OVER-TIME CHANGES IN ADJUSTMENT AND COMPETENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS FROMAUTHORITATIVE, AUTHORITARIAN, INDULGENT, AND NEGLECTFUL FAMILIES

In a previous report, we demonstrated that adolescents' adjustment var ies as a function of their parents' style (e.g., authoritative, author itarian, indulgent, neglectful). This 1-year follow-up was conducted i n order to examine whether the observed differences are maintained ove r time. In 1987, an ethnically and socioeconomically heterogeneous sam ple of approximately 2,300 14-18-year-olds provided information used t o classify the adolescents' families into 1 of 4 parenting style group s. That year, and again 1 year later, the students completed a battery of standardized instruments tapping psychosocial development, school achievement, internalized distress, and behavior problems. Differences in adjustment associated with variations in parenting are either main tained or increase over time. However, whereas the benefits of authori tative parenting are largely in the maintenance of previous levels of high adjustment, the deleterious consequences of neglectful parenting continue to accumulate.