A Latent Profile Analysis of Adolescents’ Prosocial Behavior Toward Mothers and Fathers: Evidence for a Relational Approach

• In Event: 3-230 - Understanding Correlates and Outcomes of Prosocial Behavior Across Adolescence: The Utility of Person-Centered Approaches

Integrative Statement

A relational approach to understanding prosocial behavior is featured in the ways adolescents act prosocially toward mothers and fathers (Lewis, 2014). To date, most research has examined specific target-directed prosocial behavior from a variable-centered approach by investigating the ways in which different intrapersonal and interpersonal characteristics are linked to variation in prosocial actions. Yet, a relational approach would predict that different profiles of prosocial behavior should reveal differences in the qualities of actors’ (the adolescents) dispositional tendencies, the perceived characteristics of the targets (mothers or fathers), and the actor-target relationships resulting from their shared history, nature of interactions, and particular dispositions.
The assertion that different patterns of prosocial behavior exist in mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationships implies that prosocial behavior is multidimensional – a claim that has enjoyed increasing acceptance (Padilla-Walker & Carlo, 2014). In the present study, three forms of prosocial behavior are assessed: Acts of Caring, Acts of Altruism, and Acts of Service. Acts of Caring represent more communal and emotionally-responsive actions. Acts of Altruism require an element of self-sacrifice, and Acts of Service reflect instrumental helping and doing chores. The objective of the present study was to employ a person-centered approach to identify profiles of adolescents’ patterns of these different types of prosocial behavior toward parents and to demonstrate that the resulting profiles distinguish adolescent socioemotional dispositions and parenting qualities.
Participants and Procedure
Using a secure website, adolescents from the United States Midwest (n=432, 58.7% girls) completed measures assessing prosocial behavior toward mothers and fathers, socioemotional characteristics (e.g., Interpersonal Reactivity Index, PANAS – positive affect, Cultural Orientation) and qualities of parenting per mother and father.
Results and Discussion
Descriptive statistics between measures of prosocial behavior toward parents, socioemotional characteristics, and parenting qualities are presented in Table 1. Table 1 also shows the bivariate correlations of Acts of Caring, Acts of Altruism and Acts of Service toward mothers and fathers, respectively, in relation to socioemotional, maternal, and paternal correlates.
Profiles were identified using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2010). The best fitting model revealed three profiles: The Obligatory Profile (low scores on prosocial behavior), the Standard Teen Profile (mid-range scores, but statistically distinct) and the Benevolent Profile (statistically distinct highest scores; see Table 2 for univariate means analyses). Youth in the Obligatory Profile had the lowest scores for empathy, perspective taking, and collectivism and reported that they would comply with increasingly controlling demands (Demand Compliancy) to a greater degree than the Benevolent profile and reported the lowest scores for nearly all other measures of parenting. While the Standard Teen Profile and the Benevolent Profile were similar in empathy, perspective taking and maternal warmth, the Benevolent Profile was highest for positive affect, collectivism, and individualism. They also had the highest scores for perceptions of mothers’ prosociality, maternal induction, engaged time, fathers’ prosociality, warmth, induction, and time. Discussion will focus on the ways in which patterns of prosocial behavior within adolescent-mother and adolescent-father relationships are important indicators of the health and functioning of those relationships.

Authors

• Mary Eberly Lewis, Oakland University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah L. Pierotti, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author