Keeping it real: Connections between parents’ and daughters’ authenticity in relationships

• In Event: Social and Emotional Development Within the Family

Abstract

Our longitudinal study examined the relation between parents’ level of authenticity in relationships and their daughters’ levels of authenticity in relationships, within the context of evaluating the efficacy of a three-week intensive program focused on improving adolescent girls’ sense of self and leadership skills. Girls’ authenticity in relationships is related to lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of depressive symptoms (Impett et al., 2008; Turner et al., 2020) and recent work has assessed factors affecting girls’ authenticity (e.g., Puzio & Best, 2020). Girls’ parental attachment is positively correlated with authenticity with parents (Theran, 2009). However, Theran relied on girls’ self-report of parental attachment. Knowing parents’ authenticity in relationships would help assess factors that influence adolescents’ authenticity in relationships. Therefore, we examined if the intervention affected girls’ trajectory of authenticity over time, and second, the role of parents’ authenticity in relationships in change. There is an urgent need for longitudinal research on authenticity in relationships, multiple informants, and an analysis of relationships in the study of authenticity in relationships (Thomaes et al., 2017).
An ethnically diverse group of 146 adolescent girls (Mage = 13.44 years) were surveyed at three time points: beginning of program (T1), end of program (T2), and 3-4 months post-program (T3). Questionnaires measured constructs including Authenticity (Woods et al., 2008) and authenticity with specific relationships (SWIT; Harter et al., 1998).
Results were conducted with multilevel linear mixed effects models; no study variables were related to attrition. From T1-T2, girls experienced no change in authenticity (p=.28). However, authenticity increased from T1-T3 (p=.004). With girls’ SWIT scores, girls’ mother, father, and teacher scores increased over time, but not peers. For the second hypothesis, at T1, higher levels of parent authenticity were significantly associated with higher levels of girls’ authenticity. However, there was no relation between T1 parent authenticity levels and changes in girls’ authenticity from T1-T2 or T1-T3. Girls whose parents had the lowest levels of authenticity experienced significant increases in authenticity by T2 which were sustained at T3 (Figure 1). Girls whose parents had moderate levels of authenticity experienced no changes in authenticity from T1 to T2/T3. Girls whose parents had high levels of authenticity experienced no changes in authenticity from T1-T2 but had increases from T1-T3. Higher levels of parent authenticity were related to higher levels of T1 authenticity with mothers; however, there were no associations with the rate of change in girls’ mother scores over time (Figure 2). Thus, girls’ level of authenticity with mothers increased regardless of parents’ T1 authenticity levels. In contrast, parent authenticity was unrelated to girls’ T1 SWIT father scores but was related to increases in T2 SWIT father scores. There was no relation between parent authenticity and girls’ T1-T3 SWIT father scores. No associations were observed between parent authenticity and girls’ teachers/peers SWIT scores (p>.05).
Our findings support the connection between parents’ level of authenticity and their daughters’ level of authenticity. In addition, given that authenticity changed over time, these findings provide preliminary support for the efficacy of this intervention program.

Authors

• Sally Ann Theran, Wellesley College
  Presenting Author

• Farah Qureshi, Harvard University