Abstract
Three criteria for assessing relationship status were proposed: self-disclosure despite the risk of parental disapproval; openness to critical feedback from parents; constructive confrontation when angry with parents. These concepts were operationalized as narratives of nine interpersonal dilemmas, to which late adolescents responded by indicating “What would you do if you were in this situation?” Reliable example-anchored scales were constructed from the responses of one sample of college students and then cross-validated with two other samples. Social class had a significant but small effect on the relationship status scores; but age and sex of adolescent and sex of parent did not. The patterns of correlations of the Relationship Status Scales among themselves and with the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire, the College Self-Expression Scale, the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Hogan's Empathy Scale were interpreted as evidence of construct validity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adelson, J. (1964). The mystique of adolescence.Psychiatry 27: 1–5.
Back, K. W. (1972).Beyond Words: The Story of Sensitivity Training and the Encounter Movement, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.
Bandura, A. (1964). The stormy decade: Fact or fiction?Psychol. Schools 1: 224–231.
Bealer, R. C., Willits, F. K., and Maida, P. R. (1965). The rebellious youth subculture — a myth.Children 11: 43–48.
Beavers, W. R. (1976). A theoretical basis for family evaluation. In Lewis, J. M., Beavers, W. R., Gossett, J. T., and Phillips, V. A. (eds.),No Single Thread: Psychological Health in Family Systems, Brunner/Mazel, New York, pp. 46–82.
Blos, P. (1962).On Adolescence: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation, Free Press, New York.
Conger, J. J. (1971). A world they never knew: the family and social change.Daedalus 100: 1105–1138.
Crowne, D. P., and Marlowe, D. (1964).The Approval Motive: Studies in Evaluative Dependence, Wiley, New York.
Deutsch, M. (1969). Conflicts: Productive and destructive.J. Soc. Iss. 25: 7–41.
Douvan, E., and Adelson, J. (1966).The Adolescent Experience, Wiley, New York.
Dreikurs, R. (1972). Technology of conflict resolution.J. Individ. Psychol. 28: 203–206.
Elkin, F., and Westley, W. A. (1955). The myth of adolescent culture.Am. Sociol. Rev. 20: 680–684.
Erikson, E. (1968).Identity: Youth and Crisis, Norton, New York.
Freud, A. (1958). Adolescence.Psychoanal Stud. Child 13: 255–278.
Freud, S. (1962). The transformations of puberty. InThree Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, Avon, New York, pp. 107–149.
Galassi, J. P., DeLo, J. S., Galassi, M. D., and Bastien, S. (1974). The College Self-Expression Scale: A measure of assertiveness.Behav. Ther. 5: 165–171.
Galassi, J. P., and Galassi, M. D. (1974). Validity of a measure of assertiveness.J. Counsel. Psychol. 21: 248–250.
Galassi, J. P., Hollandsworth, J. G., Radecki, J. C., Gay, M. L., Howe, M. R., and Evans, C. L. (1976). Behavioral performance in the validation of an assertiveness scale.Behav. Ther. 7: 447–452.
Ginsberg, B. G. (1977). Parent-adolescent relationship development program. In Guerney, B. G. (ed.),Relationship Enhancement, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 227–267.
Goethals, G. W., and Klos, D. S. (1976).Experiencing Youth: First-Person Accounts, Little, Brown, Boston.
Goldfried, M. R., and D'Zurilla, T. J. (1969). A behavioral-analytic model for assessing competence. In Spielberger, C. D. (ed.),Current Topics in Clinical and Community Psychology, Vol. 1, Academic Press, New York, pp. 151–196.
Gordon, T. (1970). A theory of healthy relationships and a program of parent effectiveness training. In Hart, J. T., and Tomlinson, T. M. (eds.),New Directions in Client-Centered Therapy, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, pp. 407–425.
Guerney, B. G. (1977). Basic skills of relationship enhancement programs. In Guerney, B. G. (ed.),Relationship Enhancement, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 25–53.
Hays, W. L. (1963).Statistics for Psychologists, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Heath, D. H. (1968).Growing Up in College, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Hess, R. D., and Handel, G. (1967). The family as a psychosocial organization. In Handel, G. (ed.),The Psychosocial Interior of the Family: A Sourcebook for the Study of Whole Families, Aldine, Chicago.
Highlen, P. S., and Voight, N. L. (1978). Effects of social modeling, cognitive structuring and self-management strategies on affective self-disclosure.J. Counsel. Psychol. 25: 21–27.
Hogan, R. (1969). Development of an empathy scale.J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 33: 307–316.
Johnson, D. W. (1971). Role reversal: A summary and review of the research.Int. J. Group Tensions 1: 318–334.
Jourard, S. M. (1971).The Transparent Self, Van Nostrand, New York.
Kantor, D., and Lehr, W. (1975).Inside the Family, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Katz, J. (1969). Four years of growth, conflict, and compliance. In Katz, J. (ed.),No Time for Youth, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 3–73.
Keniston, K. (1962). Social change and youth in America.Daedalus 91: 53–74.
Klos, D. S. (1978). Relationship values: Highpoints and lowpoints in the interactions of 18- to 30-year-olds with their parents and close friends. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Klos, D. S., and Loomis, D. F. (1978). A rating scale of intimate disclosure between late adolescents and their friends.Psychol. Rep. 42: 815–820.
Lakin, M. (1972).Interpersonal Encounter: Theory and Practice in Sensitivity Training, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Loevinger, J. (1966). The meaning and measurement of ego development.Am. Psychol. 21: 195–206.
Lutz, S. W. (1968). Do they do what they say they will do?ACT Research Report No. 24, Research and Development Division, American College Testing Program, Iowa City, Iowa.
Madison, P. (1969).Personal Development in College, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass.
Mischel, W., and Bentler, P. (1965). The ability of persons to predict their own behavior. Unpublished manuscript, Stanford University.
Offer, D. (1969).The Psychological World of the Teenager, Basic Books, New York.
Offer, D., and Offer, J. B. (1975).From Teenage to Young Manhood: A Psychological Study, Basic Books, New York.
Roe, A., and Siegelman, M. (1963). A parent-child relations questionnaire.Child Dev. 34: 355–369.
Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships, as developed in the client-centered framework. In Koch, S. (ed.),Psychology: A Study of a Science, Vol. 3, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 184–256.
Rogers, C. R. (1961). To be that self which one truly is: A therapist's view of personal goals. In Rogers, C. R.,On Becoming a Person, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, pp. 163–182.
Rogers, C. R. (1970).Carl Rogers on Encounter Groups, Harper and Row, New York.
Rogers, C. R. (1972).Becoming Partners: Marriage and Its Alternatives, Dell, New York.
Rogers, C. R. (1975). The emerging person: A new revolution. In Evans, R. I. (ed.),Carl Rogers; The Man and His Ideas, Dutton, New York, pp. 149–175.
Sanford, N. (1962). The developmental status of the entering freshman. In Sanford, N. (ed.),The American College, Wiley, New York, pp. 253–282.
Spiegel, J. P. (1957). The resolution of role conflict within the family.Psychiatry 20: 1–16.
Spiegel, L. (1951). A review of contributions to a psychoanalytic theory of adolescence: individual aspects.Psychoanal. Stud. Child 6: 375–393.
Sullivan, H. S. (1953).The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry, Norton, New York.
Taylor, J. B. (1968). Rating scales as measures of clinical judgment: A method fur increasing scale reliability and sensitivity.Educ. Psychol. Meas. 28: 747–766.
Taylor, J. B., Haefele, E., Thompson, P., and O'Conoghue, C. (1970). Rating sclaes as measures of clinical judgment. II. The reliability of example-anchored scales under conditions of rater heterogeneity and divergent behavior sampling.Educ. Psychol. Meas. 30: 301–310.
Taylor, J. B., Ptacek, M., Carithers, M., Griffin, C., and Coyne, L. (1972). Rating scales as measures of clinical judgment. III. Judgments of the self on personality inventory scales and direct ratings.Educ. Psychol. Meas. 32: 543–557.
Tippett, J. S., and Silber, E. (1966). Autonomy of self-esteem.Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 14: 372–385.
Watson, D., and Friend, R. (1969). Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety.J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 33: 448–457.
Westley, W. A., and Epstein, N. B. (1969).The Silent Majority: Families of Emotionally Healthy College Students, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
White, R. W. (1963). Ego and reality in psychoanalytic theory.Psychol. Iss. 3: (3, Monogr. No. 11).
White, R. W. (1975).Lives in Progress, 3rd ed., Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by a grant from Williams College and by a National Science Foundation Summer Traineeship.
Received his Ph.D. in psychology and social relations from Harvard University. Current interests are personality assessment and development from ages 12–35.
Current interests are late adolescent personality assessment, development, and psychopathology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Klos, D.S., Paddock, J.R. Relationship status: Scales for assessing the vitality of late adolescents' relationships with their parents. J Youth Adolescence 7, 353–369 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537805
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537805