AUTONOMY AND RELATEDNESS IN FAMILY INTERACTIONS AS PREDICTORS OF EXPRESSIONS OF NEGATIVE ADOLESCENT AFFECT

This study examined the connection between adolescents' expressions of negative affect and their attempts to meet the developmental task of establishing autonomy and relatedness in interactions with their paren ts. Longitudinal, observational data were obtained by coding family in teraction tasks administered to 96 adolescents at ages 14 and 16 and t heir one or two parents. These were then related to observer-rated ado lescent depressive affect in an interview at age 16 and to self-report ed internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 17. Results reveale d that difficulties establishing autonomy and relatedness with parents were linked to both depressed affect and externalizing behaviors. How ever, depressed affect was more closely linked to difficulties establi shing autonomy, whereas externalizing behaviors were more closely link ed to difficulties maintaining relatedness.