Parental practices in late adolescence, a comparison of three countries: Canada, France and Italy

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine parental practices, such as affection, control and conflict, in three countries: Canada, France and Italy. The sample was composed of more than 900 late adolescents with an average age of 17 years, from three large cities: Montreal, Paris and Rome. Participants answered a self‐report questionnaire that assessed five measures: emotional bonds with the father and mother, parental supervision, tolerance towards friends, punitiveness for violation of rules, and conflict frequency. Analyses of the results indicated that the country of origin discriminated for most of the parental practice dimensions. Canadian adolescents considered their parents to be more tolerant and rated them as using less punitive measures when rules were broken. Canadian parents also seemed to adopt comparable norms for boys and girls, which could be interpreted as a form of sexual egalitarianism, whereas Italian and French parents appeared less tolerant towards girls. Italian adolescents reported strong emotional bonds with each parent, and also identified more conflicts in their relationships with parents. French adolescents reported weaker emotional bonds with each parent and less parental supervision. Results were interpreted in the light of studies that have reported an influence of cultural background on both parental practices and parental decisions in each of these countries.

Italian translation and cross-cultural comparison with the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS)

“…In contrast to this, some studies (Hsu & Lavelli, 2005; Raudino et al, 2013) considered Italian mothers to be particularly warm, emotional and social caregivers. These variable findings might be linked to the influence exerted by cultural practices of a country on the parenting styles of its constituents (Claes, Lacourse, Bouchard, & Perucchini, 2003). In particular, what has generally been observed in the literature is that Canadian parents are more relaxed and less punitive than Italian parents.…”

Estudo Fatorial de um Inventário de Práticas e Crenças Parentais

“…Considerando que as práticas, segundo Claes et al (2003), envolvem uma série de estratégias utilizadas pelos pais, dentre elas as que tratam da interação e participação destes na rotina dos filhos, pode-se afirmar que o fator 1 corresponde ao constructo investigado.…”

“…De acordo com o estudo elaborado por Claes, Lacourse, Bouchard e Perucchini (2003), as práticas parentais podem ser compreendidas pelas estratégias de comunicação, interação, participação e afetividade (emocional bolding), supervisão, controle assertivo (parent supervision) e controle punitivo (punitiveness). Essas estratégias são utilizadas pelos pais como norteadoras para orientar os filhos.…”

perception de l'importance et du type d'attachement du père et de la mère selon la structure familiale d'adolescents du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean /

“…La première dimension concerne la qualité de la relation qui lie les parents à leurs enfants et fait référence à l'expression de l'affection et au support émotionnel (Claes, Lacourse, Bouchard, & Perucchini, 2003;. Les études qui ont investigué le lien émotionnel entre les parents et les enfants ont approché cette réalité par l'utilisation de concepts recouvrant la proximité, l'acceptation et la chaleur.…”

“…Les recherches antérieures avaient fait ressortir que les pères divorcés étaient perçus par leurs enfants comme leur prodiguant particulièrement peu de soins (Amato & Keith, 1991;Burns & Dunlop, 1998;Claes et al, 2003;Rodgers, 1996;Zill, Morrisson, & Coiro, 1993). Ces résultats portent à croire que c'est le père dont les enfants vivent avec leur mère séparée maritalement qui pourrait faire baisser l'évaluation de l'ensemble des pères qui ne sont plus en situation maritale.…”