Parenting Style and Adolescent’s Reaction to Conflict: Is There a Relationship?

Purpose: To determine if the reactions of adolescents toward hypothetical situations that can lead to conflict and violence varied by parenting style of their mothers. Methods: This study was part of a larger research project involving adolescents and their mothers participating in a longitudinal HIV-prevention program. Mothers and their adolescents were recruited from a community-based organization (CBO) and interviewed separately. Data were analyzed using the responses of 439 African-American adolescents ranging from ages 11 to 14 years. The responses of adolescents to questions about parenting were used to classify mothers into one of three parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, or permissive. The “anticipated reactions to hypothetical situations ” scale consists of 11 items with 6 response categories. The six responses were reclassified into three categories ranging from “not at all violent ” to “extremely violent. ” Higher scores indicate more violent reactions to the hypothetical situations. The parenting scale consists of two subscales: a 13-item parental involvement scale and a 13-item parental control scale. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale from “strongly disagree ” to “strongly agree. ” Analysis of variance was used to determine if the anticipated reactions of adolescents toward hypothetical situations varied by parenting style of their mothers