adolescence is when parental adolescent conflict escalates beyond levels during childhood, decreases as adolescence goes on
     • Adolescent changes: physically, increased logical skills (want to know why), expectations for both parent and adolescent change
     • Most conflict involves everyday events of family life and are fairly small issues, about 1 argument every 3 days

2. Autonomy and Attachment

   • Push for autonomy
     • Usually has nothing to do with feelings towards parents, characterized with rebellion by parents
     • Adjust by treating adolescents in more adult ways and including them more often in family decision making
     • Unhealthy families remain locked into power oriented parental control
   • Ability to attain autonomy
     • To gain control over one's behavior through appropriate adult reactions to adolescent's desire for control
     • Wise adult relinquishes control in areas adolescent can make reasonable decisions
     • Adolescents don't simply move away from parental influence, psychologically healthy for them to be attached to parents
   • Attachment
     • Positive, enduring emotional bond between two people, important foundation for psychological development, insecure attachment puts difficulties in relationships and problems later in development
   • Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
     • Used to assess secure and insecure attachment in adolescents, Classified into one of four categories: Secure/Autonomous, Dismissing/Avoidant, Preoccupied/Ambivalent, Unresolved/Disorganized
   • Model of parent-adolescent relationships
     • OLD MODEL: Detach themselves from parents and move into world of autonomy apart from parent, conflict is intense and stressful throughout adolescence
     • NEW MODEL: Parents important attachment figures, resources and support systems; parent-adolescent conflict is moderate rather than severe and everyday negotiations and disputes are normal
   • Attachment and relationships
     • Romantic partners fulfill some of the name attachment needs for adults as parents do for children
     • Young adults securely attached in romantic relationships were likely to describe their early parental relationship as securely attached