Developmental Changes in Parent-Child Communication
Throughout Adolescence
Psychology 100
Developmental Changes in Parent-Child Communication
Throughout Adolescence
This study investigated the parent-child relationship and the communication changes throughout adolescents, trying to understand how parents and children realign their relationships as they go from early to late adolescents. As kids enter into high school the amount of unsupervised activities teens are involved with increase, while the parents knowledge decreases. This requires parents to take an active role in order to remain informed. Keijsers and Poulin (2013, pg 2301) set out to map "the theoretically plausible developmental changes in parent-child communication and parental knowledge from age 12-19 years old". It was hypothesized that "parental knowledge and attempts at monitoring would decrease throughout adolescents. We further hypothesized that adolescent openness would decrease in early adolescents. From middle adolescence onward, disclosure would once again increase, and secrecy would decrease." (Keijsers & Poulin, 2013)
Keijsers and Poulin had 390 students from 8 different schools all in the 6th grade as participants. Seventy-two percent of the students resided with both of their biological parents. (2013) During the eight years of the study nine data collections were done at the ages of 12, 12.5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,and 19. For each of the nine data collections a questionnaire was done at school, in the class although a select number of students had individual assessments at home. The questions were scored using a 5 point Likert scale. The questions on the assessment measured parental knowledge, parental solicitation, control, adolescent disclosure, and secrecy.
After analysis of the data gender differences were found and showed that " boys reported lower levels of parental control and solicitation than girls. Girls in turn reported more...