Studies have concluded that the level of positive nurturing in the relationship between parents and their
children is important to predicting positive outcomes throughout a child’ developmental years. (Paul
Barton/The Stock Market)The shift to more equality is driven by the adoles-
cent’s more sophisticated social cognitive skills and
broader contacts with the environment outside the
family. The transition to adolescence involves biologi-
cal, cognitive, social cognitive, emotional, self-
definitional, peer relationship, and school context
changes for the adolescent. Cognitive changes may
result in more confrontations between parents and
adolescents, as adolescents increasingly begin to
question and debate parental rules and expectations.
Andrew Collins and Brett Laursen have noted that al-
though parent-child conflict typically increases dur-
ing adolescence, the conflict can serve as an
important signal to parents that parenting behaviors
need to be modified in response to the changing de-
velopmental needs of their children. Thus, parent-
adolescent conflict can serve an adaptive function, as
conflict can be an impetus to change. Conflicts that
occur in the context of generally warm, supportive
family relationships may be more likely to help an ad-
olescent’s development progress.
Factors that Affect Parent-Child
Relationships
Parent-child relationships do not occur in a vacu-
um, and the context in which the relationships devel-
op are likely to affect the nature of the relationships.
Such factors as birth order, financial and emotional
stress, social support, gender of the parent, infant
temperament, and parent personality may influence
qualities of the parent-child relationships and the im-
pact of that relationship on the child’s development.
Marc Bornstein, in Handbook of Parenting, noted that
mothers of first-borns engage with, respond to, stimu-
late, talk to, and express positive affection for their
babies more than mothers of later-borns, even when
there are no differences in first- and later-born behav-
ior. Other researchers have found that financial and
emotional stresses negatively affect the well being of
parents and adversely affect their attentiveness and
sensitivity to their children. Bornstein found that
mothers who are supported emotionally by their hus-
bands or other adults are less restrictive and punitive
with their infants than are mothers without good so-
cial support. Mothers and fathers may provide differ-
ent kinds of relationships and experiences for their
children. Ross Parke suggested in his book Fatherhood
that the relationships boys have with their fathers or
available male figures may be particularly associated
with the boys’ competence with their peers. Infant
temperament clearly influences adults. Having a baby
who is easily soothed leads mothers to perceive them-
selves as more competent parents. Parental personali-
ty and functioning also has been found to be
important in predicting parent-child relationships.
Levels of parent psychopathology are related to
qualities of the parent-child relationship and thePARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS 293