TitleParents do matter: trajectories of change in externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2003
AuthorsGalambos, NL, Barker, ET, Almeida, DM
JournalChild Dev
Volume74
Issue2
Pagination578-94
Date Published2003 Mar-Apr
ISSN0009-3920
KeywordsAdolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Child, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Models, Psychological, Parent-Child Relations, Parenting, Parents, Surveys and Questionnaires
Abstract

<p>This study examined the relative influence of three parenting behaviors (support, behavioral control, and psychological control) and deviant peers on trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence. A white, working-to-middle-class sample of adolescents and their mothers and fathers in two-earner families participated in a 32-year longitudinal study (N = 109 families). The study began when the adolescents were in sixth grade (M age = 11.5 years). Analyses showed that parents' firm behavioral control seemed to halt the upward trajectory in externalizing problems among adolescents with deviant peers. Initial levels of internalizing problems were higher among adolescents with parents who reported lower levels of behavioral control and among adolescents with deviant peers. This study suggests that parenting exerts an important influence in adolescents' lives and may do so even in the face of potentially negative peer influence.</p>

DOI10.1111/1467-8624.7402017
Alternate JournalChild Dev
PubMed ID12705574