Mothers and daughters in conflict : a longitudinal examination of European American, African American, and Latina mothers and daughters during the transition to puberty

2004·4.6 MB·English

by  Abraham, Sara Villanueva, 1966

MOTHERSANDDAUGHTERSINCONFLICT:
ALONGITUDINALEXAMINATIONOFEUROPEANAMERICAN,
AFRICANAMERICAN,ANDLATINAMOTHERSANDDAUGHTERS
DURINGTHETRANSITIONTOPUBERTY
By
SARAVILLANUEVAABRAHAM
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2004
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thereareseveralpeoplewhohaveplayedsupportiverolesformeduringmy
yearsasagraduatestudent.Iwouldliketotakethisopportunitytothankthesepeoplefor
theirguidanceandencouragementthroughtimesthatwerenoteasyforme.First,special
thanksgotothefamilieswhoparticipatedinthisstudy.Thesegirlsandtheirfamilies
tooktimeoutoftheirbusyschedulesandkindlyalloweddatacollectorsintotheirhomes;
forthis,Iamextremelygrateful.Second,1wouldliketoacknowledgethatthisstudywas
supportedbygrantsfromtheNationalInstituteofChildHealthandHumanDevelopment
(NICHD;HD32376)andtheNationalInstituteofMentalHealth(NIMH;MH56557).
Further,theassistanceofthestaffoftheGirls’HealthandDevelopmentProjectat
TeachersCollege,ColumbiaUniversity,andtheObservationalCodingLaboratoryatthe
UniversityofFloridaisgreatlyappreciated.
Specialthanksgotomycommitteemembers:Dr.ScottMiller,Dr.Mark
Fondacaro,Dr.LiseYoungblade,andDr.ConnieShehan.Withtheirassistanceand
continualguidance,1havelearnedthefinerpointsofacademicwritingand
methodologicallybasedresearch. Specifically,1wouldliketosincerelythankmy
advisor.Dr.JuliaGraber,forherunendingsupportandencouragementaswellasher
persistentguidanceandteaching.Herstellarperformanceasanacademicscholarhas
beenandwillcontinuetobeaninspirationtome.
1amextremelythankfultomyfamily.Thesupportandencouragementthatmy
parents,mybrothers,andmysistershavegivenmehavebeeninvaluable.Itrulythank
ii
myparentsforteachingmethatwithhardwork,determination,andfaithanythingis
possible.Itismyfamily’sunconditionalandunwaveringsupport,love,and
encouragementthathavesustainedmeandhelpedmetosucceed.
Finally,merewordscannotexpresstheheartfeltgratitudethatIoffertomy
children:Susan,Thomas,andSophia.Therehavebeenmanysacrificesmadeduringmy
timeingraduateschool,andIknowthatmylimitedtimeandenergyhavemadethings
difficultattimes.Still,theirtighthugsandsoftkissesgavemethestrengththatIneeded
toendure.1wouldlikeforthemtoknowthateverything1do,1doforthem.Itruly
appreciatetheirpatienceandunderstanding.
Ill
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ii
ABSTRACT vi
1 INTRODUCTION I
2 LITERATUREREVIEW 6
DevelopmentalChangesinParent-ChildRelationshipsandConflict 6
MiddleChildhood 7
NormativeChangesinParent-ChildRelationships 8
TheMother-AdolescentRelationship 10
TheoreticalModelsofParent-childConflictDuringAdolescence 10
ConflictinContext 18
PotentialCulturalDifferencesinConflict 24
Conclusions 37
SignificanceofthePresentStudy 37
GeneralLongitudinalExaminations 38
PredictingConflict 39
LinksBetweenConflictandAdjustment 40
DyadicInteraction 41
3 METHOD 42
Participants 42
Procedure 43
Measures 47
AnalysisPlan 55
4 RESULTS 57
DescriptiveAnalyses 57
GeneralLongitudinalExaminations 63
PredictingConflict 69
DyadicInteraction 78
IV
5 DISCUSSIONANDCONCLUSION 80
Conflict 82
Respect 84
MaternalBehaviors 87
Puberty 90
LinksBetweenConflictandAdjustment 92
DyadicInteraction 94
Limitations 95
Conclusions 96
REFERENCES 98
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 110
V
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
MOTHERSANDDAUGHTERSINCONFLICT:
ALONGITUDINALEXAMINATIONOFEUROPEANAMERICAN,
AFRICANAMERICAN,ANDLATINAMOTHERSANDDAUGHTERS
DURINGTHETRANSITIONTOPUBERTY
By
SaraVillanuevaAbraham
August2004
Chair:JuliaA.Graber
MajorDepartment:Psychology
Thisstudyexamineshowmother-daughterrelationshipsandconflictspecifically
developovera3-yearperiod.ThesampleincludedAfricanAmerican,European
American,andLatinagirlsandmothers.Mothersanddaughtersreportedonconflict
frequencyandintensity,andchildren’sinternalizingandexternalizingbehaviors.
Mothersreportedonparentingbehaviorsandbeliefs.Videotapedinteractionswerecoded
toassessrespect,communication,andrelationshipquality.Conflictdidnotincreaseover
time,nordiditvarybyethnicityacrosstime.Respectwasdifferentiallysalienttodyads
ofdifferingethnicities,withmother-reportedconflictintensityandrespectmoderatedby
ethnicityatbothtimepoints.AlthoughAfricanAmericanandLatinamothersreported
significantlyhigherlevelsofdisciplinarybehaviorsatbothassessments,mothersand
daughtersfromallethnicitiesreportedpositive,nurturantrelationships.Neitherpubertal
statusnortimingdirectlypredictedconflict,buttimingandconflictweremoderatedby
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ethnicity.Finally,conflictduringlate-childhoodwasassociatedwithadolescent
adjustmentduringearlyadolescence.
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
Tremendouseffortshavebeenputforthtoinvestigateboththequalityand
transformationsofparent-childrelationshipsduringadolescence.Researchinthisfield
hasshownrepeatedlythattheperiodofearlyadolescenceisoftenatimeofincreased
emotionalandphysicaldistancingfromparents(Csikszentmihalyi&Larson,1984;
Holmbeck,1996;Paikoff&Brooks-Gunn,1991;Steinberg,1989),aswellasatimein
whichdisagreements,minorconflicts,andemotionaltensionsaremorefrequently
experiencedbyparentsandtheiradolescentchildren(forreviews,seeHolmbeck,1996;
Laursen&Collins,1994;Laursen,Coy,&Collins,1998;Steinberg,1990;Steinberg&
Silk,2002).Examinationsofconflictwithparentsbefore,during,andafteradolescence
indicatethatconflictandagearerelatedinaninvertedU-shapedfunction,suchthat
conflictincreasesduringearlyadolescence,isreasonablystableduringmiddle
adolescence,anddeclineswhentheadolescentmovesawayfromhome(Montemayor,
1983).Conflictsduringearlyadolescencehavebeenreportedtooccurfairlyfrequently,
withadolescentsreportinganaverageofsevendisagreementsperday(Laursen.1989)
butarenottypicallyintense,volatile,orindicativeofmajorproblems.Infact,despite
fairlyfrequentconflictatthisageperiod,onlyaverysmallminority(5%-10%)ofall
familieswithadolescentsexperienceseriousproblemsoramarkeddeteriorationin
parent-childrelationships(Steinberg,1990).Moreover,researchhasconsistently
indicatedthatconflictsbetweenparentsandadolescentsrarelyoccurovercriticaltopics
1
2
suchasreligion,politics,sex,ordrugs;rather,theseconflictsoccurovereverydayfamily
issuessuehasschoolwork,chores,andgettingalongwithsiblings(Collins&Russell,
1991;Smetana,1988).Insum,althoughrepetitivebickeringbetweenparentsand
adolescentsbecomesanissuethatissomewhatdisruptiveintheirdailylives,research
suggeststhattheresultisusuallyastrong,healthyparent-childrelationshipthatcontinues
todevelopastheymovebeyondtheperiodofadolescence.
Althoughpopularnotionsandstereotypesoftheparent-adolescentrelationshipas
oneinwhichthereisextremehostility,anger,andintenseconfliethavenotbeen
confirmedinempiricalexaminationsofteenagersandtheirparents,adolesceneehasbeen
shownbyresearcherstobeatimeforrealignmentsandredefinitionswithinthefamily.It
hasbeensuggestedthatmoderateamountsofconflictoccurringwithinthecontextofa
warm,caringenvironmentcanbesomewhatfunctionalintransformingtheunilateral
parent-childrelationshipsofmiddlechildhoodtothemoremutualrelationsoflate
adolescenceandyoungadulthood(Holmbeck,1996;Steinberg,1990;Youniss&
Smollar,1985).Nonetheless,the“stormandstress”stereotypescontinuetopersistinthe
popularmainstreammedia.OneexplanationforsuchpersistenceproposedbySteinberg
(2001)isthatparentsaremorenegativelyaffectedbythefrequentbickeringand
squabblingthattakesplaceduringthistimethanareadolescents,andparentsaremore
likelytoholdontothenegativeaffectafteran interactionwiththeirteenager.
Furthermore,Steinbergsuggeststhattheday-to-dayconflictsovermundaneissuesthat
researchershavepreviouslydismissedasunimportantwere,infact,unimportantto
teenagersbutwereasignificantsourceofdistressforparents(Silverberg&Steinberg,
1990;Steinberg,2001).Thus,althoughthesemildlyupsettinginteractionsovereveryday
3
mattersdonotdisruptthelong-termparent-childbond,theydoseemtotakeatollon
parentalmentalhealth,especiallyamongmothers(Silverberg8cSteinberg,1987).
Althoughsomeresearchhasfoundthatadolescentsarenotnegativelyaffectedby
conflictwiththeirparents,thereisalimitedbodyofresearchthathasestablishedalink
betweenparent-adolescentconflictandadolescentadjustment.Hauserandhiscolleagues
(Leaper,Hauser,Kremen,8cPowers,1989)haveshownthatwithinthecontextof
adolescent-parentinteractions,familycommunicationpatternssuggestingeither
closenessorseparationdirectlyinfluenceadolescents’egodevelopment.Moreover,
Hauserhasalsoshownthatvaluesemphasizedwithinfamilyenvironments(thatis,
familyorientationstowardindependence,participationinactivities,expressiveness,and
achievement)areassociatedwithadolescents’perceivedcompetenceandself-
perceptions(Hauser,Jacobson,Wertlieb,&Brink,1985).Additionalstudiesfound
significantassociations(a)betweenparentalinteractionsandadolescentself-esteemand
(b)betweenadolescents’difficultyestablishingautonomyandrelatednessinthecontext
offamilyinteractionsandinternalizingandexternalizingbehaviors(Allen,Hauser,
Eickholt,&Bell,1994;Isberg,Hauser,Jacobson,&Powers,1989).Mostcentrally,
Rueter,Scaramella,Wallace,andConger(1999)examinedtheimpactofparent-child
conflictoninternalizingsymptomsanddisorder.Findingsfromthisstudysuggestthatboth
internalizingsymptomsandparent-childconflictinearlyadolescence(ages12-13)
predictedchangesininternalizingsymptomsovertimeandinreportsofhistoryofdisorder
byyoungadulthood(ages19-20). Specifically,priorparent-childdisagreementinfluenced
internalizingdisordersviatheirindirecteffectonsubclinicalsymptomsratherthanviaa
directpathtoalaterdisorder(Graber,2004).Insum,althoughparent-adolescentconflictis
seenassomewhatnormativeandbenign,empiricalresearchindicatesthatindeedthereare