Parent–Adolescent Communication Influences on Anxious and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescence

Publication Title

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

ISSN

00472891

E-ISSN

15736601

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The unique developmental changes and important role of parents during early adolescence warrants consideration of parent–adolescent communication, including open communication, co-problem-solving, and co-rumination, and its influences on adolescents’ anxious and depressive symptoms. In this study, 400 early adolescents (M age = 12.49; 54% female) recruited from a middle school completed electronic questionnaires at two time points, 5 months apart. While most bivariate associations examined between communication processes and adolescents’ symptoms were significant, path analyses found unique patterns. Specifically, over time, paternal open communication was negatively associated with adolescent anxious and depressive symptoms while paternal co-rumination was positively associated with depressive, but not anxious, symptoms. In contrast, few maternal communication factors were significantly linked to adolescents’ internalizing symptoms, with only maternal co-rumination surprisingly being negatively linked to depressive symptoms over time. The results suggest how parents communicate with their children may be important as early adolescents develop problem-solving and adaptive coping skills to successfully navigate new experiences.

First Page

1716

Last Page

1730

Publication Date

8-1-2020

DOI

10.1007/s10964-020-01259-1

PubMed ID

32445037

Keywords

Anxiety symptoms, Co-problem-solving, Co-rumination, Depressive symptoms, Open communication, Parents

Department

Department of Psychology

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