2-058 - The Family Context as a Resource: Parent-Adolescent Relationships and Problem Behaviors

Session Type: Paper Discussion Symposium

Integrative Statement

Adolescence is a time of significant biological, cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional development. These changes result in a well-documented increase in risk-taking (e.g., substance use and delinquency) during the adolescent years, which, for some youth, may have profound effects on the course of his or her life (Steinberg, 2008). However, adolescents still rely greatly on their parents for emotional guidance, boundary setting, and support (Laursen & Collins, 2009). Indeed, certain parenting practices may buffer (or exacerbate) youth problem behavior across adolescence (Collins et al., 2000). The goal of this symposium is to present nuanced, state-of-the-art research on the relation between parenting and adolescent risky behaviors, through the lens of implications for intervention.
To this end, three presentations will discuss the interplay between risky behavior during adolescence and parenting. The first paper uses a family systems approach to evaluate whether parenting behaviors mediate the association between parental alcohol dependence and adolescent alcohol use, controlling for genetic risks. Using longitudinal data, the second paper examines the effect of juvenile delinquency on the change in the mother-son relationship over time, in a sample of juvenile offenders and their mothers. The third paper follows adolescent girls over four years to test whether early maturing girls are at special risk for problem drinking resulting from a lack of parent supervision. A discussant will integrate the presentations from the perspective of adolescent development, and discuss the implications for families and practitioners emerging from this body of research.

Sub Unit

• Parent-Adolescent Relationships

Chair

• Caitlin Cavanagh, University of California, Irvine

Individual Presentations

• Parental Supervision and Alcohol Intoxication Among Adolescent Girls - Presenting Author: Daniel J. Dickson, Florida Atlantic University; Brett Laursen, Florida Atlantic University; Håkan Stattin, School of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

• Change in the Parent-Child Relationship Following an Adolescent’s First Arrest - Presenting Author: Caitlin Cavanagh, University of California, Irvine; Elizabeth Cauffman, University of California, Irvine

• Parental Alcohol Dependence and Adolescent Alcohol Use: The Mediating Role of Parenting - Presenting Author: Jinni Su, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Sally Kuo, Arizona State University; Fazil Aliev, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University; Jessica Salvatore, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University; Danielle Dick, Virginia Commonwealth University

Discussant

• Diana Samek, Auburn University