Parental Nurturance as a Predictor of Child Disclosure in Early Adolescence

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Parents’ knowledge of their child’s activities may come from parental solicitation and control, or from the child’s voluntary disclosure of information (Stattin & Kerr, 2000). Research examining these dimensions of parental knowledge showed that voluntary child disclosure is protective against behavioral problems in adolescence (Keijsers et al., 2010), whereas parental solicitation and control are often perceived as interfering with adolescents’ personal lives and can lead to more problem behavior (Meeus, 2016). Studies have also examined strategies parents can utilize to promote voluntary disclosure in their children. Previous research identified warm and nurturing parental behaviors as predictors of increased child disclosure, including supportive reactions to past disclosures (Tilton-Weaver et al., 2010). However, less studied are the longitudinal effects of parental nurturance on child disclosure and whether they differ by gender. Thus, this study examined concurrent and prospective effects of parental nurturance on adolescents’ disclosure during early adolescence, as well as gender differences in these relationships.
This project uses data from Waves 1 and 2 of the Birmingham Youth Violence study (N=704 at Wave 1 and 603 at Wave 2; mean ages 11.8 and 13.2 years; 52.4% male, 77.8% African American, 20% Caucasian). At Wave 1, adolescents reported on whether they perceive their parents’ caregiving as warm and supportive using a five-item Parental Nurturance measure (Barnes & Windle, 1987). At Waves 1 and 2, adolescents also reported on a five-item scale how often they voluntarily disclose information about their lives to their parents (Stattin & Kerr, 2000). Two linear regression models examined cross-sectional as well as longitudinal links between perceived parental nurturance in Wave 1 and child disclosure at Waves 1 and 2, adjusting for child age, gender, race, and parental income. The longitudinal model also adjusted for Wave 1 child disclosure. Interactions between parental nurturance and gender tested whether the relationships between parental nurturance and child disclosure differed for boys and girls.
Results from the cross-sectional model revealed a significant positive relationship between parental nurturance and child disclosure (beta=.46, p<.001). While females reported more child disclosure (beta=.08, p=.021), there was no interaction between parental nurturance and gender (beta=-.01, p=.813). Results from the longitudinal model indicated that parental nurturance predicted more child disclosure over time (beta=.20, p<.001). The longitudinal effect of parental nurturance on child disclosure did not vary by gender (beta=-.05, p=.352).
These finding suggest that early adolescents who perceive their parents’ caregiving as warm and affectionate disclose more information to their parents, both concurrently and over time. While females tended to be more likely to disclose information than males, affectionate parental nurturance appeared to promote child disclosure in both genders. These findings underline the importance of warm parental support during early adolescents to foster positive parent child communication and facilitate child disclosure. Given the critical role of child disclosure in preventing behavioral problems in adolescence, future studies should continue to examine parenting strategies that promote child disclosure.

Authors

• Kylie Rose Morris, University of Alabama, Birmingham
  Presenting Author

• Sylvie Mrug, University of Alabama at Birmingham
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marlon Goering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
  Non-Presenting Author