This study investigated the goals adolescents and parents have for the adolescent's participation in an organized youth program. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 52 adolescents from 13 project-based youth programs and one of their caregivers. Adolescents (aged 13-18; 56% female) were ethnically diverse (46% Latinx, 29% European American,…

The decision to enroll in organized after-school activities involves a gradual negotiation of adolescents' independence between family members who can hold contrasting views on adolescents' autonomy. Furthermore, less is known about the culturally grounded nature of this decision-making process generally observed among the Latinx community,…

Families are theorized to influence adolescents' participation in skill-based after-school activities, but research has focused on the role of parents while neglecting the role of siblings. Siblings might be especially critical for Mexican-origin youth, the fastest growing youth population in the United States, due to a high value of family as…

In contemporary research on autonomy development, autonomy has been defined as independence (vs. dependence) or as self-endorsed (vs. controlled) functioning. Analogously, perceived parental autonomy support involves either perceived parental promotion of independence (PI) or perceived parental promotion of volitional functioning (PVF). The…

This article discusses how Danish parents and their children communicate trust. Based on Niklas Luhmann's sociological theory, the article explores new aspects of communication about alcohol-related rules. The analysis shows how the parents emphasize the importance of communicating trust, while the adolescents, on the other hand, observe the…

This study builds on previous research regarding parent-child religious conversations to explore the transactional processes of these conversations. It employs qualitative analyses of interviews with highly religious parents and adolescents representing the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) from New England and Northern California.…

This study examined how parents and adolescents talk about sex with each other and how that influences their anxiety and avoidance tendencies. When parents were receptive, informal, and composed during the conversations, their adolescents were less anxious and, in turn, were less avoidant. The child's perception of the parent's communication…

This article examines the ancestral and acculturated cultural meanings in immigrant Indian parenting and adolescent identity using the independence-interdependence dimension as the focus. Forty Indian parents and their adolescents in Delhi, India, and Geneva, Switzerland, were interviewed using open-ended questions and scenarios. Adolescents also…

This report describes intervention effects on parent-imposed driving limits on novice young drivers at licensure. Parent-adolescent dyads (4,344) completed baseline surveys at permit and were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups. Intervention families received persuasive communications related to protection motivation theory…

Relationships between adolescent functioning and parent support, behavioral control, and psychological control were examined among European American and African American adolescents. A number of correlations were significant, including maternal support and academic achievement and self-esteem, and paternal psychological control and self-esteem.…

Describes a study that questioned adolescents about their parent-adolescent conversations regarding alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. Notes that fewer than half had engaged in such a conversation and that more adolescents preferred talking with their mothers than with other family members. Advocates a clearer definition of the parent-adolescent…

Replicated findings of research on the internal-external frame of reference model of self-concept and extended this line of research by incorporating parent perceptions of their children's academic abilities. Results show that parents did not use processes similar to the internal-external frame of reference when assessing their children's academic…

A study of 107 15- and 17-year olds examined the relationship between adolescents' general coping styles (problem focused, emotion focused, or cognitive) and their perceptions of parental child-rearing practices (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or neglectful). Findings were consistent with the view that parents' child-rearing techniques…

Examined parent-adolescent communication in 62 families of middle-adolescent children in which at least 1 parent was providing assistance to an aging grandparent. Study results illustrate the usefulness of combining life-span development and family systems theories to serve as framework for understanding parent-adolescent communication in a…

Describes the communication difficulties that older adolescents (n=188) felt they had experienced with their parents. Results indicated the most frequent type of current communication problem involved personal criticism. Older adolescents' attributions for their past and present communication problems significantly predicted their current…