Citation

Wierson M, Nousiainen SD, Forehand R, Thomas AMC. J. Fam. Violence 1992; 7(1): 9-18.

Affiliation

University of Georgio, 30602 Athens, Georgia

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00978721

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Much attention has been paid to the nature of parent-adolescent relationships, with a frequent conclusion being that it is a time of marked disagreement between parents and their adolescents. However, other literature suggests that this time is not inherently conflictual. The purpose of this study was to examine agreement and disagreement between mothers, fathers, and adolescents on specific issues. Then, adolescent adjustment was assessed, and the degree to which it was a function of congruence with parents was examined. A modified version of the Issues Checklist was used to measure intrafamily agreement; the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist and the Harter Scale of Child''s Actual Competence were completed by adolescents'' social studies teachers to assess adolescent functioning. Relative to their parents, adolescents reported that they should make more decisions alone, while both mothers and fathers reported that decisions should be made jointly among all family members. Only father-adolescent congruence was found consistently to be related to adolescent functioning. Possible explanations for the present results and relevant issues pertaining to family agreement are discussed.