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Parent–Adolescent Conflict in African American Families

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Parent–adolescent conflict is frequent in families and has implications for youth adjustment and family relationships. Drawing on a family systems perspective, we examined mothers’, fathers’, and two adolescent-aged siblings’ (50.5 % females) reports of parent–adolescent conflict in 187 African American families. Using latent profile analysis in the context of an ethnic homogeneous design, we identified three family types based on levels of and differences between parent and youth conflict reports: low conflict, father high conflict, and younger sibling high conflict. Compared to low conflict families, youth in younger sibling high conflict families reported more depressive symptoms and risky behaviors. The results for parents’ acceptance revealed that, in comparison to low conflict families, older siblings in father high conflict families reported lower acceptance from mothers, and mothers in these families reported lower acceptance of their children; further, older siblings in younger sibling high conflict families reported less acceptance from fathers, and fathers in these families reported less acceptance of their children. Results underscore the significance of levels of and both differences between and direction of differences in parents’ and youth’s reports of their “shared” experiences, as well as the importance of examining the larger family contexts of dyadic parent-relationships.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our project staff for their help in conducting this study and the participating families for their time and insights about their family lives.

Funding

This work was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, R01-HD32336-02, Susan M. McHale and Ann C. Crouter, Co-Principal Investigators.

Authors’ Contributions

OS conceived of the study in collaboration with SM, OS performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript; SM participated in the design of the study and interpretation of the data and helped to draft the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Pennsylvania State University, 114 Henderson (North), University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Olivenne D. Skinner & Susan M. McHale

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  1. Olivenne D. Skinner
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  2. Susan M. McHale
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Correspondence to Olivenne D. Skinner.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent/assent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Skinner, O.D., McHale, S.M. Parent–Adolescent Conflict in African American Families. J Youth Adolescence 45, 2080–2093 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0514-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0514-2

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