The Timing of Adolescent Disclosures: The Effects of Maternal Emotional Reponses and Adolescent Perspective Taking

• In Event: 2-173 - Dynamic Approaches to Parent-Child Interactions from Infancy to Adolescence

Integrative Statement

Adolescent disclosure to parents is an important feature of high-quality parent-adolescent relationships and is associated with positive adolescent adjustment (Smetana & Comer, 2015). However, no studies have examined specific parental responses to adolescent disclosures that may facilitate or inhibit future adolescent disclosures during real-time conversations. Using an emotion socialization framework, the present study tested (1) which maternal emotions in response to adolescent disclosures predicted quicker subsequent disclosures during mother-adolescent conversations, and (2) whether adolescent perspective taking moderated these associations. We hypothesized that maternal validation and interest would predict the shortest lag times and negative affect would predict the longest lag times compared with positive and neutral affect. We also hypothesized that adolescents higher in perspective taking would disclose again more quickly when parents validated or expressed interest in response to their disclosures.

Adolescent disclosures and maternal emotions (negative, positive, validation, and interest) were coded moment-to-moment in a sample of 50 mother-adolescent dyads (Mage=14.84 years) during a problem-solving discussion. Adolescent perspective taking was measured using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983). Multi-level Generalized Linear Mixed Models using a Poisson distribution were conducted to determine which maternal emotional responses to adolescent disclosures predicted shorter lag times to subsequent disclosures. Estimates were exponentiated to indicate differences between maternal responses in seconds to provide more meaningful interpretation of the data.

Consistent with hypotheses, maternal interest and validation predicted the shortest lag times to subsequent adolescent disclosures compared with other maternal emotion-related responses, adjusting for total durations of maternal emotions and total frequency and duration of adolescent disclosures (Table 1). Though significant, differences between neutral and negative and positive responses were very small (less than 1 second for negative and less than 3 seconds for positive, respectively; see Model 1, β1 and β2). When mothers responded with positive affect, adolescents disclosed more quickly than if mothers responded with negative affect, but only by about 2 seconds (Model 2, β1). Maternal interest responses yielded the shortest lag time to subsequent disclosures compared with other maternal emotional responses. Though there were surprisingly no main effects of adolescent perspective taking on lag times to subsequent disclosures, adolescents were most likely to make quicker subsequent disclosures when mothers responded to disclosures with non-neutral emotions and adolescents were high in perspective taking (see Figure 1). Adolescents engaged in the quickest subsequent disclosures when adolescents were high in perspective taking and mothers responded to previous disclosures with interest (β=-.33, p<.001; see Figure 1, panel D).

This is the first study to examine how contingent parental responses to adolescent disclosures in real time affect the timing of subsequent disclosures during parent-adolescent conversations. Parental validation and interest in response to adolescent disclosures facilitated quicker disclosures compared with other emotion-related responses. Furthermore, adolescents high in perspective taking were more likely to make quicker subsequent disclosures when their parents responded to their disclosures with interest. This is likely because adolescents high in perspective taking were better able to appreciate their parents’ motivations. Implications for the bidirectional nature of emotion socialization will be discussed.

Authors

• Janice Disla, UC Merced
  Presenting Author

• Alexandra Main, University of California, Merced
  Non-Presenting Author

• Smitha Kashi, University of California Merced
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jonathan Boyajian, University of California Merced
  Non-Presenting Author