NCJ Number
213849
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 299-305
Date Published
April 2006
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This exploratory study assessed the relationships among gender, parental warmth, peer support, and psychological well-being among a sample of adolescents.
Abstract
Findings indicated that, generally, parental warmth was associated with less adolescent emotional distress. On the other hand, adolescents who turned to peers for support during family conflict reported more emotional distress. More specifically, the findings revealed that adolescent females who reported low parental warmth and who turned to friends for support during family conflict reported the highest levels of emotional distress. The results illustrate the importance of parental warmth throughout early adolescence. Participants were 308 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 years whose families were randomly selected by computer from an enrollment list of a managed health care program. Participants completed a questionnaire measuring parental warmth, support from peers, and emotional distress. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was employed to examine the associations between the main variables. Future studies should address measurement issues, particularly the challenges of measuring peer support and parental warmth. Table, figure, references