Department of Human Development and Family Studies.
Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center.
J Fam Psychol. 2021 Oct;35(7):916-926. doi: 10.1037/fam0000864. Epub 2021 May 6.
Parent-youth intimacy protects adolescents from adjustment problems, including weight concerns, low self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. This study aimed to identify when in development parent-youth intimacy emerges as a protective factor, how this protective effect changes in its strength across adolescence, and whether there are differences in intimacy-adjustment linkages depending on parent and youth gender. The sample was 388 predominately White American adolescents (50.8% female; ages 12-20 years, = 15.2, = 1.63 at Time 1) from 202 families. Time-varying effect models revealed that associations between intimacy and adjustment problems were dynamic and differed by parent and youth gender and across adjustment problems. Father-youth intimacy was associated with fewer weight concerns across most of adolescence for girls and boys, and these effects were strongest in mid- and late adolescence, respectively. Mother-youth intimacy was associated with boys' but not girls' weight concerns, and only in early adolescence. Father-youth intimacy was associated with fewer depressive symptoms for boys and girls across most of adolescence, whereas mother-youth intimacy was associated with fewer depressive symptoms in mid-adolescence. However, the association between intimacy and depressive symptoms was strongest during mid-adolescence for mother- and father-youth intimacy. Finally, father-youth intimacy was associated with higher self-esteem from early through mid-adolescence for boys and girls, whereas mother-youth intimacy was associated with higher self-esteem across most of adolescence for girls and during early and late adolescence for boys. Findings have implications for the timing and targets of family interventions and highlight parents' unique and shared roles in adolescents' adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
亲子亲密关系可以保护青少年免受适应问题的困扰，包括体重问题、自尊心低和抑郁症状。本研究旨在确定亲子亲密关系何时成为保护因素，这种保护作用在青少年时期如何随着强度变化，以及亲子性别是否会影响亲密关系与适应问题之间的联系。样本是来自 202 个家庭的 388 名主要为美国白人青少年（50.8%为女性；年龄 12-20 岁， = 15.2， = 1.63 在时间 1）。时变效应模型显示，亲密关系与适应问题之间的关联是动态的，并且因父母和青少年的性别以及适应问题的不同而有所不同。对于女孩和男孩来说，父亲与青少年的亲密关系与大多数青少年时期的体重问题呈负相关，而这些影响在青少年中期和后期最强。母亲与青少年的亲密关系与男孩的体重问题呈负相关，但仅在青少年早期如此。对于男孩和女孩来说，父亲与青少年的亲密关系与大多数青少年时期的抑郁症状呈负相关，而母亲与青少年的亲密关系与青少年中期的抑郁症状呈负相关。然而，对于母亲和父亲与青少年的亲密关系来说，与抑郁症状的关联在青少年中期最强。最后，对于男孩和女孩来说，父亲与青少年的亲密关系与青少年早期到中期的自尊心呈正相关，而母亲与青少年的亲密关系与大多数青少年时期的女孩和青少年早期和晚期的男孩的自尊心呈正相关。这些发现对家庭干预的时间和目标具有启示意义，并强调了父母在青少年适应中的独特和共同作用。
