Adolescents' conceptions of family democracy: Does their own behaviour play a role?

Abstract

Much research on family democracy has started from the assumption that parents produce the democratic climate and adolescent behaviour is an outcome of it. In this study, we asked whether and how adolescent behaviour contributes to family democracy, using both parents' and adolescents' behaviours as predictors of family democracy. Participants were 1057 fifteen to sixteen year olds and their parents. Results showed that adolescents' conceptions of family democracy involve both their own and their parents' behaviour. When controlling for parents' behaviours, adolescents' behaviours added significantly to the prediction of democracy. Parents' warmth and the adolescents' openness to communication seem to be two major aspects of the democratic workings in the family. Hence, the democratic workings of the family cannot be described fully if adolescents' behaviour is ignored.