The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
Fam Process. 2018 Dec;57(4):979-995. doi: 10.1111/famp.12328. Epub 2017 Nov 2.
Parents' differential treatment (PDT) is a common family dynamic that has been linked to youth development and well-being, including adjustment problems and poor sibling relationships. Much less is known, however, about the developmental course of PDT and the conditions under which parents treat their children differently in adolescence and young adulthood. This study examined longitudinal changes in mothers' and fathers' differential warmth and conflict with their two offspring from early adolescence through young adulthood and examined parents' experiences of individual stress (depressive symptoms and role overload) and marital difficulties as time-varying correlates of (changes in) PDT. We also tested crossover effects to determine whether mothers' experiences of individual stress and marital difficulties were linked to fathers' differential treatment, and vice versa. Participants were mothers, fathers, and two siblings from 246 Mexican-origin families who were interviewed in their homes on three occasions over 8 years. Multilevel models revealed that mothers' and fathers' differential conflict with their two children increased until middle adolescence and then declined into young adulthood, but there were no changes over time for parents' differential warmth. In general, both mothers' and fathers' levels of differential treatment were exacerbated by their own experiences of individual stress and marital difficulties and also by the experiences of their spouses. However, in some cases, greater stress than usual was linked to less differential treatment than usual.
父母的差异化对待（PDT）是一种常见的家庭动态，它与青少年的发展和幸福感有关，包括适应问题和不良的兄弟姐妹关系。然而，人们对 PDT 的发展过程以及父母在青少年和成年早期对孩子进行差异化对待的条件知之甚少。本研究考察了母亲和父亲对两个孩子的差异化温暖和冲突从青少年早期到成年早期的纵向变化，并考察了父母的个体压力（抑郁症状和角色过载）和婚姻困难经历作为（PDT 变化的）时变相关因素。我们还测试了交叉效应，以确定母亲的个体压力和婚姻困难经历是否与父亲的差异化对待有关，反之亦然。参与者是来自 246 个墨西哥裔家庭的母亲、父亲和两个兄弟姐妹，他们在 8 年内分三次在自己家中接受了采访。多层次模型显示，母亲和父亲与他们的两个孩子的差异化冲突在青少年中期之前一直在增加，然后在成年早期下降，但父母的差异化温暖并没有随着时间的推移而变化。一般来说，母亲和父亲的差异化对待程度都受到他们自己的个体压力和婚姻困难经历以及配偶的经历的加剧。然而，在某些情况下，比平时更大的压力与比平时更少的差异化对待有关。
