Perceptions of parent–adolescent communication within families: It is a matter of perspective

Abstract

This study examined the concordance between parental and youth's perceptions regarding open communication in their families and its association with youth's psychosocial adjustment. The relative importance of parental and adolescents' perceptions of open family communication in relation to youth's psychosocial adjustment was also investigated. Participants were 336 parent–youth dyads from inner-city low-income communities in an eastern city in the United States. Both parental and youth's perceptions of open communication in the family were categorized into “high” and “low” groups using a median split in scores. Four parent–youth concordance groups (i.e. high–high, high–low, low–high and low–low) were derived based on the combination of the levels of parental and youth's perceptions. Parental and youth's perceptions about open communication were modestly correlated (r = 0.129, p < 0.05). The level of concordance differed by youth gender with male adolescents and their parents being more likely to perceive lower levels of open communication (i.e. “low–low”) than females and their parents (32% versus 19%, p < 0.05). In general, youth demonstrated poorer psychosocial adjustment if they perceived a lower level of open communication between them and their parents, independent of the level of their parents' perceptions (e.g. “high” or “low”). The findings suggest an important role of adolescents' own perceptions of the openness of the family communication in relation to adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Developmentally and gender appropriate intervention programs are needed to improve the openness of parent–adolescent communication, to help both parents and youth to recognize the significant preventive role of open communication in the family, especially, the socioeconomically disadvantaged families.

Keywords:

• parent–adolescent communication
• open family communication
• psychosocial adjustment
• concordance

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (U01HS07392). The authors thank all of the youth and their families who participated in the study.