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Comparative Study
. 2007 Oct;41(4):371-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.05.006.

Gender-based model comparisons of maternal values, monitoring, communication, and early adolescent risk behavior

Lesley Cottrell  1 , Shuli Yu, Hongjie Liu, Lynette Deveaux, Sonja Lunn, Rosa Mae Bain, Bonita Stanton
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Gender-based model comparisons of maternal values, monitoring, communication, and early adolescent risk behavior

Lesley Cottrell et al. J Adolesc Health. 2007 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the relationships among maternal values, monitoring knowledge, parent-adolescent communication, and adolescent risk involvement based on adolescent gender.

Methods: Parental reports of their personal values, monitoring knowledge, and communication with their children were compared with adolescent reports of risk involvement using information gathered from 647 Bahamian mother-adolescent (9-13 years) dyads.

Results: Parental values of conservation (e.g., conformity) were positively associated with greater parent-adolescent communication and communication was significantly associated with greater monitoring knowledge for both genders. Among mother-son dyads only, group-based parental values of self-transcendence (e.g., universalism) were significantly associated with greater perceived parental monitoring knowledge; individualized self-enhancement values (e.g., hedonism) were negatively associated with open and supportive parent-adolescent communication.

Conclusions: Parental values influence other parenting processes such as monitoring and communication. Parental monitoring, in turn, inversely influences adolescent risk involvement. These influences appear to differ based on the adolescent's gender, as many of the relationships were stronger among mother-son dyads. These findings highlight a need to better understand the nature of the relationship between maternal values, parent-adolescent interactions, and adolescents' risk decisions.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Standardized coefficients for associations in path-analytic model (Total: mother-child dyads)
Note: Model fit indices: Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square, S-B χ2(4, N = 625) = 9.13, p = .06; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .045; Goodness of fit index (GFI) = .996. * p <0.05, ** p <0.01, + p <0.10.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Standardized coefficients for associations in path-analytic model (Mother-son dyads/Mother-daughter dyads)
Note: The first coefficient on each path is for mother-son dyads group; the second is for mother-daughter dyads group. * p <0.05, ** p <0.01, + p <0.10. For mother-son dyads group, model fit indices: Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square, S-B χ2(4, N = 296) = 6.90, p = .14; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .049; Goodness of fit index (GFI) = .994. For mother-daughter dyads group, model fit indices: Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square, S-B χ2(4, N = 329) = 3.16, p = .53; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .000; Goodness of fit index (GFI) = .997.
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