Adolescent Pyschology

Front 1

Empty Nest Syndrome

Back 1

Stereotypes persist that portray parents as struggling with adjusting to not having their children at home any longer
Research disputes this, finding that marital satisfaction and overall life satisfaction increase when children leave home
Disequilibrium in this sense certainly not negative as parents benefit from this change

Front 2

Demanding

Back 2

The degree to which parents set down rules and expectations for behavior and require their children to comply with them

Front 3

Responsiveness

Back 3

The degree to which parents are sensitive to their children’s needs and the extent to which they express love, warmth, and concern for their children

Front 4

Authoritarian

Back 4

Do it my way because I said so! Don’t argue with me … it’s my house and my rules

Front 5

Authoritative

Back 5

No you can’t go to the mall today. We made plans to visit your aunt in the hospital. How about we drop you off at your friend’s house on the way home? Good enough compromise?”

Front 6

Disengaged

Back 6

Adolescent: “Mom are you home? … Mom?” {no answer} … Adolescent: “I guess I make my own dinner again”

Front 7

Permissive

Back 7

“Sure you can have a party in the house while we’re away – the key to the liquor cabinet in is your father’s sock drawer”

Front 8

Reciprocal or Bidirectional Effects

Back 8

Adolescents not only are affected by their parents but also affect their parent in return

Front 9

American Parenting Styles

Back 9

Research on child rearing goals shows that American parents tend to value independence highly as a quality they wish to promote in their children
Authoritarian parenting clearly discourages independence but the other three parenting styles reflect parents’ beliefs that it is good for adolescents to learn autonomy

Front 10

Parenting in other cultures

Back 10

The most striking difference in parenting styles is how rare the authoritative parenting style is in non-Western cultures
Parents expect that their authority will be obeyed, without question and without requiring an explanation
The role of the parent carries greater inherent authority than it does in the West
Parents are not supposed to provide reasons why they should be respected and obeyed

Front 11

Traditional Parenting Style

Back 11

A term proposed to describe the kind of parenting typical in traditional cultures
High in responsiveness and high in a kind of demanding that does not encourage discussion and debate
Expects compliance by virtue of cultural beliefs supporting the inherent authority of the parental role

Front 12

Conflict between parents and adolescents

Back 12

Conflict with parents increases sharply in early adolescence and remains high for several years
Conflict in adolescence is especially frequent and intense between mothers and daughters
It is only in late adolescence and emerging adulthood that conflict with parents diminishes substantially

Front 13

Reasons for conflict

Back 13

Biological Changes
Adolescents become bigger and stronger physically, making it more difficult for parents to impose their authority by virtue of their greater physical presence

Cognitive Changes
Increased abilities for thinking abstractly and with more complexity make adolescents better arguers and it becomes more difficult for parents to prevail quickly in arguments with their children

Front 14

Conflict in traditional cultures

Back 14

It is rare for parents and adolescents to engage in the kind of frequent, petty conflicts typical of parent-adolescent relationship in the American majority culture

Reasons:
Economic: In non-industrialized traditional cultures, family members tend to rely a great deal on each other economically

Culture: Cultural beliefs about parental status and authority and the appropriate degree of adolescent independence

Front 15

Parents and Emerging Adults

Back 15

Relationships between parents and emerging adults improve once the young person leaves home

Emerging adults report greater closeness and fewer negative feelings toward their parents after moving

Those at least an hour away by car from their parents reported
highest levels of closeness to their parents
valued their parents’ opinions most highly

Those who remained home reported
poorest relations with their parents in these respects

Front 16

Internal working model

Back 16

the term for the cognitive framework, based on interactions in infancy with the primary caregiver, that shapes expectations and interactions in relationships to others throughout life.