Household chaos and mother–adolescent communication.

Abstract

Household chaos creates unpredictability and stress in families’ lives compromising the quality of family interaction and communication. This study examined how mother and adolescent perceptions of daily household chaos relate to adolescent disclosure of information to mothers. We also explored indirect effects through mother and adolescent responsiveness. Participants included 109 mother–adolescent dyads who completed a 7-day diary study (adolescent age 14–18 years, 49% female, 38% White, 25% Asian, 17% Hispanic, 7% Black, 13% multiple/other ethnicities). Multilevel models revealed that on days when adolescents reported more household chaos than usual, they were more likely to disclose information to their mothers. On days when mothers and adolescents perceived more household chaos, they perceived their relationship partner as less responsive, and on days when mothers and adolescents perceived less responsiveness from their relationship partner, they reported less adolescent disclosure. There was a significant indirect effect among mothers’ reports at the daily level, such that on days when mothers reported more household chaos than usual, they reported their adolescents as less responsive, and in turn, as disclosing less information to them. Averages across the week showed that mothers who reported higher average levels of household chaos compared to other families reported less adolescent disclosure. Mothers and adolescents who reported more household chaos compared to other families perceived their relationship partner as less responsive, and less adolescent responsiveness predicted less adolescent-reported and mother-reported adolescent disclosure on average compared to other families. Findings are discussed in terms of relational disengagement in chaotic home environments.

Role of pandemic‐related experiences and maternal psychological distress in maternal rejection

“…Confirming the second and third hypotheses, we found that an increase in household chaos was associated with increased MPD, which in turn, was associated with higher perceived maternal rejection during the COVID-19 pandemic after accounting for maternal educational attainment, child age, and gender. Notably, this moderate association persists even after accounting for pre-pandemic measures of both MPD and rejection and is aligned with prior literature highlighting the substantial connection between household chaos and MPD (Adams et al, 2021;Kracht et al, 2021;Nelson et al, 2023;Yalcintas et al, 2021). Previous findings in the Turkish cultural context showed that household chaos was related to mothers' self-reports of negative parenting for preschool children (Corapci et al, 2023).…”

“…Chaotic home environments, such as the absence of family activities and daily routines like family dinners, have been linked to adverse parenting behaviors and poorer child outcomes (Glynn et al, 2021). Relatedly, research on the COVID‐19 pandemic has consistently demonstrated that higher levels of household chaos are linked to less responsive, less stimulating, and more intrusive parenting practices (Andrews et al, 2021; Marsh et al, 2020; Nelson et al, 2023). Similarly, in Türkiye, parents frequently encountered issues related to disorganization and disruptions in family responsibilities during the pandemic (Barış & Taylan, 2020).…”