Discrepancies between Parental and Adolescent Developmental Expectations.

N

56

Adjustment (to Environment); Adolescent Attitudes; Adolescent Development; Adolescents; Age Differences; Attachment Behavior; Behavior Problems; Developmental Stages; Developmental Tasks; Expectation; Foreign Countries; Interpersonal Competence; Models; Parent Attitudes; Parent Child Relationship; Parents; Personal Autonomy; Sex Differences; Social Adjustment; Surveys

Guided by a conceptual model linking discrepancies between parent and adolescent developmental expectations and adolescent adjustment and the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship, this study examined adolescent and parent beliefs about the age at which specific competencies should appear. Developmental timetables were grouped into personal tasks (accepting body changes, acquiring personal autonomy, finding reference values), relationship tasks (having a steady group of friends, being involved in a sexual relationship), and socio-institutional tasks (completing school, preparing for integration into work setting). Participating in the study were 508 Dutch families with adolescents from 12 to 18 years of age. Findings indicated that there was little agreement between adolescents' and parents' expectations, with adolescents consistently indicating earlier ages for the achievement of developmental tasks than both their parents. The greatest discrepancies appeared in early adolescence, with views of parents and adolescents gradually converging as adolescents became older. The highest levels of problem behavior were reported by adolescents who had earlier timetables than their parents. Presence of discrepancies predicted moderate disruption in the mother-adolescent relationship. The pattern of results was stronger for mothers than for fathers. (Includes copies of 21 PowerPoint overheads used during the presentation.) (KB)

2002

ED464731