Children's Disclosure and Secrecy: Links to Maternal Parenting Characteristics and Children's Coping Skills

Abstract

The relations between maternal parenting characteristics, child disclosure and secrecy, and child outcomes (positive and negative strategies for coping with distress), were examined in a study of 140 children (10-12-year-olds) and their mothers. Child disclosure and secrecy were shown to be distinct but related constructs with authoritativeness predictive of disclosure and dispositional anger predictive of secrecy. These relations held even when child compliance was included as a control variable. Mothers' authoritative parenting predicted disclosure which in turn predicted children's use of positive coping strategies. Mothers' dispositional anger predicted secrecy which mediated the relation between maternal anger and children's use of negative coping strategies. Results are discussed in terms of parent-child communication and opportunities for mothers to use knowledge gained from child disclosure to teach children successful ways of dealing with distress.

Dimensions of Perfectionism Mediate the Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Coping

“…Within a low‐income African American sample, parental psychological control was negatively associated with children's use of avoidant coping in families with a low level of economic stress, whereas parental psychological control became a positive predictor of children's use of avoidant coping in families with a high level of economic stress (Gaylord‐Harden et al, ). Despite evidence supporting the relationship between coping strategies and parenting characteristics, other studies have failed to find relationships between parenting styles and children's coping (Almas, Grusec, & Tackett, ; Gaylord‐Harden, ; Hardy, Power, & Jaedicke, ).…”

Mother–adolescent monitoring dynamics and the legitimacy of parental authority

“…Items are from Stattin and Kerr (2000), Kerr and Stattin (2000) but were modified to make the items appropriate for our early adolescent sample (see Laird & Marrero, 2011). We did not include the two items that tapped adolescent secrecy because Frijns et al (2010) demonstrated that the disclosure and secrecy items loaded onto different factors (see also a Canadian study Almas, Grusec, & Tackett, 2011). Mean scores were used (a age12 ¼ .83; a age13 ¼ .87).…”

Increasing Wellbeing through a Parenting Program: Role of Gender and Partnered Attendance

“…For example, parental warmth and support is a predictor of problemsolving coping strategies in children (Wolfradt, Hempel, & Miles, 2003). Another study shows that authoritative parenting from a mother has been found to predict child disclosure, which in turn predicts positive coping strategies (i.e., seeking social support and self-reliance/problem solving) (Almas, Grusec, & Tackett, 2011). Aligned with these findings, increased relationship quality in mother-child relationships is predictive of greater coping efficacy and active coping in children (Velez, Wolchik, Tein, & Sandler, 2011), while lack of attachment and perceived parental rejection is related to an elevated risk of nonproductive coping styles (Bamberg, Toumbourou, Blyth, & Forer, 2001;Meesters & Muris, 2004, respectively).…”