Parents' Involvement in Adolescents' Peer Relationships: A Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Roles

Abstract

The goals of this study were to compare mothers' and fathers' direct involvement in adolescent girls' versus boys' peer relationships and to examine the links between parents' involvement and the qualities of adolescents' friendship and peer experiences. Participants were mothers, fathers, and firstborn adolescents (mean age = 15 years) in 187 working‐ and middle‐class families. Data were collected during home visits and a series of seven nightly telephone interviews. Parents' direct involvement was measured by parents' reports of their peer‐oriented activities, parents' knowledge about adolescents' peer experiences, and parents' time spent with adolescents and their peers. Findings revealed that mothers were more knowledgeable about adolescents' peer relationships than were fathers, that mothers with daughters reported the most peer‐oriented activities, and that both mothers and fathers spent more time with same‐sex adolescents and their peers. Parents' direct involvement was differentially related to girls' versus boys' peer experiences. Discussion highlights the role of parents' and adolescents' gender in shaping this dimension of family life in adolescence.

Relations with parents and identity statuses in the relational domain in emerging adults

“…In the current study, the results showed that mothers are perceived higher in the communication dimension than fathers. Moreover, daughters perceived higher cohesion with mothers in comparison with sons, which is consistent with previous studies (Updegraff et al, 2001). Unexpectedly, the findings suggested no differences in perception of autonomy given by parents.…”

“…Thirdly, the differences in perception of relations with mother and father were analyzed depending on emerging adults' gender. I expected that mothers would be perceived by daughters higher in communication and cohesion dimensions than fathers, whereas fathers would be perceived by sons as given more autonomy than mothers, which is consistent with the findings of some authors (Updegraff, McHale, Crouter, & Kupanoff, 2001). Finally, considering the importance of relations with parents for identity formation, in order to investigate the relations between identity statuses and family relations, I tested the profile of emerging adults in different identity statuses in terms of perception of relations with both parents.…”

The Role of Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting in Close Relationships of Male and Female Adolescents

“…Research results confirm that girls confide more to their mothers, especially on topics that are confidential, including friendships, and so they have more opportunities to influence their daughter's behaviour (Updegraff, McHale, Grouter, & Kupanoff, 2001). The father's role in this aspect of his daughter's life is not very significant.…”

“…In mutual interactions, girls often talk about emotions and share confidential contents (Way, 2006). For this reason, the mother has more opportunities to influence her daughter's attitudes towards friends (Updegraff, McHale, Grouter, & Kupanoff, 2001). A friendship that involves sharing, entrusting and intimacy is important to girls, while socializing and spending time in a joint activity is important to boys (Way, 2006;Buhrmester, 1996).…”

Mother-daughter conflict and adjustment in Mexican-origin families: Exploring the role of family and sociocultural context

“…First, ideas about the gender intensifi cation of socialization pressures in early adolescence (Hill & Lynch, 1983) emphasize the salience of adolescents' relationships with their same-sex parents. From this perspective, mothers assume a signifi cant role in the socialization of their daughters (e.g., Crouter, Manke, & McHale, 1995;Updegraff, McHale, Crouter, & Kupanoff, 2001). Second, some research suggests that confl icts with mothers are more frequent and intense than those with fathers (Scaramella & Conger, 2004), especially confl icts between mothers and daughters (e.g., Laursen, 2005).…”