Puberty Moderates Effects of the Parent-Child Relationship on Adolescent Delinquency

Meredith A. Henry, M.S. & Sylvie Mrug, Ph.D.University of Alabama at Birmingham

Puberty Moderates Effects of the Parent-Child Relationship on Adolescent Delinquency

Agenda Slide

• Rationale

• Participants

• Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusion

Rationale

• Early timing and faster tempo of pubertal development are risk factors for internalizing and externalizing problems (Marceau et al., 2011).

• Parent-Child (P-C) relationship quality also plays a role (Gaertner, Fite, & Colder, 2010).– Warmth/nuturance, respect for autonomy, and

other positive strategies linked with better psychosocial health (Bayer et al, 2006).

Rationale

• Early pubertal timing increases susceptibility to negative environmental influences, including poor parenting.– Harsh/inconsistent discipline related to increased

externalizing in early maturers (Ge et al, 2002).

• Previous studies rely on child- and parent- reports or parenting quality.

• No studies have investigated the role of pubertal tempo as a moderator of environmental influences on adolescent development.

Participants

• NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

• Data analyzed from Phase III and IV, collected from 2nd grade through age 15.

• 951 children– 50% female– 80% Caucaisan– 13% African American– 7% Other

Measures

• Parent-Child relationship:– Performed discussion task and planning activity with

mother at age 11 (Egeland & Hiester, 1993).

– Observers coded videotapes from 1 (“very low”) to 7 (“very high”) on 7 factors related to P-C relationship.

– We chose to analyze 4:• Mother’s respect for child autonomy

• Mother’s supportive presence

• Mother’s quality of assistance

• Affective mutuality/felt security

Measures

• Delinquent behaviors:– Total score from 11 items of YSR– How well does this behavior describe you in

the last 6 months?• 0 “not at all,” 1 “Somewhat/Sometimes True”, 2

“Very True/Often True”

– Range of scores from 0-22. Higher scores indicate more delinquent behaviors.

Measures

• Pubertal development:– Children’s development through 5 Tanner

stages of pubic hair and breast/penis & scrotum development assessed by trained nurses annually from ages 9-15.

– Pubertal timing & tempo estimated from logistic growth curves of progression trhough stages over time (Marceau et al., 2011).

• Timing: predicted age child will reach Stage 3.• Tempo: speed an individual progresses from

Stage 1 to Stage 5 (stages completed per year)

Data analysis

• Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses in SPSS

• Separate analysis for each parenting factor– Dependent Variable: Child report of delinquent

behaviors at age 15– Step 1: Mother report of delinquency at Grade 5,

SES, Ethnicity, Gender, Timing, Rate, Parenting Factor

– Step 2: Time*Parenting Factor, Rate*Parenting Factor

• Significant interactions followed up with simple slope analyses

Results

• On average, adolescents reached Tanner Stage 3 at age 12.43 (SD = .93).

• Most adolescents completed 1.06 stages each year (SD = .19).

• Positive P-C relationship factors rated highly (M = 4.28-5.16) and had sufficient variability (SD = .90-1.21).

• The overall sample showed a low level of delinquent behaviors (M = 2.97, SD = 2.51).

Results

• Parenting factors were positively related to one another (r=.21 to .78, p<.01).

• Early pubertal timing was related to slower pubertal tempo (r=.15, p<.05).

Results

• No significant interactions found between pubertal timing and parenting factors.

• However, pubertal tempo did interact with 2 of 4 parenting factors in predicting delinquent behaviors.– Maternal respect for autonomy (β = 1.112,

p<.05)– Quality of maternal assistance (β = .937,

p<.05)

Results

• Respect for autonomy predicted fewer delinquent behaviors only for those with a slow pubertal tempo.

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

Low High

Maternal respect for child's autonomy

Ext

ern

aliz

ing

beh

avio

rs

Slow tempo

Fast tempo

β = -.450 **

β = -.054

Results

• Quality of assistance predicted fewer delinquent behaviors only for those with a slow pubertal tempo.

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

Low High

Quality of maternal assistance

Ext

ern

aliz

ing

beh

avio

rs

Slow tempo

Fast tempo

β = -.267*

β = .056

Discussion

• Positive P-C relationship factors appear to be more protective against delinquent behaviors for slower maturers.

• Early maturers more influenced by peers than slower maturing counterparts (Ferguson et al, 2007; Felson & Haynie, 2002).

• So, protective effects of P-C relationship may be more prominent in slower maturing adolescents.

Discussion

• This study used objective assessment of P-C relationship factors.– Possible child’s perception of the relationship

is more critical than objective reality?

• Limited snapshot of P-C interaction– Relationship changes throughout puberty and

adolescence (Laursen, Coy, & Collins, 1998).

Conclusions

• Objective positive qualities of the parent-child relationship at age 11 predict fewer delinquent behaviors for adolescents with a slow pubertal tempo.

• Future research should consider the role of pubertal tempo, in addition to pubertal timing, in both parental and peer influences on adolescent adjustment.

Meredith A. HenryUniversity of Alabama at BirminghamEmail: mahenry@uab.eduPhone: (205) 612-5560