Revising and validating the random search model for competitive search

The aim of the present study is a comparison of family relations in families with an obese adolescent and families with a normal-weight adolescent. Particularly, we studied the parents' and children's perceptions of some crucial areas of their relationship, e.g., communication, support, and some factors of "psychosocial risk" for the adolescents. We compared 30 family triads each with an obese child and 30 family triads each with a normal-weight child. We used a questionnaire aimed to evaluate some crucial variables of family functioning such as communication, family climate, support and satisfaction. A multivariate analysis of variance yielded no difference between obese and nonobese adolescents concerning communication with their mothers and fathers and concerning support given and received from them. In particular, analysis indicated no difference between parents of obese adolescents and parents of normal-weight adolescents regarding openness and problems in communication. As a protective factor against psychosocial risk, in both the samples the relationship with the mother arises as relevant, but, for the nonobese adolescents, both support and communication with this parent were important, whereas for the obese adolescents only support seemed to be really important. The results are discussed with respect to this approach which considered the family as the unit of analysis both from a theoretical and a methodological point of view.     

Multidimensional assessment of parent-adolescent relations.

The Parent–Adolescent Relationship Questionnaire (PARQ) was constructed to be a multidimensional self-report inventory consisting of 16 scales assessing problem-solving communication skills, beliefs/attributions, and family structure. The PARQ was administered to a heterogeneous sample of 577 families in a test of its internal consistency, factor structure, and criterion-related validity. Internal consistency was generally above .80. Factor analyses yielded 3 factors corresponding to the hypothetically deduced constructs of skill deficits, beliefs, and family structure. Criterion-related validity tests contrasting families with acting-out, behavior-disordered adolescents, well-adjusted adolescents, and a broad normative group indicated that the Skill Deficit and Beliefs scales were sensitive indicators of level of distress but that the Family Structure scales did not reliably distinguish between the groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent–parent interactions in middle-class African American families: Longitudinal change and contextual variations.

Family interactions were examined longitudinally over 2 years in 79 middle-class African American families with early adolescents. Mothers and adolescents (as well as fathers and adolescents and triads in 2-parent families) were videotaped discussing a conflict for 10 min. A macro-coding system (J. G. Smetana, J. Yau, A. Restrepo, & J. L. Braeges, 1991) was modified to be culturally sensitive to African American families. Interaction ratings were reduced, through principal-components analyses, into composite variables. After control for family income, mothers' communication in triadic interactions became less positive over time. Both mothers' and fathers' communication was more positive in dyadic than triadic interactions. In triadic interactions, mothers validated sons more than daughters, and in dyadic interactions with either parent, boys were more receptive to parents than were girls. Findings extend previous research on adolescent–parent relationships to African American families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent–adolescent conflict in the context of parental support: Families with alcoholic and nonalcoholic fathers.

The authors tested the hypothesis that parental support provides a social context that moderates the effects of parent–adolescent conflict on adolescent problem behavior. They also examined the possible potentiating effects of a family risk factor, paternal alcoholism, on parent–adolescent conflict. Cross-sectional and prospective analyses of 269 adolescents and their parents showed that parent–adolescent conflict was more highly related to adolescent problem behavior when parental support was low than when support was high. Parent–adolescent conflict was related to problem behavior for adolescent children of alcoholics, but not for children of nonalcoholic parents. These findings support the contention that the effects of parent–adolescent conflict need to be understood within the context of other interpersonal and family background characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young adolescent and maternal depression: Assessment, interrelations, and family predictors.

The present study examined (a) the relation between self-report and behavioral ratings of depression for young adolescents and their mothers; (b) the relation between adolescent and maternal depression; and (c) family correlates and predictors of adolescent and maternal depression. Sixty-nine nonclinic adolescents and their mothers completed self-report measures and participated in two behavioral observations 1 year apart. Self-report and behavioral-rating measures of depression were related for mothers but not for adolescents, and maternal depression and adolescent depression were not related to one another. In addition, marital conflict predicted maternal depression as measured by both self-reports and behavioral ratings, whereas parent–adolescent conflict predicted only self-reported adolescent depression. The differences found between maternal and adolescent depression are discussed, and the findings are contrasted with those reported for clinically depressed mothers and children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family functioning and parental smoking as predictors of adolescent cigarette use: A six-year prospective study.

The goal of this study was to determine how family functioning influences the onset of adolescent cigarette smoking and how family functioning and parental smoking together influence adolescent smoking. A 6-year prospective design was used to follow a group of 508 families with a child aged 11–13 years. Predictor measures were parents" smoking status at Time 1, parents" scores on scales measuring family cohesion and parent–adolescent strain, and adolescents" scores on 3 scales measuring psychological adjustment. Results showed that poorer family functioning predicted subsequent adolescent smoking, independent of other measured factors. The strongest predictions were yielded by the combination of low family cohesion and parental smoking, with early adolescents who had a parent who smoked and low family cohesion reporting more than twice the rate of smoking in late adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The association between parent–child conflict and adolescent conduct problems over time: Results from a longitudinal adoption study.

A handful of prior adoption studies have confirmed that the cross-sectional relationship between child conduct problems and parent–child conflict at least partially originates in the shared environment. However, as the direction of causation between parenting and delinquency remains unclear, this relationship could be better explained by the adolescent's propensity to elicit conflictive parenting, a phenomenon referred to as an evocative gene–environment correlation. In the current study, the authors thus examined the prospective relationship between conduct problems and parent–child conflict in a sample of adoptive families. Participants included 672 adolescents in 405 adoptive families assessed at 2 time points roughly 4 years apart. Results indicated that parent–child conflict predicts the development of conduct problems, whereas conduct problems do not predict increases in parent–child conflict. Such findings suggest that evocative gene–environment correlations are highly unlikely to be an explanation of prior shared environmental effects during adolescence. Moreover, because the adolescents in this study do not share genes with their adoptive parents, the association between conduct problems and parent–child conflict is indicative of shared environmental mediation in particular. Implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authority, autonomy, and parent–adolescent conflict and cohesion: A study of adolescents from Mexican, Chinese, Filipino, and European backgrounds.

This study examined whether parent–child conflict and cohesion during adolescence vary among families characterized as having different cultural traditions regarding parental authority and individual autonomy. Approximately 1,000 American adolescents from immigrant and native-born families with Mexican, Chinese, Filipino, and European backgrounds reported on their beliefs, expectations, and relationships with parents; longitudinal data were available for approximately 350 of these youths. Despite holding different beliefs about parental authority and individual autonomy, adolescents from all generations and cultural backgrounds reported similar levels of conflict and cohesion with their parents. Discussion focuses on the relative importance of cultural beliefs and social settings in shaping the nature of parent–child relationships during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multisystemic treatment of juvenile offenders: Effects on adolescent behavior and family interaction.

57 delinquent adolescents received family ecological treatment, 23 delinquent adolescents received an alternative treatment, and 44 normal adolescents served as developmental controls. The mean age of the adolescents at pretreatment was 14.8 yrs. Pre- and posttreatment assessments were conducted with the adolescent and his/her parents. Measures included the Behavior Problem Checklist, the Eysenck Personality Inventory, and self-report and observational measures of family relations. Ss who received family ecological treatment evidenced significant decreases in conduct problems, anxious-withdrawn behaviors, immaturity, and association with delinquent peers. The mother–adolescent and marital relations in these families were significantly warmer, and Ss were significantly more involved in family interaction. In contrast, the families who received the alternative treatment evidenced no positive change and showed deterioration in affective relations. The normal families manifested relationship changes that were consistent with those identified by investigators of normal adolescent development. Findings support a multisystemic model of behavior disorders and treatment. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family education to enhance the moral atmosphere of the family and the moral development of adolescents.

Examined the effects of a course for families in democratic conflict resolution on (a) the family's collective decision-making abilities, and (b) the moral reasoning of adolescent participants. 16 couples and their adolescent children were divided into 3 groups: parents and their adolescents, parents only, and a control group. Both experimental groups met for 10 weekly 2.5-hr sessions and received training in conflict resolution and the use of family meetings. Assessment was based on the Parental Attitude Research Instrument, 2 self-report inventories, a behavioral role-play test, the Kohlberg Moral Judgment Interview, and an analysis of tape recordings of the family meetings. A 1-yr follow-up assessment of the Kohlberg measure was also used. Parents in both experimental groups significantly increased their equalitarian attitudes toward family decision making. Furthermore, families in both groups significantly improved their effectiveness in collective decision making; the parent–adolescent group showed greater improvement than the parent group on most of the variables measured. Finally, the results suggest that adolescents who participated in the training significantly improved their scores in moral reasoning. This gain was maintained at follow-up. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily family conflict and emotional distress among adolescents from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds.

The authors employed a daily diary method to assess daily frequencies of interparental and parent–adolescent conflict over a 2-week period and their implications for emotional distress across the high school years in a longitudinal sample of 415 adolescents from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds. Although family conflict remained fairly infrequent among all ethnic backgrounds across the high school years, its impact on emotional distress was significant across ethnicity and gender. In addition, parent–adolescent conflict significantly mediated the association between interparental conflict and emotional distress. These associations were observed at both the individual and the daily levels, providing evidence for both the chronic and episodic implications of family conflict for adolescents’ emotional adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reciprocal relation between parent-child distance and pubertal maturation.

Previous research on adolescents and their parents has indicated that pubertal maturation, independent of chronological age, is associated with increased distance in the parent–child relationship, but the cross-sectional nature of these studies leaves open questions concerning the direction of effects. Using short-term longitudinal data, this study examines the reciprocal relation between parent–child distance and pubertal maturation in a sample of 157 male and female firstborn adolescents and their parents. Twice over a 1-year period, independent raters assessed each youngster's pubertal status, and parents and adolescents independently completed questionnaire measures of autonomy, conflict, and closeness in the parent–child relationship. Regression analyses indicate that puberty increases adolescent autonomy and parent–child conflict and diminishes parent–child closeness. Analyses also indicate that parent–child distance may, in turn, accelerate pubertal maturation among girls. Both proximal and distal explanations for the relation between parent–child distance and pubertal maturation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental divorce during early adolescence in Caucasian families: The role of family process variables in predicting the long-term consequences for early adult psychosocial adjustment.

The relationship between parental divorce occurring during adolescence and young adult psychosocial adjustment was examined, as was the role of family process variables in clarifying this relationship. Participants were young Caucasian adults from divorced (n?=?119) and married (n?=?123) families. Assessments were conducted during adolescence and 6 years later during early adulthood. Young adults from married families reported more secure romantic attachments than those from divorced families; however, differences were not evident in other domains of psychosocial adjustment after demographic variables were controlled. Three family process variables (parent–adolescent relationship, interparental conflict, and maternal depressive symptoms) were examined as potential mediators and moderators of the association between parental divorce and young adult adjustment. No evidence supporting mediation or moderation was found; however, the parent–adolescent and parent–young adult relationships, particularly when the identified parent was the father, emerged as significant predictors of young adult psychosocial adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal associations between family dinner and adolescent perceptions of parent–child communication among racially diverse urban youth.

We examined changes in adolescent self-reported parent–child communication using growth curve models conditional on family meal frequency over a 3.5-year period among a population of racially diverse, low-income adolescents from an urban environment (n = 4,750). Results indicated that although both family dinner frequency and adolescent perceptions of parent–child communication scores were characterized by negative linear growth over time (both p     

Family interactions in adoptive compared to nonadoptive families.

Despite the large and growing numbers of adoptive families, little research describes interactions in families with adopted adolescents. Yet, adopted adolescents' increased risk for adjustment problems, combined with the association between family interactions and adolescent adjustment in nonadoptive families, raises questions about differences in adoptive and nonadoptive family interactions. We compared observed and self-reported family interactions between 284 adoptive and 208 nonadoptive families and within 123 families with 1 adopted and 1 nonadopted adolescent. Adolescents averaged 14.9 years of age. Comparisons were made using analysis of variance incorporating hierarchical linear methods in SAS PROC MIXED to control family-related correlations in the data. Parents and children reported more conflict in adoptive families when compared with nonadoptive families. Families with 1 adopted and 1 nonadopted adolescent reported more conflict between parents and adopted adolescents. Observed parental behavior was similar across adoptive and nonadoptive children although adopted adolescents were less warm and, in families with 2 adopted children, more conflictual than nonadopted adolescents. These findings suggest a need for further investigation of the association between family interactions and adopted adolescent problem behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intergenerational cultural dissonance in parent–adolescent relationships among Chinese and European Americans.

Generational cultural gaps (assessed as the mismatch between adolescents' ideals and perceptions of the parent–adolescent relationship) were investigated among Chinese youth with immigrant parents and their European American counterparts who have been in the United States for generations and assumingly do not have intergenerational cultural gaps. The authors of the study examined the associations of such generational gaps with adolescents' behavioral problems and whether youth's appreciation of Chinese parent–adolescent relationships (parental devotion, sacrifice, thoughtfulness, and guan) described by the notion of qin would moderate the relationship between discrepancies and youth's adjustment. A total of 634 high school students (M = 15.97 years; 95 and 154 first- and second-generation Chinese American respectively, and 385 European Americans) completed measures of parental warmth, parent–adolescent open communication, qin, and psychological adjustment. The U.S.-born Chinese American adolescents' ideals exceeded perceptions of parents' warmth and open communication to a greater degree than it did for European American adolescents (ps     

Peer influences and drug use among urban adolescents: Family structure and parent–adolescent relationship as protective factors.

The moderating influences of family structure and parent–adolescent distress on the relationship between peer variables and drug use were examined in a predominantly African American sample of 630 10th graders at 9 urban high schools. Both peer pressure and peer drug use were significantly related to the reported frequency of drug use. The relationship between peer pressure and drug use was stronger among girls than boys, and also among adolescents in families without fathers or stepfathers. The association between peer pressure and drug use also increased as a function of the level of mother–adolescent distress among adolescents who were not living with fathers or stepfathers. Neither gender nor family structure moderated the relationship between peer drug models and drug use. However, the association between peer drug models and drug use increased as a function of the level of mother–adolescent distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family functioning among adolescents with bipolar disorder.

This study examined the characteristics of families of adolescents with bipolar disorder during or shortly following a period of mood exacerbation, using measures of family conflict, cohesion, adaptability, and expressed emotion (EE). Demographic, diagnostic, and family functioning data were collected from 58 families (mean age = 14.48; 33 female, 25 male) before entering a randomized trial of family focused treatment. Compared to scale scores reported by healthy adolescents and their families, cohesion and adaptability were more impaired in families with an adolescent with bipolar disorder. Levels of conflict, while higher than normative scores reported by healthy families, were not significantly different from scores gathered from distressed, clinic-referred families. Parents rated high in EE reported less cohesion and adaptability, and more conflict, than parents rated low in EE. Parents expressing greater numbers of critical comments also reported more conflict than those who expressed fewer criticisms. These EE group differences were not accounted for by concurrent adolescent symptom levels. Family adaptability, cohesion, and conflict may be important targets for family treatments administered during the postepisode phases of early onset bipolar disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family functioning and adolescent alcohol use disorders.

Adolescents with alcohol dependence or abuse (n?=?126) were compared with 124 adolescents with other (nondrug) mental disorders and with a control group of 94 adolescents with no mental disorders on dimensions of family functioning. General family functioning, mother–adolescent relationships, and parental monitoring and discipline practices were assessed by using both adolescent and mother reports. Although overall the groups differed significantly on all family variables, the relationships among groups differed for adolescent and mother reports. By mother reports, families of adolescents with alcohol use disorders functioned less well than did families of adolescents with other mental disorders, whereas by adolescent reports these groups were not significantly different. Examination of both adolescent and mother perspectives may be important in understanding the relationship between family functioning and adolescent alcohol use disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency and quality of parental communication as antecedents of adolescent smoking cognitions and smoking onset.

The present study examines whether aspects of parental communication about smoking function as antecedents of adolescent smoking cognitions. In this longitudinal full-family study (428 families), parent and adolescent reports were used to assess parental communication. Concepts of the Theory of Planned Behavior were measured among adolescents. Differences between older and younger siblings within the family were examined. Cross-sectionally, frequency and quality of communication were associated with smoking cognitions. Longitudinally, only quality of communication preceded smoking cognitions. This effect was mainly found for younger siblings. The results of this study emphasize the importance of quality of parental communication rather than frequency. Communication patterns based on mutual respect and equality help to prevent adolescent smoking onset. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)