Parent–Adolescent Relationship Factors and Adolescent Outcomes Among High‐Risk Families

• Author: Lenore M. McWey,Mathew C. Withers,Mallory Lucier‐Greer
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12220
• Published date: 01 December 2016
• Date: 01 December 2016

M C. W, L M. MW,  M L-G

Florida State University

Parent–Adolescent Relationship Factors and

Adolescent Outcomes Among High-Risk Families

Using a stress-process and attachment the-

ory framework, we identied salient aspects

of the parent–adolescent relationship and

tested the extent to which those aspects were

longitudinally associated with depression, with-

drawal, delinquency, and aggressive behavior

outcomes among a sample of high-risk adoles-

cents (N=498). First, four dimensions of the

parent–adolescent relationship were identied:

emotional closeness, communication, autonomy,

and conict. Next, latent prole analyses were

conducted, and four distinct parent–adolescent

relationship proles emerged: secure, avoidant,

anxious, and detached. Adolescent outcomes

were assessed 2 years later. Results indicated

that (a) adolescents in the avoidant and anxious

proles demonstrated higher depression symp-

toms than did those in the secure prole, (b)

higher levels of aggression were demonstrated

in the avoidant prole, and (c) higher levels of

delinquency were demonstrated in the detached

prole. Implications for parent–adolescent rela-

tionships and family therapy interventions are

provided.

The importance of quality of parent–adolescent

relationships is well established (e.g., Steinberg,

2001). Low-quality relationships are associated

Department of Family and Child Sciences, Florida State Uni-

versity, 120 ConvocationWay (Mail Code: 1491), Tallahas-

see, FL 32306 (mcw13b@my.fsu.edu).

Key Words: Adolescence, at-risk, delinquency, depression,

families, parent–child relationships.

with poor adolescent adjustment, including

depression, withdrawal, aggression, and delin-

quency (Branje, Hale, Frijns, & Meeus, 2010;

Fanti, Henrich, Brookmeyer, & Kuperminc,

2008; Hair, Moore, Garrett, Ling, & Cleve-

land, 2008). Healthy family interactions may

protect adolescents from high-risk family con-

texts against negative outcomes, yet this is an

emerging area of study (Houltberg, Henry, &

Morris, 2012) and most research has focused

on community samples. Because adolescents

in higher-risk contexts exhibit higher levels

of internalizing and externalizing symptoms

(Moylan et al., 2010), it is important to iden-

tify salient dimensions of parent–adolescent

relationships in these families and examine the

extent to which those dimensions are associ-

ated with adolescent mental health outcomes.

Understanding aspects of the parent–adolescent

relationship and long-term implications for

adolescent well-being in this context can inform

intervention strategies with higher-risk families.

Despite the known importance of parent–

adolescent relationship quality, there is a lack

of specicity about what quality means. Indeed,

a variety of denitions have been used in the

conceptualization of parent–adolescent relation-

ship quality, including closeness (Ge, Natsuaki,

Neiderhiser, & Reiss, 2009), communica-

tion (Ohannessian, 2013), autonomy (Manzi,

Regalia, Pelucchi, & Fincham, 2012), and con-

ict (Briere, Archambault, & Janosz, 2013).

Research examining each of these parent–

adolescent relationship factors provides some

insight into their associations with adolescent

Family Relations 65 (December 2016): 661–672 661

DOI:10.1111/fare.12220