Unpacking the Generation Gap:

Understanding the Meaning of

Parental “Influence”

Maryfrances R. Porter

Kathleen Boykin McElhaney

L. Wrenn Thompson

Department of Psychology

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

WEBSITE:

We would like to thank the National Institute of Mental Health for funding awarded to Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator (Grants #R01-MH44934, and R01-MH58066) to conduct this project. The analysis and write-up for this study were additionally supported by a National Research Service Award (Grant # F31-MH65711-01 awarded to Maryfrances R. Porter.

ABSTRACT

Recently, there has been a growing interest in how and when adolescents and parents disagree regarding the qualities of parent-child relationships, with the assertion that understanding divergence of perceptions will further enhance our overall understanding of how such relationships affect adolescent development. , Most studies have relied on difference scores to assess divergence – a method that assumes quantitative differences between parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions – and also have focused on predicting adolescent outcomes, while assuming that divergence indicates maladaptive family processes. . The current study used a multi-method, multi-reporter design to explore qualitative differences between mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parental influence were independently assessed, and to relate such differences to family level outcomes. Adolescents’ perceptions of parental influence, were positively associated with supportive mother-adolescent interactions, whereas mothers’ perceptions evidenced an opposite association with family functioning. Limitations of this research and future directions are presented.

INTRODUCTION

  • Recently there has been a growing interest in examining how and when adolescents and parents disagree regarding the quality of their relationships, with the assertion that understanding divergence of perceptions will enhance our overall understanding of how the quality of parent-adolescent relationships affects adolescents’ development (Collins, 1990;1991;Paikoff, 1991).
  • Most divergence studies to date have relied on difference scores to represent the degree of divergence between parents’ and adolescents’ views. An inherent assumption of this method is that the difference between parents’ and adolescents’ viewpoints is quantitative (seeing more versus less of the same construct) rather than qualitative (interpreting the same construct differently; also see Smetana,1988;1991;1995 Smetana & Berent,1993).
  • Several existing studies have indicated that divergent perceptions are maladaptive for adolescents’ emotional and behavioral functioning, thus suggesting that divergence between parents and adolescents represents dysfunctional relationship functioning.

INTRODUCTION, continued

  • However, the direct links between divergence in perception and the quality of parent-adolescent relationships has rarely been examined. The evidence that does exist suggests that divergence in perceptions around issues of autonomy and control may be more normative than discrepant perceptions over affective relationship qualities such as closeness and warmth (Holmbeck & O’Donnell, 1991).
  • The current study examined divergence in perceptions of parental influence (an aspect of parent-adolescent relationships integrally related to the autonomy process) as it related to both self-reported and observed mother-adolescent relationships quality.
  • Consistent with research regarding autonomy processes, mothers perceiving themselves as influencing adolescents may be more controlling. Conversely, adolescents who are willing to report being influenced are likely to feel positively about their relationships with their mothers.

HYPOTHESES

We tested the following hypotheses:

  1. Regardless of the mean difference between mothers’ and adolescents’ reported perceptions of parental influence about rules, mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions would not be highly correlated.
  1. Mothers’ perceptions of influence would be linked to their desire to control their adolescents’ behavior
  1. Adolescents’ perceptions of influence would be more closely linked with their feelings of supportive closeness with their mothers.
  1. Adolescents’ reports of parental influence would be linked to higher levels of observed warmth and support within the mother-adolescent relationship.
  1. Mothers’ reports of parental influence would be linked to distant and controlling mother-adolescent relationships.

PARTICIPANTS

Data were collected as part of a larger, longitudinal, multi-method, multi-reporter, study of a socioeconomically diverse sample of adolescents (N = 167). Adolescents were about 13 years old (mean = 13.34, SD = .65).

GenderN

Males 77

Females 90

Race/Ethnicity (self-identified at Wave 1)

Caucasian105

Other or Mixed Minority Group 62

Family Income

Median$40,000 - $59,999 (range ≤ $5,000 to > $60,000)

MEASURES

  • Reported Parental Influence. The Influence Questionnaire (Allen et al.,1999) assesses the extent to which adolescents felt influenced and the degree mothers felt they exerted influence about rules. Higher scores indicated more perceived influence. Cronbach’s alphas: adolescent report .76, mother report .82.
  • Reported Supportive Closeness with Mothers. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenburg, 1989) assesses the degree of psychological support that adolescents and mothers reported mothers providing. Cronbach’s alphas: adolescent report .89, mother reports .90.
  • Reported Psychological Control by Mothers. Adolescents and mothers completed the Child Report of Parenting Behavior Inventory (Schludermann & Schludermann, 1983) to report the degree of mothers’ use of threatening and guilt-inducing psychological control tactics. Cronbach’s alphas: adolescent report .76, mother report .78.
  • Observed Support with Mothers.Adolescents participated in an 8-minute interaction task with mothers (Supportive Behavior Coding System, Allen et al.,2001), where they asked their mother for help with a “problem they were having that they could use some advice or support about.” Each interaction was coded by two raters (intraclass correlation = .84).
  • Observed Adolescent Relatedness with Mother. Adolescent-mother dyads participated in an 8-minute, videotaped, revealed differences task, discussing an area of disagreement (Autonomy-Relatedness Coding System, Allen et al.,1996). Adolescents’ behaviors promoting relatedness during the interaction were examined. Each interaction was coded by two coders (intraclass correlation = .78).
RESULTS
  • Hypothesis 1: The average difference between mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parental influence was 0.81 (SD=5.45), with adolescents reporting slightly higher perceptions than mothers; the difference score was greater than zero at the trend level (t=1.93, p<.06). However, the degree of correspondence between mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions was quite low (r=.07, p=.36).
  • Hypothesis 2 & 3: When adolescents reported their parents influenced them, they also reported a close, supportive relationship with their mothers and that their mothers’ utilized psychological control. When mothers reported that they influenced their adolescent, both mothers and adolescents reported mothers exercised higher levels of psychological control (see Table 2).
  • Hypothesis 4 & 5: When adolescents reported that their parents influenced them to follow rules, higher levels of successful support were observed during the supportive interaction task (=.17*). However, when mothers’ reported that they influenced adolescents, less successful support was observed (=-.26**, see Table 3). Analogous results were found with adolescent relatedness with mothers (see Table 4).
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that the qualitative differences between mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parental influence are important indicators of the functioning of the parent-child relationship. Consistent with research on divergence and autonomy processes, when mothers and adolescents disagree about parental influence, it is adolescents’ perceptions that are most closely associated with parents promoting autonomous-relatedness and positive family functioning. Mothers who perceive themselves as exerting the most influence may, in fact, be distancing themselves from their teens by being controlling and autonomy inhibiting rather than effectively instilling their values.

These data are cross-sectional and correlational: causal relationships may not be assumed. However, ongoing research into the qualitative differences between parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions about key issues is important to better understand trajectories of adaptive adolescent development. Future research may additionally extend these findings to explore the effects of divergent perceptions of influence on the development of adaptive peer relationship skills during adolescence.

Table 1
Means and standard deviations of all variables
M
/ SD
Parental Influence (AR) / 19.28 / 3.76
Maternal Influence (MR) / 18.47 / 4.22
Maternal Support (AR) / 54.00 / 10.77
Maternal Support (MR) / 103.87 / 10.00
Psychological Control (AR) / 15.49 / 3.63
Psychological Control (MR) / 14.07 / 3.40
Successful Support (O) / 2.37 / 0.75
Adolescent Relatedness with Mothers (O) / 1.50 / 0.53

Note: AR – Adolescent report; MR – Mother report; O – Observed

Table 2

Correlations between adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of influence and other parent-adolescent relationship variables

Parental Influence (AR) / Maternal Influence (MR)
Maternal Support (AR) / .23** / -.04
Maternal Support (MR) / .10 / .12
Psychological Control (AR) / .16* / .28***
Psychological Control (MR) / .07 / .29***

*p≤.05, **p≤.01, ***p≤.001, ****p≤.0001

Table 3

Predicting successful support in mother-adolescent interactions from adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of parental influence

 / ΔR2 / Total R2

Step 1

Adolescent Gender / .04
Perceived Neighborhood Risk / .03 / .00 / .00

Step 2

Parental Influence – Adolescents’ Report / .17*
Maternal Influence – Mothers’ Report / -.26** / .09** / .09**

*p≤.05, **p≤.01, ***p≤.001, ****p≤.0001

Note: ’s are from the final model. N=150.

Table 4

Predicting adolescents’ expression of relatedness in mother-adolescent interactions from adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of parental influence

 / ΔR2 / Total R2

Step 1

Adolescent Gender / .00
Perceived Neighborhood Risk / .02 / .01 / 01

Step 2

Parental Influence – Adolescents’ Report / .18*
Maternal Influence – Mothers’ Report / -.31*** / .11**** / .12***

+p≤.10, *p≤.05, **p≤.01, ***p≤.001, ****p≤.0001

Note: ’s are from the final model. N=148.

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