Parents of adolescents commonly face separation-related issues associated with children's increasing independence and imminent leave-taking. The aims of this investigation were (1) to develop a reliable and valid measure of parental emotions associated with separation and (2) to validate the measure by relating it to other attributes (attachment relationship quality, parent-child communication, and parent-adolescent differentiation) assessed in mothers, fathers, and their adolescents. The newly constructed, 35-item Parents of Adolescents Separation Anxiety Scale (PASAS) was administered to 686 parents of teenagers in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 or college-bound freshmen and seniors. Factor analyses supported formation of two subscales: Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR); both subscales showed distinctive patterns of change with child age. Parents' reports indicated that healthy adult attachment styles were associated with lower AAD and higher CSBR scores; children of parents who had higher AAD scores reported lower quality of attachment to both mothers and fathers.

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This short-term longitudinal investigation examined the 2-year stability of adolescents' prosocial behavior toward mothers and fathers and the predictive role of attachment, conflict, and parental influence in adolescents ' prosocial behavior. At Time 1, adolescents (n = 129) in Grades 6, 8, and 10 and their mothers (n = 126) and fathers (n = 104) completed several questionnaires during two in-home visits. Two years subsequently, families (n = 42) completed the same measures from Time 1. In general, adolescents reported less affectionate behavior and helpfulness toward fathers and mothers during early adolescence and middle adolescence. Parents reported no change in adolescents' behavior. Adolescents' affection and helpfulness remained stable across 2 years. For adolescent reports, attachment predicted affection, whereas paternal influence predicted helpfulness toward fathers. For parent reports, conflict and parental influence predicted adolescent affection. The use of the relational approach for understanding adolescent prosocial behavior is discussed.Within close relationships, children learn and develop many important social skills, such as prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior is defined as voluntary behavior intended to benefit another (Eisenberg, 1982) and has been studied from several perspectives, most often from a dispositional or a situational perspective. A personal relationships approach was employed for the present study. Adolescents' prosocial behavior toward parents is proposed to be embedded in parent/adolescent relationships; therefore, variation in adolescents' prosocial behavior toward parents is tied to variation in their relationships with parents.From a personal relationships perspective, the context of a close, interdependent relationship is central to understanding individual behavior within 226

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between adolescent pubertal status and the expression of positive and negative affect by parents and adolescents. Parents and adolescents were observed during pleasant and unpleasant conversations. Data were obtained from 85 mother-father-adolescent families who participated in this laboratory study. Four findings emerged. First, the expression of negative affect by both mothers and fathers significantly increased as adolescents physically matured Second, parent and adolescent positive affect did not significantly change as a function of pubertal status. Third, few parent-adolescent dyad differences were found for parent expression of negative affect, although increases in adolescent negative affect occurred mainly with mothers, especially for daughters. Fourth, parents and adolescents were more positive toward each other in pleasant conversations and more negative in unpleasant conversations. Results were discussed in terms of recent theorizing and research on parent-adolescent relations. The relevance of models of the structure of affect to the study of affective expression also is discussed.

The purpose of this observational study was (1) to examine the process of parent-adolescent relationship change across puberty, and (2) to examine the relationship between affective expression in interactions and perceived relationship conflict. Data were collected on 85 intact families with adolescents in grades 5 to 9 (n = 44 males, 41 females). Each parent and adolescent took part in two 8-minute conversations one about an activity they reported enjoying together and one about a disagreement or area of conflict. Conversations were coded by speaker turn for positive, negative, neutral, mixed, and altered affect (kappa = .76). Regression analyses indicated that parents and adolescents expressed more negative and less positive affect in interactions as adolescents physically matured. In addition, adolescents' perceptions of relationship conflict were consistently related to parents' expressed emotions in interactions and paralleled trends for positive and negative affect across puberty. Findings are discussed in terms of understanding of the process of transforming parent-adolescent relations and family communication patterns across puberty.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parent affective expression in interactions and adolescent perceptions of their relationship. Observational and self‐report data were collected on 85 intact families with adolescents in grades 5 to 9 (n = 44 males, 41 females). Each parent and adolescent took part in two 8‐minute conversations–one about an activity they reported enjoying together and one about a disagreement or area of conflict. Conversations were coded on a speaker turn basis for positive, negative, neutral, mixed, and altered affect (kappa = .76). Physical maturation was related to adolescent perceptions of increased negative communication quality in all parent‐adolescent dyads. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that expression by fathers of negative and mixed affect significantly predicted adolescent perceptions of communication quality, psychological autonomy, and firm/lax control, in addition to the effects of adolescent pubertal maturation. Mother affective expression in interactions was less consistently related to adolescent perceptions of relationship satisfaction. Implications for the salience of father versus mother affective expression in interactions with adolescents are discussed.

In this study, adolescents' prosocial behavior toward parents was explored as an embedded aspect of parent-adolescent relationships. Gender, grade, attachment, and interdependency were examined as characteristics contributing to variation in adolescent prosocial behavior Adolescents (n = 129) in the 6th, 8th, and 10th grades; their mothers (n = 126); and their fathers (n = 104) completed questionnaires during two l-hour, in-home visits that were 1 week apart. For this study, the Adolescent Prosocial Behavior Inventory was developed, from which emerged two dimensions: affection and helpfulness. Additional analyses showed that mothers received more prosocial behavior than didfathers, and daughters acted more prosocially than did sons. Attachment had a direct and an indirect effect through interdependency on adolescent prosocial behavior From parents' viewpoints, interdependency related directly to helpfulness; whereas for sons'reports, attachment linked with helpfulness. Results supported a relationalperspective for understanding adolescents'prosocial behavior