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. 2015 Sep;25(3):474-489.
doi: 10.1111/jora.12139.

Development and Lability in the Parent-Child Relationship During Adolescence: Associations With Pubertal Timing and Tempo

Kristine Marceau, Nilam Ram, Elizabeth Susman

Development and Lability in the Parent-Child Relationship During Adolescence: Associations With Pubertal Timing and Tempo

Kristine Marceau et al. J Res Adolesc. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Adolescents' and parents' reactions to pubertal development are hypothesized to contribute to changes in family dynamics. Using 7-year longitudinal data from the NICHD-SECCYD (488 boys, 475 girls) we examined relations between pubertal development (timing, tempo) and trajectories (developmental change and year-to-year lability) of parent-child conflict and closeness from age 8.5 to 15.5 years. Changes were mostly characterized by year-to-year fluctuations - lability. Parent-child conflict increased and closeness decreased some with age. Pubertal timing and tempo were more consistently associated with lability in parent-child relationships than with long-term trends, although faster tempo was associated with steeper decreases in parent-child closeness. Findings provide a platform for examining how puberty contributes to both long-term and transient changes in adolescents' relationships and adjustment.

Keywords: Father-child; Lability; Longitudinal; Mother-child; Puberty.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model-Fitting Results for Conflict and Closeness. Panels A and B depict raw data for a subset of the sample for father-daughter conflict (A) and mother-son closeness (B), exemplifying conflict and closeness across dyads. Panels C and D depict fitted curves for developmental change in conflict (C) and closeness (D) for the same subset. Solid gray lines depict the predicted curves for the subset of individuals, and bold curves show the small but significant sample average increase in conflict (C) and decrease in closeness (D). Panels E and F depict the lability (residual variance) in conflict (E) and closeness (F) for the same subset.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Association Between Tempo and Developmental Change in Mother-Son Closeness. Faster tempo is associated with steeper decreases in closeness across adolescence (β = -.56).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Associations Between Timing and Lability in Father-Daughter Conflict. Earlier timing was associated with greater lability of conflict with mothers among White girls (β = -.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Associations Between Tempo and Lability. Lability is the standard deviation of the residuals from the growth curve models. Panel A: Slower tempo is associated with more lability in father-daughter relationships (father-daughter conflict shown, β = -.15). Panel B: Faster tempo is associated with greater lability of father-son conflict and mother-son closeness (mother-son conflict shown, β = .28).
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