"It's Not Fair!" Adolescents' Constructions of Appropriateness of Parental Reactions

• NCJ Number: 207095
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 33 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2004 Pages: 389-401
• Author(s): Laura M. Padilla-Walker; Gustavo Carlo
• Date Published: October 2004
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study measured the reactions of adolescents to their parents' responses to the adolescent's behavior, both antisocial and prosocial, in terms of whether adolescents viewed their parents' responses as "appropriate" or "inappropriate."

Abstract

Study participants were 122 adolescents, mean age 16.87, from a public high school in a midsized community in the Midwest. After providing demographic information, the adolescents completed an open-ended questionnaire developed for the study. The questionnaire elicited adolescents' feelings of appropriateness in response to previous parental reactions to both antisocial and prosocial adolescent behavior. The study coded parental reaction or discipline strategy to adolescent antisocial and prosocial acts. Antisocial codes for parental reaction included yelling, talking, punishment, and no action. Prosocial codes for parental reaction included verbal praise, talk/yelling, external reward, and no action. Also coded were adolescent responses to parental reactions. The study found that adolescents' ratings of appropriateness for parental reactions were higher when parents used inductive techniques (e.g., talking and reasoning) in response to adolescents' antisocial actions. Parents' use of verbal praise in response to prosocial situations was associated with higher ratings of appropriateness across both antisocial and prosocial situations. Adolescents' anger was related to lower ratings of parental appropriateness across both antisocial and prosocial situations. Adolescents' sense of happiness and pride was related to higher ratings of appropriateness for parental reactions; however, positive emotions in response to antisocial situations were typically related to relief that punishment was not as harsh as expected rather than to ratings of the appropriateness of the parental reaction. Generally, power-assertive reactions were viewed by adolescents as inappropriate in any context. Overall, the findings provide additional demonstration of the importance of appropriate parental fostering of prosocial behavior situations and reinforcement for adolescent socialization. 4 tables and 39 references