We acknowledge that we have emphasized psychological research, most of which has been carried out using quantitative data, although we have also included qualitative research. In this book, we focus on a number of family types, although we also acknowledge that we have omitted a discussion of the large body of research on adoptive and foster families.
1 Adolescence and Families
- Views of Adolescence
- Stereotypes of adolescence
- The Chronology of Adolescence
- Childhood to Adolescence
- Early Adolescence to Late Adolescence
- The Developing Brain
- Community and Political Involvement
- Summary
Much has been made of the lack of rites of passage for adolescents coming into adulthood (Hendry, Glendinning, Shycksmith, Love & Scott, 1994; Newton, 1995), and the ambiguity surrounding adolescents’ status (Thurlow, 2005). In the next chapter we explore the theories that are used to understand and investigate the adolescent experience in the context of the family.
2 Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescents in the Family
Family Systems Theory
Further, the family environment is a product of the input of both the parent/s and the adolescents (Persson, Stattin & Kerr, 2004; Stattin, Persson, Burk & Kerr, 2011). These authors found that both adolescent and parent behaviour predicted changes in adolescents’ perceptions of the family climate.
Cognitive Theories
- Adolescent Egocentrism
For example, a crucial change that has occurred because of FST is the emphasis on family therapy, with the identified patient seen as a product of the family system rather than a problem in his or her own right. From this preoccupation comes the self-consciousness that is so much a part of the adolescent experience.
Individuation
Comparisons of the individuation process between adolescents in the USA and in European countries showed that the relative power of adolescents was greater in German families than in American families (Laursen, Wilder, Noack & Williams, 2000; Noack & Buhl, 2004). This finding may be a function of a higher focus on authority in the USA (Reis & Buhl, 2008).
Identity Formation
- Family Structure and the Development of Identity
- Ethnicity and identity
- Marcia’s identity statuses
- Identity styles
In his review of the research on these identity statuses, Marcia concluded that those in the Identity-achieved status were most likely to be well- adjusted, followed by those in the Foreclosure status. These adolescents are likely to have parents who use an authoritative style (see Chapter 3 on family environment for further discussion of parenting styles) and encourage exploration and negotiation in their youngsters.
Attachment Theory
- Attachment Functions
- Attachment Styles
- Transfer of Attachment
In other words, those who are secure in attachment are most likely to achieve a good balance between their own autonomy and their closeness with their parents. There is evidence that secure adolescents are likely to have more positive experiences of romantic relationships than are insecure adolescents.
Life Course Theory
Elder’s third principle emphasized the interdependence of our lives that are entwined in a network of relationships in the family and beyond. If conflict increases in the home because of the financial situation, the adolescent’s life is likely to become more difficult, particularly if he or she gets caught up in the parents’ conflict.
Positive Youth Development
For example, young people are likely to be affected by outside events that don’t impinge on their lives directly but that affect them through their parents. As Small and Memmo also note, however, an asset-based approach can be very helpful to those who work with young people.
Summary
In the next chapter we look at the importance of the family environment to the well-being of adolescents. Communication is also a crucial aspect of the family environment, particularly the micro-environment of parent/s and offspring.
Family Structure
- The Role of Financial Difficulties
- Financial Difficulties or Problems with Parenting?
- Presence or Absence of Fathers
- Instability of Family Structure
We will return to the issue of the implications of financial status later in this section. For African-American children, there was generally no significant association between changes in family structure and child behaviour problems even when attributes of the mother were included in the model.
What Makes a Positive Family Environment?
- Characteristics of Parent/s
- Parent Personality
- Attachment Security
- Correspondence Between Attachment Styles of Parents And Offspring There is evidence of a strong correspondence between mothers’ security of
- Impact of Attachment on Parenting Style
Parents and the quality of their relationship are central to the functioning of the family. In this section, we will explore individual characteristics of the parent/s such as personality, attachment security and mental health that may have an impact on the family environment.
Mental Health of Parents
- Parent Depression
- Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
Secure See parents as caring, accepting and responsive Insecure Less warm towards their parents than children of secure. These disorders also mediated the relationship between maternal depression and drug abuse but only for alcohol and cannabis.
Marital Or Relationship Satisfaction, Conflict And Violence
- Marital Satisfaction
- Marital or Relationship Conflict
- Violence
Further, parents who are emotionally stable and responsible are more likely to have satisfying marriages and hence are more likely to be warm and accepting in their relationships with their children, and less likely to be rejecting. In other words, the positive feelings engendered by a satisfying marriage will spill over to the parent- child relationship, and the negative feelings experienced in a distressed relationship are also likely to spill over to the parent-child relationship.
Relationships with Extended Family and Community
- Social Class/Economics
- Neighbourhoods and Communities
The authors interpret these findings in terms of the general models for violent behaviour that young people experience in their families. Hoffman (2006) explored adolescent problem behaviours at the level of the family and at the level of the community.
Work and Family
On the other hand, fathers who reported high levels of spill over tended to know less about their adolescents’ daily activities. In fact, adolescents with shift-working mothers reported more intimacy with their mothers than those whose mothers worked standard daytime hours, and these mothers were more knowledgeable about their adolescents’.
Family Functioning and Discipline
- Parenting Style
- Encouragement of Autonomy
- Cohesion, Flexibility and Communication
- Parental Rejection
- Level of Control and Monitoring
- Discipline
They found that authoritative parents were more likely to be extraverted, agreeable and less emotionally stable than other parents. These adolescents are also likely to have lower self-esteem and to be more vulnerable to depression and anxiety than other adolescents.
Sibling Relationships
- Differential Parenting
- Sibling Relationships and Adolescent Adjustment
For example, a child with a chronic illness is likely to have a very different experience of the family than his or her well sibling. Comparisons between siblings made by parents and others are likely to have an impact on adolescent adjustment and well-being (Noller et al., 2008).
Summary
Some researchers suggest that where differential treatment is seen by adolescents as legitimate because of the different needs of each sibling, adolescents and their sibling relationships are less likely to be negatively affected (Kowal & Kramer, 1997; McHale, Updegraff, Jackson-Newsom, Tucker & Crouter, 2000). Adolescents can also be affected by the communities in which they live, with those from poor families living in poor neighbourhoods more likely to be caught up in delinquent behaviour than adolescents who live in more affluent neighbourhoods.
Implications for Practitioners
In addition, he or she may be able to work with members of the extended family who are having a negative effect on the family environment, and on the well being of the adolescent. In the next chapter, we focus on the communication between adolescents and their parents, as well as other family members and the implications of that communication for the family environment and for the well-being of the adolescent.
4 Communication in Families with Adolescents
The changing nature of parent-adolescent relationships
One reason for a strong focus on conflict is that adolescence is a stage when offspring are ‘pushing the boundaries’ in a search for greater autonomy over their lives (see Chapter 2). In addition, adolescents can engage in relationships, even risky relationships, which parents have difficulty monitoring.
Parent-Adolescent Communication
- Gender of parent differences
Because of the importance of communication, researchers have investigated how parents and adolescents deal with issues that create conflict within the family. In a review of the literature regarding US studies, Skeer and Ballard (2013) examined the findings about the associations between the frequency of shared family mealtimes and adolescents’ risky behaviour.
Transmission of Values
On the other hand, adoptive parents’ reports about their communication quality were similar to the reports of biological parents. Flor and Knapp (2001) found that parents’ religious behaviour and their desire for their children to be religious influenced their children’s values around religion.
Decision-Making in Families with Adolescents
For issues that involved conventional matters (such as using manners) and prudential issues (related to matters of risk) or decisions that might affect their futures (such as whether to have sex), the parents’ contribution to decision-making was greater (Smetana et al., 2004). When parents are able to show their children that they are proud of them and have confidence in their ability to make these important decisions, their adolescents are likely to increase their decision-making abilities (Keller & Whiston, 2008).
Disclosure and Secrecy
Finkenauer and colleagues (2002) found that keeping secrets from parents contributed to adolescents’ feelings of autonomy, although at the cost of their psychosocial well-being. Adolescents who kept secrets from parents were more likely than other adolescents to report physical complaints and depressive mood.
Conflict in Families with Adolescents
- Identity Styles and Conflict
- Gender of Adolescent Differences in Parent-Adolescent Conflict
- Conflict Styles
- Positive Aspects of Parent-Adolescent Conflict
- Negative Aspects of Parent-Adolescent Conflict
Whereas some studies have found gender of adolescent differences in parent- adolescent conflict (Noller & Callan, 1990), other studies have found few gender differences (Caughlin & Ramey, 2005; Wierson, Armistead, Forehand, McCombs- Thomas & Fauber, 1990). High levels of parent- adolescent conflict have been associated with a range of adolescent problems, such.
Parental discipline
Smetana (1988) examined parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of the areas of adolescent behaviour that come under parental authority. If parents engage with their adolescents about how the behaviour impacts on them and seek the adolescents’ involvement in the process (i.e., deciding what the consequence should be) adolescents may feel better about the situation and.
Communication with Siblings
See Chapter 5 and Sheehan et al. 2004) for more discussion of sibling relationships in divorcing families). Hostility in the sibling relationship on the other hand was positively related to externalizing behaviours and having a sister was negatively related to internalizing behaviours (such as depression and anxiety).
Family Relationships and Relationships with Peers
Updegraff and colleagues (2001) found that parents’ direct involvement with their adolescents’ peers was more central for boys than for girls. Mothers’ involvement with these peers was associated with the time sons spent with a best friend, and fathers’.
Technology and Communication
Girls have been found to be more likely than boys to use a mobile phone and boys have been found to be more likely to use the internet than girls (Madell. When parents communicate with their adolescents about sexual behaviour and watch television shows with them, even at low levels, it has been found that adolescents are less likely to engage in sexual intercourse at a young age (Bersamin, Todd, Fisher, Hill, Grube & Walker, 2008).
Culture and Communication
Parents who are thoughtful and responsive to their children provide support that decreases the likelihood of adjustment problems regardless of any differences in cultural understanding for Chinese parents and their adolescents (Wu & Chao, 2011).
Summary
This finding indicates that responsiveness to adolescents is important for families and adolescent adjustment across cultures. The internet can be helpful to adolescents for learning thinking skills, for school performance and for communication with family and friends.
Implications for Practitioners
Their review covered seven themes: academic performance, deviant behaviour, romantic or sexual relationships, psychosocial well being, the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship and the level of coping of the adolescent. In addition, relationships with both parents tended to decline in quality (Kenyon & Koerner, 2008; Koerner et al., 2002).
Residential Arrangements and Adjustment Following Divorce
- Residential arrangements
- Shifting of Residences
& Kaltiala-Heino, 2012) where adolescents who had a change in their family situation such as divorce or separation when they were aged 15 or 16 years were followed up two years later. It seems that fathers were probably required to deal with more troubled adolescents who were not coping well and who had difficulty adapting to other types of residential arrangements.
Communication About the Divorce
- Inappropriate Disclosures by Parents
It is interesting to note that those adolescents who had one or more changes in residence since the divorce and who were currently living with their fathers were the least well- adjusted adolescents in the study. The high level of conflict and the anger parents experience as a result may reduce the parent’s awareness of the inappropriateness of talking about their problems with their adolescent.
Conflict and Children’s Adjustment Following Divorce
- Conflict and Adjustment
- Sex Differences in Reactions to Conflict
- What Adolescents Say About Their Parents’ Conflict
Adolescents in the Buchanan et al. 1996) study who lived in dual residence arrangements were more likely to be affected by inter-parental conflict than were other adolescents, and more likely to feel caught between their parents. As part of the Noller et al. 2008) study adolescents were interviewed about the conflict in the family.
Long term Effects of Divorce on Adjustment
Conflict, the Legal System and Adjustment
Shared Family Time and Family Resilience Following Divorce
Hutchinson, Afifi & Krause (2007) studied families who had experienced divorce, and explored, through interviews, the links between shared family time and the resilience of family members. These researchers showed that shared family time and activities were critical to post-divorce families in terms of helping them to develop new family processes and structures.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Experiencing Parents’ Marital Disruption
Adolescents’ Management of Relationships with Divorced Parents
- Negative Evaluations
- Controlling Information
- Controlling Visitation
The adolescents were also able to control the image of themselves that was revealed to their non-resident parents, keeping it as positive as possible. Adolescents can also decide not to have contact with their non-resident parents, because of their assessment of the negative traits of the parent or because they believe that parent is trying to manipulate them.
Children’s Perceptions of Their Sibling Relationships Following Divorce
- Hostility and Warmth in Sibling Relationships
- Explaining Affect-Intense Relationships
Because these researchers carried out interviews with the adolescents, they were able to get some insight into how these two different aspects of relationships could exist together in these sibling relationships. They showed that the positive aspect of adolescents’ sibling relationships involved the care and comfort that they provided to one another and the ways they worked together in resolving conflict and in dealing with the conflict between their parents.
Parental Divorce and Adolescent Problem Behaviour
- Divorce-Proneness and Adolescent Problem Behaviour
- Environmental or Genetic Factors?
- Parental Divorce and Offspring Mental Health
- Divorce and Long-Term Depression
- Does Divorce Cause These Problems?
Another interesting finding from the Harper and McLanahan (2004) study was the impact of co-resident grandparents on young people in families in which at least one of the biological parents was absent. It seems that girls become more sensitive to the effects of the divorce of their parents during early adolescence and subsequently more depressed (Oldehinkel et al., 2008) and this high level of depression persists as they get older.
Divorce and Romantic Relationships of Offspring
In addition, both high levels of conflict and high levels of divorce seem to work together to affect the well being of children and adolescents (Hanson, 1999; Morrison & Coiro, 1999; Noller et al., 2008). High conflict couples seem to be able to keep the conflict going long after the divorce has occurred.
Living in a Stepfamily
There is also evidence that children in stepfamilies tend to be less warm and communicative and also more negative in their interactions with their mothers (Hetherington & Jodl, 1994). These young people are also likely to see their families as more conflicted and less warm (Kurdek & Fine, 1993).
Summary
Factors such as the level of conflict between their parents and the parenting they receive are likely to be critical to their adjustment and future development. Relationships with the resident parent (usually the mother) tend to be less close than they were before the ‘intrusion’ and loyalty conflicts between their adolescent and their new partner can arise for these mothers.
Implications for Practitioners
Counsellors may need to help adolescents see these issues from the point of view of their parents and to be more understanding of the issues the parents are dealing with. Parents and step-parents also need to be prepared so that roles are clarified before the step-parent joins the family.
Positive Youth Development
The first group includes those young people who display problem behaviour only at adolescence (about 24 percent of all youth). A third group demonstrate problem behaviour as children but are more conforming as adolescents, although Moffitt and his colleagues (Moffitt, Caspi, Harrington, & Milne, 2002) found that about a third of these young people suffered from internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety disorders.
Externalizing Behaviours
- Alcohol and Illegal Drugs
- Smoking
- Risk and Protective Factors for Smoking
- Issues Around Sexuality .1 Sexual Activity
- Sex Education and Contraception
- Pregnancy and Childbearing
- Conduct Disorder, Antisocial Behaviour, Aggression and Delinquency .1 Conduct Disorder
- Aggression and Antisocial Behaviour
- Delinquency
Persistent smokers were more likely to be in conflict with their parents and to be doing poorly academically. Frequent smokers were more likely to be high in impulsiveness, suggesting a lack of self-control.
Internalizing Behaviours
- Depression
- Effects of Parental Depression
- Coercive Family Processes
- Supportive and Facilitative Interactions
- Life Skills and Depression
- Self-harm and Suicide
- Eating Disorders
These findings are also in line with those of Lewis et al. 2013) suggest that interventions that involve the family are most likely to be of help to young people living in this type of family. When mothers are very critical of their adolescents, the adolescents are more likely to develop a negative view of themselves (Jaenicke et al., 1987).
Summary
Then, to compensate for the binge-eating, they are likely to get involved in the vomiting and purging (by using laxatives) that are a feature of bulimia-nervosa. Almost half of young people between 15 and 19 yrs are sexually active, and by 18 or 19 yrs, 70 percent of young people are likely to be involved in sexual relationships.
Implications for Practitioners
Young people seem to need more education about the risks of unprotected sex and about appropriate ways to deal with those risks. It may also be important for young people to develop their assertiveness skills so that they can learn to resist requests for them to become involved in inappropriate behaviours such as binge-drinking, using illicit drugs or engaging in unwanted sexual activity.
Emerging Adulthood, Delayed Transitions and Leaving Home
In this chapter we discuss some of the many contexts and reasons that adolescents may leave the family home. Although some adolescents may actively decide to move from the family home to cohabitation or marriage, others slide into these relationships (Stanley, Rhoades & Markman, 2006).
Family Structure and Leaving Home
It appears that the patterns of children moving out of the family home become more predictable once they reach their mid twenties (Arnett, 2000). Financial support can be crucial to young people and can be instrumental in their ability to continue their education.
Family Relationships and Leaving Home
Also, single parents are less likely to view financial support of their oldest adolescent positively, but this situation appears to change over time with single-parents becoming more positive about providing monetary resources to their children over time perhaps because their resources may improve over time. These children also tend to feel less positive about leaving home and are likely to have left home at a younger age than children of parents who were not alcoholic.
Leaving Home for College
Children of alcoholic parents are more likely to have difficulty leaving home and when they do, this process can involve more conflict and less likelihood of planning and discussion with parents. Such adolescents may believe they cannot leave because their parents need their support or alternatively may not feel confident about managing this transition on their own without the support of their parents.
Leaving Home for the Military
On the other hand, the young people living at home tended to smoke and drink alcohol less. Although leaving home for college to begin this phase of their independent lives can be seen as a normal progression, many adolescents experience homesickness and distress.
Leaving Home to Marry or Cohabit
Young women with strong religious values are less likely to engage in sexual relationships at an early age, cohabit or give birth outside of marriage (Amato, et al., 2008). Also adolescents with religious values indicate that they are more likely to marry and not cohabit beforehand (Manning et al., 2007).
Rural Youth Leaving Home
Jones (2001) indicates that young people in rural Scotland either leave their rural communities to seek further education or employment or remain in their communities with more restricted opportunities for their futures. Jones concludes that to provide support for rural young people to stay in their communities there needs to be a combination of establishing affordable housing for single young people and the provision of better training, transport and employment opportunities.
Running Away From Home
On the other hand, rural communities can offer support for finding local employment and of course allow young people to benefit from continuing and necessary family support. Jones also notes that the housing market in Scotland is not set up to be supportive of young people leaving home, with council and community housing opportunities being more directed at couples and families.
Homelessness
One of the key themes that the young people spoke about was personal resources such as independence, maturity, determination and recognising their own value. It’s like you’re helping yourself, you’re helping the other person, and then you’re giving the other person also the opportunity to help others.
Summary
Many of these young people have left home due to disturbed home environments and are more likely to suffer from mood disorders and to abuse drugs and alcohol. However, many homeless young people do not become chronically homeless and manage the adjustment to adulthood.
Some Implications for Practitioners
Suicide has been found to be the largest cause of death for homeless young people. Interventions for young people leaving home also need to include more broad- based interventions rather than just individual ones.
8 Risk and Resilience in Adolescence
- Characteristics of Resilience
- Characteristics of Resilient Adolescents
- Resilience and Mental Illness
- Individual Factors and Resilience
- Family Factors in Resilience
- Secure Attachment
- An Emotionally Warm Atmosphere
- Open Communication
- Provision of Encouragement and Support
- Adequate Rules and Supervision
- Sex Differences in Resilience
- Resilience and Emotion Regulation
- Resilience Against Depression
- Self-esteem, Resilience and Protection from Risky Behaviour
- The Importance of the Family Environment
- African-American Youth: A Case Study
- Temperament and Resilience
- Temperament and Parenting: How They Interact
- Conclusions
Here we will discuss these factors in terms of their links to the development of resilience in young people. Family factors are also important in the development of resilience for African- American youth as for young people in other ethnic groups.
The connection of observed hostile family conflict to adolescents’ developing autonomy and relatedness with parents. Protective and risk factors of early sexual initiation in youth subcultures.The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care.
