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ERIC Number: EJ924221
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Jun
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0047-2891
EISSN: N/A
Maternal Acceptance and Adolescents' Emotional Communication: A Longitudinal Study
Hare, Amanda L.; Marston, Emily G.; Allen, Joseph P.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, v40 n6 p744-751 Jun 2011
With substantive evidence suggesting that adolescents' disclosure is likely a protective factor against problem behaviors, as well as evidence that many adolescents will go to great lengths to "avoid" sharing information with parents, one may conclude that parents' face a formidable task. Previous studies have identified parental acceptance as a concurrent correlate of adolescents' "behavioral" disclosure, but have neglected to investigate potential ways that parents could encourage their adolescents to feel comfortable disclosing "emotional" information. The present study extends the literature by using a longitudinal, multi-method, multi-reporter design to examine whether maternal acceptance is predictive of emotional disclosure "over time" among a racially/socioeconomically diverse sample of 184 adolescents (53% female). Results indicate that adolescents who perceive their mothers as high in acceptance during early adolescence exhibit greater relative increases in both self-reported emotional communication and observed emotional disclosure to their mothers 3 years later. Interestingly, mothers' perceptions of their own acceptance does not provide any additional predictive value. These findings support the notion that adolescents' emotional disclosure is an ongoing process that can be fostered in early adolescence, and emphasize the importance of considering adolescents' perceptions of the relationship to successfully do so.
Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A