THE MULTIPLICATIVE RELATIONS OF PARENTING AND TEMPERAMENT TO PROSOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN ADOLESCENCE

The present study war designed to examine the multiplicative relations of sociability and anger temperaments, and parental support, to proso cial and antisocial outcomes. Eighty adolescents completed self-report measures of aggression, antisocial behaviors, sympathy and prosocial behaviors. Parents reported on their adolescent's sociability and ange r and on their level of parental support. Significant three-way intera ctions showed that level of aggression and antisocial behaviors were l ow when levels of parental support were high and levels of anger and s ociability were low. Levels of aggression were high when levels of ang er and maternal support were high and levels of sociability were low. In contrast, levels of sympathy were high when levels of sociability w ere low Maternal report of adolescents' anger were related negatively to prosocial outcomes and related positively to antisocial outcomes. T he discussion focuses on the usefulness of multiplicative models of pa renting and temperament.