Relations of Parent–Youth Interactive Exchanges to Adolescent Socioemotional Development

This study examined the relations of parent–youth agreement and disagreement during a joint problem-solving task and multi-methodological indices of socioemotional outcomes in adolescents (mean age  =  13). One hundred and sixty-seven parents and their adolescent children participated. Each parent–youth pair played the interactive game 'Jenga', and their interactions were analyzed for frequency of elaborations (agreement during three or more conversational turns) and negotiations (disagreement during three or more conversational turns). Elaborations during parent–youth interactions were related to less negative classroom behavior, better self-regulation, and more task persistence in youth. Findings are discussed in light of the importance of parent–youth interaction and youth autonomy in adolescent socioemotional development.