Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe the role of affective and assertive interactions in familial adaptation to adolescent pubertal development. Twenty-five family triads consisting of the adolescent and parents were asked to engage in an Unrevealed Differences task. This interaction was audiorecorded, and statements were coded as affective or assertive using a modified version of Bales's ([1970) Personality and Interpersonal Behavior, Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, Inc., New York) Interaction Process Analysis. Family relationships appear redefined during transpuberty, a time when physical changes associated with the onset of puberty are at apeak. This redefinition of transpubertal family relations is characterized by a decline in the use of affective statements coupled with an increase in the use of assertive statements relative to prepubertal and postpubertal families. Differences in mother-adolescent and father-adolescent interactions also are discussed.
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Preparation of this manuscript was made possible through support from the Agricultural Experimental Station at the University of Arkansas.
Received his Ph.D. in Life-Span Developmental Psychology from West Virginia University. Research interests in the dialectics of adolescent development in the family.
Received her Ph.D. from the Committee of Human Development at the University of Chicago. Research interests in dialectical processes of human development.
Received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Kansas. Research interests in parent — child interaction and social development.
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Papini, D.R., Datan, N. & McCIuskey-Fawcett, K.A. An observational study of affective and assertive family interactions during adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 17, 477–492 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537826
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537826