UNRAVELING THE TIES THAT BIND - AFFECTIVE EXPRESSION AND PERCEIVED CONFLICT IN PARENT - ADOLESCENT INTERACTIONS

The purpose of this observational study was (1) to examine the process of parent-adolescent relationship change across puberty, and (2) to e xamine the relationship between affective expression in interactions a nd perceived relationship conflict. Data were collected on 85 intact f amilies with adolescents in grades 5 to 9 (n = 44 males, 41 females). Each parent and adolescent took part in two 8-minute conversations-one about an activity they reported enjoying together and one about a dis agreement or area of conflict. Conversations were coded by speaker tur n for positive, negative, neutral, mixed, and altered affect (kappa = .76). Regression analyses indicated that parents and adolescents expre ssed more negative and less positive affect in interactions as adolesc ents physically matured. In addition, adolescents' perceptions of rela tionship conflict were consistently related to parents' expressed emot ions in interactions and paralleled trends for positive and negative a ffect across puberty. Findings are discussed in terms of understanding of the process of transforming parent-adolescent relations and family communication patterns across puberty.