Parents' Communication Skills and Adolescents' Salivary α-Amylase and Cortisol Response Patterns

Abstract

The primary goal of this study was to examine patterns or groupings of adolescents’ hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) (measured through cortisol) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (measured through salivary alpha amylase or sAA) responses as a function of their parents’ communication skills. A related goal was to decipher whether adolescents who demonstrate different patterns of physiological reactivity vary in their personal and relational health. The sample consisted of 118 parent–adolescent dyads who were asked to talk about something stressful related to the parents’ relationship. The results revealed that adolescents’ perceptions of their parent's communication skills predicted the likelihood that the adolescents would overreact, show no reaction, or down regulate in response to such a discussion, but only for sAA. All of the communication skills in question—social support, communication competence, feeling caught between the parents’ conflict, and inappropriate disclosures—supported the hypothesis that adolescents with parents who they think are more communicatively skilled are better able to recover from a stressful interaction than adolescents whose parents are less skilled. Adolescents who were considered “overreactors” in sAA also had more negative health indices, somewhat lower psychological well-being, and poorer quality relationships with their parents.

Keywords:

• Interparental Conflict
• Social Support
• Communication Competence
• Disclosure
• Salivary Alpha-Amylase
• Cortisol
• Physiology
• Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
• Sympathetic Nervous System

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by internal funding from the Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research, the Faculty Senate, and the Chicano Studies Department at UCSB.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tamara D. Afifi

Tamara D. Afifi (PhD) is Professor in the Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Douglas A. Granger

Douglas A. Granger is a Professor of Nursing and Public Health and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, The Johns Hopkins University

Amanda Denes

Amanda Denes is a graduate student in the Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Andrea Joseph

Andrea Joseph is a graduate student in the Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Desiree Aldeis

Desiree Aldeis is a graduate student in the Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara