The effects of perceived parental behaviors, attitudes, and substance-use on adolescent attitudes toward and intent to use psychoactive substances

The effects of parental behaviors, attitudes, and drug-use as perceived by adolescents on the latter's attitudes toward and intent to use psychoactive substances were studied. Perceived parental rejection, acceptance, and attitudes significantly differentiated between adolescents who reported favorable attitudes toward and high intent to use substances and those who expressed less favorable attitudes. On most parameters, the father's influence was significant, whereas the effect of the mother did not reach significance. Positive and significant relationships were also found between perceived parental rejection, acceptance, and attitudes and adolescent attitudes and intent to use psychoactive substances. No relationships were found between controlling parental behavior and adolescent attitudes and intent to use psychoactive substances. The role of the parents, as well as implications of the findings for prevention are discussed.     

Parental and peer characteristics as modifiers of the bond-behavior relationship: an elaboration of control theory.

Three bonds are at the core of Hirschi's control theory: attachment to parents, commitment to conventional activities, and belief in the conventional rules of society. Control theory does not include parental and peer attitudes and behaviors, variables that frequently are implicated in adolescent behavior. This study examines whether parental and peer behaviors and attitudes modify bond/behavior relationships. Adolescent cigarette smoking is the behavior of interest. Panel data from a probability sample of 685 adolescents shows that the relationship between attachment and adolescent smoking is modified by parental smoking; the relationship between commitment to conventional activities and adolescent smoking is modified by father's smoking; but the relationship between belief in conventional rules and adolescent smoking is not modified by parental or peer variables. We conclude that control theory needs to encompass parental behavior when considering adolescent smoking behavior.     

PARENTAL INFLUENCE ON GENDER AND MARITAL ROLE ATTITUDES: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION

This study examined parental influence on specific attitudes toward marital and parental roles and nonspecific gender-role attitudes. Respondents included 173 young adults (127 women and 46 men) and their parents. Young adults' scores on the Role Orientation scale of the Marital Statisfaction Inventory and on masculinity and femininity scales from two self-report inventories (the MMPI-2 and the Personal Attributes Questionnarie) were correlated with their parents' scores on a subset of these same measures. Results indicated that (a) marital and parental role attitudes among young adults are strongly related to specific marital role attitudes of their parents but only modestly related (for women) or unrelated (for men) to nonspecific gender-role attitudes of their parents; (b) broader gender-role attitudes of young men are moderately correlated with their father's attitudes but generally uncorrelated with their mother's attitudes regarding gender roles; and (c) the relationship of young women's gender-role attitudes to both maternal and paternal attitudes is generally weaker and more complex than for young men. Clinical implications of these findings for assessment and intervention with distressed couples are discussed.     

Linguistic,affective, parental,and educational contributions to the bicultural identity development of Balkan minority adolescents

This study investigated linguistic, affective, parental, and educational contributions to bicultural identity, in two samples of younger (13- to 14-year-old; N = 95) and older (16- to 17-year-old; N = 67) bilingual adolescents, who were immigrants or belonged to ethnic minority communities in the Balkans. While bicultural identity level was not differentiated as a function of age group, there was an age-related shift in its predictors. Bicultural identity level was significantly predicted by perceived educators' attitudes toward linguistic/cultural diversity in the younger adolescent group, but by personal affective states (motivation and attitudes) toward the mainstream language in the older adolescent group. Implications of the findings are discussed regarding educational and family practices that would facilitate biculturalism in minority adolescents.     

Family Relationships and Adolescent Psychosocial Outcomes: Converging Findings From Eastern and Western Cultures

This study investigated the role of parent–adolescent relationships in mediating the association between family‐related negative life events and adolescent depressive symptoms and problem behaviors among 1,696 eleventh graders from the United States (n=201), China (n=502), Korea (n=497), and Czech Republic (n=496). Results indicated that perceived parental involvement and parent–adolescent conflict mediated the link between family‐related life events and adolescent depressed mood. The path from family‐related life events to adolescent problem behaviors was mediated by perceived parental involvement, parent–adolescent conflict, and perceived parental sanctions of adolescent misconduct. With the exception of minor cross‐cultural differences in the magnitude of associations among variables, this study revealed considerable similarity in the association of family factors with adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. The findings contribute to the growing literature on culture‐general developmental processes.     

Attitudes of New Immigrant and Veteran-Resident Israeli Divorced Mothers Toward Single Motherhood

The aim of the study is to compare the attitudes of immigrant and veteran-resident divorced mothers toward single motherhood. The comparison focuses on two dimensions: personal attitudes and perceived social attitudes. Respondents included 100 divorced mothers who emigrated from the former Soviet Union after 1989 and 100 long-term Israeli divorced mothers. The immigrant divorced mothers, often having divorced following disagreement over the decision to emigrate, are forced to undergo parallel adjustment processes to a new society and to the new lifestyle inherent in single-parent households. Additionally, they are caught between attitudes toward single parenthood in their culture of origin, where divorce is common, and in Israeli culture, where the family plays a much more stable and central role. Results show that veteran-resident divorcees express significantly more favourable personal attitudes toward single motherhood, while immigrant divorcees perceive social attitudes as being more favourable. Immigration was found to affect personal and perceived social attitudes significantly, above and beyond demographic attributes.     

What Narrows the Stepgap? Closeness Between Parents and Adult (Step)Children in Germany

Using data from the German Family Panel (pairfam) based on 11,746 intergenerational family relationships, the present study examined differences in parental closeness across relations with multiple, coresidential, and non‐coresidential adolescent and adult children. Replicating previous research in a multilevel analysis across families, the authors found a strong positive effect of biological descent on closeness in comparison to adoptive and steprelations; this parental favoritism toward biological offspring was partly explained by selection via parental resources and attitudes. Supplemental within‐parent fixed effect analyses suggested that the relative disadvantage of stepchildren was offset by longer duration of the stepparent–stepchild relationship, lower household income, fewer children in the household, and high parental affirmation of familism.     

Familial Conflict and Attitudes Toward Marriage

The present study examined the relationship between current and past familial conflict, as perceived by college students, and their current attitudes toward marriage. This study also explored the relationship between the family structure in which the students lived (intact vs. divorced) and their current attitudes toward divorce. Contrary to expectations, perceived levels of conflict were not significantly related to attitudes toward marriage, and family structure was not a significant predictor of attitudes toward divorce. Compared to students from intact homes, students from divorced homes reported significantly higher levels of conflict in their homes while growing up. Implications of these findings and limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Parental Influence on Adolescent Cigarette,Alcohol and Marijuana Use: A Focus on Race/Ethnicity and Age

This study examined the racial/ethnic differences in the influence of perceived parental attitudes on adolescent cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) was used and included African American, Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and other race youth (N?=?13,600), aged 12–17. We tested the direct and moderating effects of perceived parental attitudes by race/ethnicity and age on adolescent substance use. Results show that perceived parental disapproval decreased cigarette and alcohol use among older adolescents. Perceived parental disapproval also varied by race/ethnicity and the type of substance used in that non-Hispanic White adolescents were more influenced by perceived parental disapproval for cigarette use, and perceived parental disapproval influenced Hispanic adolescents’ use for all three substances. African American adolescents were less influenced by perceived parental disapproval for all three substances. We also examined perceived harm in substance use and found that only 22.5% of the sample perceived the use of marijuana as harmful compared to cigarette and alcohol use (66 and 62.1%, respectively). Implications for preventive and intervention measures are discussed.     

The Relation between Parental Constructive Behavior and Adolescent Association with Achievement-Oriented Peers: A Longitudinal Study

There is abundant research about the negative influences of peer groups and other factors contributing to adolescent involvement with deviant peers. This study used three waves of panel data to investigate the relation between parental constructive behavior and adolescent association with achievement-oriented peers. Parental constructive behavior was found to be positively related to adolescents'own achievement orientation a year later, which in turn was positively related to the perceived achievement orientation of friends two years later. However, adolescents'own achievement orientation did not completely mediate the effect of parental constructive behavior on the perceived achievement orientation of friends. Furthermore, after the prior perceived achievement orientation of friends was added into the model, parental constructive behavior still had a direct effect on the perceived achievement orientation of friends over time. Parental constructive behavior contributed to the affiliation with achievement-oriented friends above and beyond the effects of adolescents'own achievement orientation and their prior peer affiliation.     

Examining intergenerational violence: violent role modeling or weak parental controls?

Family violence research has uncovered a positive relationship between parental violence and children's later involvement in intimate violence. In a similar vein, criminology's social control theory suggests that weak or absent parental controls are associated with a variety of delinquent acts. Little research, however, investigates the link between parental violence, parental controls, and dating violence. This article asks two research questions: How is inter-parental violence associated with parent-child attachments, monitoring, adolescent dating, attitudes toward violence, and dating violence? And second, are there independent and interactive effects of inter-parental violence, and parental controls on dating violence offending and attitudes towards violence? Dating violence offending is significantly associated with witnessed inter-parental violence, high dating frequency, and low parental monitoring. Attitudes towards violence are associated with witnessed inter-parental violence, lower parental attachment, and the interaction of witnessed inter-parental violence and parental attachment. The implications for role modeling and social control theory are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Perceived Hookup Attitudes and Negative Hookup Consequences: Do Perceived Attitudes of Close Friends Matter?

Research suggests that the perceived hookup attitudes of close referents are generally a poor predictor of hookup behavior and likely a poor direct predictor of negative hookup consequences. The current study aimed to examine three intervening variables as mediators of the relationship between the perceived hookup attitudes of college students’ close friends and negative hookup consequences (e.g., regret, embarrassment). Self-report data were collected from 589 heavy-drinking college students from three midsized universities. The results indicated that students’ own attitudes toward hooking up, motivation to hook up, and self-reported number of hookup partners significantly mediated the relationship between the perceived hookup attitudes of close friends and negative hookup consequences. The perceived hookup attitudes of close friends were positively associated with participants’ attitudes toward hooking up. Participants’ attitudes toward hooking up were positively associated with social-sexual motivation to hook up. Elevated social-sexual motivation to hook up was positively associated with hooking up with multiple partners, with hooking up with multiple partners positively associated with negative hookup consequences. A better understanding of the predictors and mediators of negative hookup consequences has the potential to inform prevention and intervention efforts.     

Incongruent Teen Pregnancy Attitudes,Coparenting Conflict,and Support Among Mexican‐Origin Adolescent Mothers

The current longitudinal study examined whether differences between Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers and their mother figures (N = 204 dyads) in attitudes on the status attained through teen pregnancy were associated with conflict in their coparenting relationship and whether coparenting conflict was associated with adolescent mothers' perceptions of social support. Findings revealed that when adolescents held more positive attitudes than their mother figures about the status gained through teen pregnancy, they tended to report greater coparenting conflict with their mother figures. Furthermore, greater coparenting conflict was significantly associated with decreases in adolescents' perceptions of social support (i.e., emotional, instrumental, companion support) 1 year later. Findings underscore the importance of incongruent attitudes and the quality of coparenting relationships between adolescent mothers and their mother figures in relation to support processes. Findings are discussed with respect to understanding Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers' social support in the context of family subsystem attitudes and interactions.     

Relation of Parental Caring to Conspicuous Consumption Attitudes in Adolescents

Adolescent conspicuous consumption attitudes are perversely rooted in human relationships and interfere with personal growth and engagement in adult roles. Negative associations between parental caring and conspicuous consumption could be evidence of a compensatory motive to seek for the passing admiration of others when parent–child relationships fail to fulfill basic needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Very little support, however, was found for Veblen’s original hypothesis that conspicuous consumption attitudes are driven by perceived social class distinctions. Yet, immersion in the consumer culture promoted by the media predicted higher levels of conspicuous consumption attitudes which were also more prominent among older adolescents. This small-scale study of 257, predominantly middle-class adolescents, calls attention to the need for more family socialization studies of adolescent money attitudes.     

The Influence of Parental Attitudes and Behaviors on Children's Attitudes Toward Gender and Household Labor in Early Adulthood

The paper assesses parental influences on young adults' attitudes toward gendered family roles, housework allocation, and housework enjoyment. The effects of parents' housework allocation, educational attainment, and religious participation are examined, as well as mothers' gender role attitudes and labor force participation. Using data from an intergenerational panel study, the analysis finds that children's ideal allocation of housework at age 18 is predicted by maternal gender role attitudes when the children were very young and by the parental division of housework when the children were adolescents. Adult children's gender role attitudes are associated with maternal gender role attitudes measured during both early childhood and midadolescence.     

IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGY FOR MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

This research examines how parental heterosexism—negative attitudes toward homosexuals and homosexuality—and other family characteristics relate to the development of children's attitudes toward people with HIV/AIDS (PWA). Attention is directed to the overall relationship between parents’ and children's attitudes and to the potential mechanisms through which these linkages are manifested. Based on social learning theories of childhood socialization, a range of mechanisms is considered, focusing on heterosexist attitudes in parents and communication with children about AIDS. Findings indicate that parental attitudes concerning homosexuals influence children's attitudes toward PWA, implying that there can be negative as well as positive consequences of parents’ beliefs on children's attitudes. The possibility of negative parental effects on children's prejudices toward PWA suggests that in-school HIV/AIDS education at younger ages is more important than previously thought.     

Adolescent Sexuality: Disentangling the Effects of Family Structure and Family Context

Growing up in single‐parent, step‐, cohabiting, or lesbian families has been suggested to have negative effects on adolescent sexual behavior. However, our analysis reveals that, with the exception of girls in single‐parent families, family structure does not significantly influence adolescents' sexual initiation. Rather, the family context—more specifically the mother‐child relationship, their level of interaction, and the mother's attitudes toward and discussion of sex—is associated with adolescent sexual debut. When looking at sexually active teenagers, neither family structure nor family context have an impact on the sexual partnerships of boys, and they explain little in terms of girl's sexual partnering.     

Understanding Latino Family Attitudes in Relation to Latino Gang Members' Substance Abuse

Abstract

This paper presents a content analysis of ethnographic interviews from long-term Latino gang members whose families have recently immigrated to the United States. Positive relationships within the family, parental support, a consistent and constructive parental discipline style and adult supervision tend to be related negatively to adolescents' deviant behaviors and their association with deviant peers. An expected positive relationship between the parent-child constructs, adolescents' deviant behaviors, and association with deviant peers was not found. Positive family attitudes toward deviance were associated with the number of drug type transactions and greater levels of drug use. This association has been overlooked in previous research.

Our study expands the examination of the influence a family's positive attitudes toward deviance has on the apparent progression of drug use in a sample of Latino gang members with histories of drug use. An analysis of structured interview content differentiated family attitudes toward deviance as: encouragement and tolerance, imitation, and defining norms.     

Predicting Adolescent Autonomy from Parents: Relationship Connectedness and Restrictiveness

This study examined the extent to which adolescents'behavioral autonomy was predicted by several aspects of the parent-youth relationship that are encompassed by the general constructs connectedness and restrictiveness. Both of these general relationship constructs are composed of more specific social-psychological predictors consisting of parental behaviors, parent-adolescent authority dimensions, and indicators of family ties. A total of 657 adolescents (mean age = 16.3 years) and 753 parents responded to self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses from both the adolescents'and parents'perspectives in separate models. Many of the predictions were confirmed, indicating that adolescent behavioral autonomy often develops within contexts of relationship connectedness, such as continuing parent-youth authority and supportiveness. Moreover, as expected, youthful autonomous behavior was inhibited by such aspects of relationship restrictiveness as punitive behavior and the perceived coercive abilities of parents.     

Family Influences on Adolescent Gambling Behavior: A Review of the Literature

Gambling, and gambling related problems, are recognized as an emerging health issue among adolescents. Adolescent gambling is associated with numerous individual, social, and family characteristics. This paper provides a review of 21 empirical studies published between 1997 and 2008 that examine family influences on adolescent gambling behavior. Family influences on gambling behavior are conceptualized in the following five domains: (1) family sociodemographic factors, (2) general family climate, (3) family members’ attitudes and behaviors, (4) parenting practices, and (5) family relationship characteristics. Based on the review of extant literature, there is empirical evidence that family characteristics are associated with adolescent gambling and further examination of family system influences on gambling behavior is needed. Gaps in the current literature and recommendations for future research are discussed to help inform the study of family influences on adolescent gambling behavior.