Parent–Adolescent Discrepancies in Reports of Parenting and Adolescent Outcomes in Mexican Immigrant Families

Yang Hou, Su Yeong Kim, Aprile D. Benner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Parents and adolescents often have discrepant views of parenting which pose challenges for researchers regarding how to deal with information from multiple informants. Although recent studies indicate that parent–adolescent discrepancies in reports of parenting can be useful in predicting adolescent outcomes, their findings are mixed regarding whether discrepancies relate to more positive or more negative adolescent outcomes. This study examined the longitudinal implications of parent–adolescent discrepancies in reports of parenting (warmth, monitoring, and reasoning) on adolescent behavioral, psychological, academic, and physical health outcomes among Mexican immigrant families in the United States. Participants were 604 adolescents (54% female, Mage.wave1 = 12.41 years) and their parents. Taking a person-centered approach, this study identified distinct patterns of parent–adolescent discrepancies in parenting and their different associations with later adolescent outcomes. Adolescents’ more negative perceptions of parenting relative to parents were associated with more negative adolescent outcomes, whereas adolescents’ more positive perceptions relative to parents related to more positive adolescent outcomes. There were also variations in discrepancy patterns and their associations with adolescent outcomes between mother–adolescent vs. father-adolescent dyads. Findings of the current study highlight individual variations of discrepancies among parent–adolescent dyads and the importance of considering both the magnitude and direction of discrepancies regarding their associations with adolescent well-being.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)430-444
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Youth and Adolescence
Volume47
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Informant discrepancies
  • Latent profile analysis
  • Mexican American
  • Parenting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Parent–Adolescent Discrepancies in Reports of Parenting and Adolescent Outcomes in Mexican Immigrant Families'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this