The relations between parents' and siblings' psychological control and adolescent adjustment (i.e., self-esteem and problems of internalization and externalization) were assessed over a 3 year periodfor 388 adolescents (7th graders at Year 1). Correlational and regression analyses were used to assess the contemporaneous and lagged associations between these variables. Patterns of association between psychological control and adolescent adjustment were consistent across family members. Results indicated that psychological control both by parents and by siblings contributes to increases in adolescents'adjustment problems and to diminished self-confidence. Relations to previous research on parents' behavior and adolescent adjustment, as well as implications forfuture research, are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barber, B. K.
(1992). Family, personality, and adolescent problem behaviors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 54,69-79.
2.
Barber, B. K.
(1996). Parental psychological control: Revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development, 67, 3296-3319.
3.
Barber, B. K.
(1997). Adolescent socialization in context-The role of connection, regulation, and autonomy in the family. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 5-11.
4.
Barber, B. K.
, Olsen, J. E., & Shagle, S. C. (1994). Associations between parental psychological and behavioral control and youth internalized and externalized behaviors. Child Development, 65, 1120-1136.
5.
Baron, R. M.
, & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
6.
Baumrind, D.
(1966). Effects of authoritative parental control on child behavior. Child Development, 37, 857-907.
7.
Baumrind, D.
(1978). Parental disciplinary practices and social competence in children. Youth and Society, 9, 239-276.
8.
Baumrind, D.
(1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 56-95.
9.
Becker, W. C.
(1964). Consequences of different kinds of parental discipline. In M. L. Hoffman & W. W. Hoffman (Eds.), Review of child development research (Vol. 1, pp. 169-208). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
10.
Bell, D. C.
, & Bell, L. G. (1983). Parental validation and support in the development of adolescent daughters. In H. D. Grotevant & C. R. Cooper (Eds.), Adolescent development in the family (pp. 27-42). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
11.
Bowerman, C. E.
, & Dobash, R. M. (1974). Structural variations in inter-sibling affect. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 36,48-54.
12.
Brody, G. H.
, Stoneman, Z., & Burke, M. (1987). Family system and individual child correlates of sibling behavior. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 561-569.
13.
Bryant, B. K.
(1982). Sibling relationships in middle childhood. In M. E. Lamb & B. SuttonSmith (Eds.), Sibling relationships: Their nature and significance across the lifespan (pp. 87-122). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
Bryant, B. K.
(1989). The child's perspective of sibling caretaking and its relevance to understanding social-emotional functioning and development. In P. G. Zukow (Ed.), Sibling interaction across cultures: Theoretical and methodological issues (pp. 143-164). New York: Springer-Verlag.
15.
Buss, A.
, & Durkee, A. (1957). An inventory for assessing different kinds of hostility. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 343-349.
16.
Cicchetti, D.
& Toth, S. L. (Eds.). (1991). Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction. (Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology; Vol. 2). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
17.
Cicirelli, W. G.
(1972). The effect of sibling relationship on concept learning of young children taught by child teachers. Child Development, 43, 282-287.
18.
Collins, W. A.
(1990). Parent-child relationships in the transition to adolescence: Continuity and change in interaction, affect, and cognition. In R. Montemayor, G. R. Adams, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), From childhood to adolescence: A transitionalperiod? (pp. 85-106). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
19.
Conger, K. J.
, & Conger, R. D. (1994). Differential parenting and change in sibling differences in delinquency [Special issue on siblings]. Journal of Family Psychology, 8, 287-302.
20.
Conger, K. J.
, Conger, R. D., & Elder, G. H., Jr. (1994). Sibling relations during hard times. In R. D. Conger & G. H. Elder, Jr., Families in troubled times: Adapting to change in rural America (pp. 235-252). New York: Aldine.
21.
Cooper, C. R.
, Grotevant, H. D., & Condon, S. M. (1983). Individuality and connectedness in the family as a context for adolescent identity formation and role-taking skill. In H. D. Grotevant & C. R. Cooper (Eds.), Adolescent development in the family (pp. 43-60). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
22.
Darling, N.
, & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: An integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 487-496.
23.
Derogatis, L. R.
(1983). SCL-90-R administration, scoring, and procedures manual-II. Towson, MD: Clinical Psychometric Research.
24.
Dombusch, S. M.
, Petersen, A. C., & Hetherington, E. M. (1991). Projecting the future of research on adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1, 7-17.
25.
Douvan, E.
, & Adelson, J. (1966). The adolescent experience. New York: Wiley.
26.
Dunn, J.
(1984). Sibling studies and the developmental impact of critical incidents. Life Span Development and Behavior, 6, 335-353.
27.
Edelbrock, C.
, Costello, A. J., Dulcan, M. K., Kalas, R., & Conover, N. C. (1985). Age differences in the reliability of the psychiatric interview of the child. Child Development, 56, 265-275.
28.
Garber, J.
(1992). Cognitive models of depression: A developmental model. Psychological Inquiry, 3, 235-240.
29.
Garber, J.
, Robinson, N. S. & Valentiner, D. (1997). The relation between parenting and adolescent depression: Self-worth as a mediator. Journal ofAdolescentResearch, 12, 12-33.
30.
Ge, X.
, Conger, R. D., Lorenz, F. O., & Simons, R. L. (1994). Parents' stressful life events and adolescent depressed mood. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 28-44.
31.
Ge, X.
, Lorenz, F.O., Conger, R. D., Elder, G. H., Jr., & Simons, R. L. (1994). Trajectories of stressful life events and depressive symptoms during adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 30,467-484.
32.
Gecas, V.
, & Seff, M. A. (1990). Families and adolescents: A review of the 1980s. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 941-958.
33.
Grotevant, H. D.
, & Cooper, C. R. (Eds.). (1983). Adolescent development in the family. New Directions for Child Development, 22. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
34.
Hauser, S.
(1991). Families and their adolescents. New York: Free Press.
35.
Hauser, S.
, Powers, S. I., Noam, G., Jacobson, A., Weiss, B., & Follansbee, D. (1984). Familial contexts of adolescent ego development. Child Development, 55, 195-213.
36.
Hill, J. P.
(1987). Research on adolescents and their families: Past and prospect. In C. E. Irwin (Ed.), Adolescent social behavior and health (pp. 13-31). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
37.
Holmbeck, G. N.
, & O'Donnell, K. O. (1991). Discrepancies between perceptions of decision making and behavioral autonomy. In R. L. Paikoff (Ed.), Shared views in the family during adolescence (pp. 51-70). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
38.
Irish, D. P.
(1964). Sibling interaction: A neglected aspect in family life research. Social Forces, 42, 279-288.
39.
Loeber, R.
, & Dishion, T. (1984). Boys who fight at home and school: Family conditions influencing cross-setting consistency. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 759-768.
40.
Lorenz, F. O.
, Conger, R. D., Simons, R. L., Whitbeck, L. B., & Elder, G. H., Jr. (1991). Economic pressure and marital quality: An illustration of the method variance problem in the causal modeling of family processes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 375-388.
41.
Maccoby, E. E.
, & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In M. E. Hetherington (Ed.), P. H. Mussen (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley.
42.
McGuire, S.
, Dunn, J., & Plomin, R. (1995). Matemal differential treatment of siblings and children's behavioral problems: A longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 515-528.
43.
Minuchin, P.
(1988). Relationships within the family: A systems perspective on development. In R. A. & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 7-26). Oxford: Clarendon.
44.
Montemayor, R.
(1994). The study of personal relationships during adolescence. In R. Montemayor, G. R. Adams, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Personal relationships during adolescence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
45.
Patterson, G. R.
(1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
46.
Patterson, G. R.
(1984). Siblings: Fellow travelers in coercive family processes. In R. J. Blanchard (Ed.), Advances in the study of aggression (pp. 173-214). New York: Academic Press.
47.
Patterson, G. R.
(1986). The contribution of siblings to training for fighting: A microsocial analysis. In D. Olweus, J. Block, & M. Radke-Yarrow (Eds.), Development of antisocial and prosocial behavior: Research, theories, and issues (pp. 235-261). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
48.
Patterson, G. R.
, Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
49.
Pearlin, L. J.
, Lieberman, M. A., Menaghan, E. G., & Mullan, J. T. (1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 337-356.
50.
Petersen, A. C.
(1993). Presidential address: Creating adolescents; The role of context and process in developmental trajectories. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 3, 1-18.
51.
Petersen, A. C.
, Kennedy, R., & Sullivan, P. (1991). Coping with adolescence. In M. E. Colten & S. Gore (Eds.), Adolescent stress: Causes and consequences (pp. 93-110). New York: Aldine.
52.
Rohner, R. P.
(1986). The warmth dimension: Foundations of parental acceptance-rejection theory. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
53.
Rollins, B. C.
, & Thomas, D. L. (1979). Parental support, power, and control techniques in the socialization of children. In W. R. Burr, R. Hill, F. I. Nye, & I. L. Reiss (Eds.), Contemporary theories about the family: Vol. 1. Research based theories (pp. 317-364). New York: Free Press.
54.
Rosenberg, M.
(1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
55.
Ross, H. G.
, & Milgram, J. I. (1982). Important variables in adult sibling relationships: A qualitative study. In M. E. Lamb & B. Sutton-Smith (Eds.), Sibling relationships: Their nature and significance across the lifespan (pp. 229-250). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
56.
Rutter, M.
(1980). Changing youth in a changing society: Patterns of adolescent development and disorder. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
57.
Rutter, M.
(1990). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. In J. Rolf, A. S. Masten, D. Cicchetti, K. H. Nuechterlein, & S. Weintraub (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology (pp. 181-214). Boston, MA: Cambridge University Press.
58.
Schaefer, E.
(1965). Children's reports of parental behavior: An inventory. Child Development, 36,413-424.
59.
Simmons, R. G.
, & Blyth, D. A. (1987). Moving into adolescence: The impact ofpubertal change and school context. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
60.
Simons, R. L.
, Conger, R. D., & Whitbeck, L. B. (1988). A multistage social learning model of the influences of family and peers upon adolescent substance abuse. Journal of Drug Issues, 18, 293-315.
61.
Smetana, J. G.
(1988). Adolescents' and parents' conceptions of parental authority. Child Development, 59, 321-335.
62.
Smetana, J. G.
, & Asquith, P. (1994). Adolescents' and parents' conceptions of parental authority and personal autonomy. Child Development, 65, 1147-1162.
63.
Steinberg, L.
(1990). Autonomy, conflict, and harmony in the family relationship. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliot (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 255-276). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
64.
Steinberg, L.
, Mounts, N. S., Lambom, S. D., & Dornsbusch, S. M. (1991). Authoritative parenting and adolescent adjustment across varied ecological niches. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1, 19-36.
65.
Steinberg, L. D.
, & Silverberg, S. B. (1986). The vicissitudes of autonomy in early adolescence. Child Development, 57, 841-851.
66.
Weiss, B.
, Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1992). Some consequences of early harsh discipline: Child aggression and a maladaptive social information style. Child Development, 63, 1321-1335.
67.
Whitbeck, L. B.
, Simons, R. L., Conger, R. D., Lorenz, F. O., Huck, S., & Elder, G. H., Jr. (1991). Family economic hardship, parental support, and adolescent self-esteem. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54, 353-363.
68.
White, K. M.
, Speisman, J. C., & Costos, D. (1983). Young adults and theirparents: Individuation to mutuality. In H. D. Grotevant & C. R. Cooper, (Eds.), Adolescent development in the family (pp. 61-76). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
69.
Youniss, J.
(1980). Parents and peers in social development: A Sullivan-Piaget perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
70.
Youniss, J.
(1983). Social construction of adolescence by adolescents and parents. In H. D. Grotevant, & Cooper, C. R. (Eds.), Adolescent development in the family, (pp. 93-110). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
71.
Youniss, J.
, & Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescent relations with mothers, fathers, and friends. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
72.
Zukow, P. G.
(Ed.). (1989). Sibling interaction across cultures: Theoretical and methodological issues. New York: Springer-Verlag.
