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Perceived Parent–Child Relations and Adolescent Self-Esteem

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Abstract

We used data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to assess the independent and interactive correlations of maternal and paternal parenting with adolescent self-esteem. Specifically, ordinary least squares regression was used to provide estimates for a large, culturally diverse sample of married, biological parent-families with adolescent children. Our results suggested that adolescent reports of mothers’ and fathers’ physical availability, involvement, and quality of relations are each independently associated with adolescent self-esteem. In addition, statistically significant interactions indicated the positive associations of one parent’s involvement and high quality relations with self-esteem grow stronger in the presence of high involvement and relationship quality of the second parent. Our study highlights the need to assess the independent and interactive associations parents have with the well-being of their children.

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Acknowledgments

Our research used data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Readers interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (addhealth@unc.edu).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology & Gerontology, Miami University, Upham Hall 372, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

    Ronald E. Bulanda

  2. Department of Sociology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

    Debarun Majumdar

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  1. Ronald E. Bulanda
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  2. Debarun Majumdar
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Correspondence to Ronald E. Bulanda.

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Bulanda, R.E., Majumdar, D. Perceived Parent–Child Relations and Adolescent Self-Esteem. J Child Fam Stud 18, 203–212 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-008-9220-3

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