Unpacking the Generation Gap:
Understanding the Meaning of
Parental “Influence”
Maryfrances R. Porter
Kathleen Boykin McElhaney
L. Wrenn Thompson
Department of Psychology
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
WEBSITE: http://www.people.virginia.edu/~psykliff/pubs.html
We would like to thank the National Institute of Mental Health for funding awarded to
Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator (Grants #R01-MH44934, and R01-MH58066) to
conduct this project. The analysis and write-up for this study were additionally supported by a
National Research Service Award (Grant # F31-MH65711-01 awarded to Maryfrances R.
Porter.
ABSTRACT
Recently, there has been a growing interest in how and when
adolescents and parents disagree regarding the qualities of parent-child
relationships, with the assertion that understanding divergence of
perceptions will further enhance our overall understanding of how such
relationships affect adolescent development. , Most studies have relied on
difference scores to assess divergence – a method that assumes
quantitative differences between parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions –
and also have focused on predicting adolescent outcomes, while assuming
that divergence indicates maladaptive family processes. . The current
study used a multi-method, multi-reporter design to explore qualitative
differences between mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parental
influence were independently assessed, and to relate such differences to
family level outcomes. Adolescents’ perceptions of parental influence,
were positively associated with supportive mother-adolescent
interactions, whereas mothers’ perceptions evidenced an opposite
association with family functioning. Limitations of this research and
future directions are presented.
INTRODUCTION
 Recently there has been a growing interest in examining how and
when adolescents and parents disagree regarding the quality of their
relationships, with the assertion that understanding divergence of
perceptions will enhance our overall understanding of how the
quality of parent-adolescent relationships affects adolescents’
development (Collins, 1990;1991;Paikoff, 1991).
 Most divergence studies to date have relied on difference scores to
represent the degree of divergence between parents’ and adolescents’
views. An inherent assumption of this method is that the difference
between parents’ and adolescents’ viewpoints is quantitative (seeing
more versus less of the same construct) rather than qualitative
(interpreting the same construct differently; also see
Smetana,1988;1991;1995 Smetana & Berent,1993).
 Several existing studies have indicated that divergent perceptions are
maladaptive for adolescents’ emotional and behavioral functioning,
thus suggesting that divergence between parents and adolescents
represents dysfunctional relationship functioning.
INTRODUCTION, continued
 However, the direct links between divergence in perception and the
quality of parent-adolescent relationships has rarely been examined.
The evidence that does exist suggests that divergence in perceptions
around issues of autonomy and control may be more normative than
discrepant perceptions over affective relationship qualities such as
closeness and warmth (Holmbeck & O’Donnell, 1991).
 The current study examined divergence in perceptions of parental
influence (an aspect of parent-adolescent relationships integrally
related to the autonomy process) as it related to both self-reported
and observed mother-adolescent relationships quality.
 Consistent with research regarding autonomy processes, mothers
perceiving themselves as influencing adolescents may be more
controlling. Conversely, adolescents who are willing to report being
influenced are likely to feel positively about their relationships with
their mothers.
HYPOTHESES
We tested the following hypotheses:
1.
Regardless of the mean difference between mothers’ and adolescents’
reported perceptions of parental influence about rules, mothers’ and
adolescents’ perceptions would not be highly correlated.
2.
Mothers’ perceptions of influence would be linked to their desire to
control their adolescents’ behavior
3.
Adolescents’ perceptions of influence would be more closely linked
with their feelings of supportive closeness with their mothers.
4.
Adolescents’ reports of parental influence would be linked to higher
levels of observed warmth and support within the mother-adolescent
relationship.
5.
Mothers’ reports of parental influence would be linked to distant and
controlling mother-adolescent relationships.
PARTICIPANTS
Data were collected as part of a larger, longitudinal, multi-method,
multi-reporter, study of a socioeconomically diverse sample of adolescents
(N = 167). Adolescents were about 13 years old (mean = 13.34, SD = .65).
Gender
N
Males
77
Females
90
Race/Ethnicity (self-identified at Wave 1)
Caucasian
105
Other or Mixed Minority Group
62
Family Income
Median
$40,000 - $59,999 (range ≤ $5,000 to > $60,000)
MEASURES
 Reported Parental Influence. The Influence Questionnaire (Allen et
al.,1999) assesses the extent to which adolescents felt influenced and the
degree mothers felt they exerted influence about rules. Higher scores
indicated more perceived influence. Cronbach’s alphas: adolescent
report .76, mother report .82.
 Reported Supportive Closeness with Mothers. The Inventory of Parent
and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenburg, 1989) assesses the
degree of psychological support that adolescents and mothers reported
mothers providing. Cronbach’s alphas: adolescent report .89, mother
reports .90.
 Reported Psychological Control by Mothers. Adolescents and mothers
completed the Child Report of Parenting Behavior Inventory
(Schludermann & Schludermann, 1983) to report the degree of
mothers’ use of threatening and guilt-inducing psychological control
tactics. Cronbach’s alphas: adolescent report .76, mother report .78.
 Observed Support with Mothers. Adolescents participated in an 8-minute
interaction task with mothers (Supportive Behavior Coding System,
Allen et al.,2001), where they asked their mother for help with a
“problem they were having that they could use some advice or support
about.” Each interaction was coded by two raters (intraclass
correlation = .84).
 Observed Adolescent Relatedness with Mother. Adolescent-mother dyads
participated in an 8-minute, videotaped, revealed differences task,
discussing an area of disagreement (Autonomy-Relatedness Coding
System, Allen et al.,1996). Adolescents’ behaviors promoting
relatedness during the interaction were examined. Each interaction was
coded by two coders (intraclass correlation = .78).
RESULTS
 Hypothesis 1: The average difference between mothers’ and
adolescents’ perceptions of parental influence was 0.81 (SD=5.45), with
adolescents reporting slightly higher perceptions than mothers; the
difference score was greater than zero at the trend level (t=1.93, p<.06).
However, the degree of correspondence between mothers’ and
adolescents’ perceptions was quite low (r=.07, p=.36).
 Hypothesis 2 & 3: When adolescents reported their parents influenced
them, they also reported a close, supportive relationship with their
mothers and that their mothers’ utilized psychological control. When
mothers reported that they influenced their adolescent, both mothers
and adolescents reported mothers exercised higher levels of
psychological control (see Table 2).
 Hypothesis 4 & 5: When adolescents reported that their parents
influenced them to follow rules, higher levels of successful support were
observed during the supportive interaction task (=.17*). However,
when mothers’ reported that they influenced adolescents, less successful
support was observed (=-.26**, see Table 3). Analogous results were
found with adolescent relatedness with mothers (see Table 4).
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that the qualitative differences between
mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parental influence are important
indicators of the functioning of the parent-child relationship. Consistent
with research on divergence and autonomy processes, when mothers and
adolescents disagree about parental influence, it is adolescents’
perceptions that are most closely associated with parents promoting
autonomous-relatedness and positive family functioning. Mothers who
perceive themselves as exerting the most influence may, in fact, be
distancing themselves from their teens by being controlling and autonomy
inhibiting rather than effectively instilling their values.
These data are cross-sectional and correlational: causal relationships
may not be assumed. However, ongoing research into the qualitative
differences between parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions about key
issues is important to better understand trajectories of adaptive
adolescent development. Future research may additionally extend these
findings to explore the effects of divergent perceptions of influence on the
development of adaptive peer relationship skills during adolescence.
Table 1
Means and standard deviations of all variables
M
19.28
18.47
54.00
103.87
15.49
14.07
2.37
SD
3.76
4.22
10.77
10.00
3.63
3.40
0.75
Parental Influence (AR)
Maternal Influence (MR)
Maternal Support (AR)
Maternal Support (MR)
Psychological Control (AR)
Psychological Control (MR)
Successful Support (O)
Adolescent Relatedness with
1.50
0.53
Mothers (O)
Note: AR – Adolescent report; MR – Mother report; O – Observed
Table 2
Correlations between adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of influence and
other parent-adolescent relationship variables
Parental Influence
(AR)
.23**
Maternal Support
(AR)
Maternal Support
.10
(MR)
Psychological
.16*
Control (AR)
Psychological
.07
Control (MR)
*p≤.05, **p≤.01, ***p≤.001, ****p≤.0001
Maternal Influence
(MR)
-.04
.12
.28***
.29***
Table 3
Predicting successful support in mother-adolescent interactions from
adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of parental influence
Step 1
Adolescent Gender
Perceived Neighborhood Risk
Step 2
Parental Influence – Adolescents’ Report
Maternal Influence – Mothers’ Report
*p≤.05, **p≤.01, ***p≤.001, ****p≤.0001
Note: ’s are from the final model. N=150.

ΔR2
Total R2
.04
.03
.00
.00
.17*
-.26**
.09**
.09**
Table 4
Predicting adolescents’ expression of relatedness in mother-adolescent
interactions from adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of parental influence
Step 1
Adolescent Gender
Perceived Neighborhood Risk

ΔR2
Total R2
.00
.02
.01
01
Step 2
Parental Influence – Adolescents’ Report
.18*
Maternal Influence – Mothers’ Report
-.31***
+p≤.10, *p≤.05, **p≤.01, ***p≤.001, ****p≤.0001
Note: ’s are from the final model. N=148.
.11**** .12***
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