Adolescents' attempted influence on parental behaviors.

This study was designed to determine the extent to which adolescents attempt to influence the everyday behaviors of their parents. Questionnaires given to 84 adolescents (mean age 17.6 years) and their parents asked the respondents to indicate which of 31 parental behaviors the adolescent had attempted to influence and whether or not this influence resulted in parental behavior change. Results indicate that total attempted influence correlated significantly and positively with adolescent need for autonomy and significantly but negatively with father's need for dominance. Adolescents perceived attempted influence on more behaviors than did parents, and more influence attempts were reported directed toward mothers than fathers. Differences between the types of parental behaviors that attracted adolescent influence and those that did not are discussed.