“I Don’t Tell You!” Do Parent-Adolescent Interaction Problems Cause Both Low Parental Knowledge and Adolescent Internalizing? J. Gowert Masche Kristianstad University College, Sweden William J. Burk Leiden University, the Netherlands www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Questions What are the trajectories of parental knowledge? Reason for this question: paradox that high levels of knowledge associated with positive adolescent development, but declining levels developmental norm Decline only in a deviant group? Interindividual differences and intraindividual change as two separate processes? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Questions What are the trajectories of parental knowledge? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Deviant group model: Problematic youths quit parent-child interaction.

Questions What are the trajectories of parental knowledge? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Independent processes model: Developmental decline and low levels in problem youths independent, probably reflecting different causal processes.

Questions What are the trajectories of parental knowledge? Longitudinal Growth Mixture Model will identify classes with different trajectories over time. www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Questions What are the trajectories of parental knowledge? Does parental knowledge predict adolescent internalizing? Some (but not all) studies showed associations knowledge-internalizing “Monitoring” interpretation of knowledge cannot explain effects on internalizing So, might knowledge actually be a consequence? Or, does knowledge predict internalizing for other reasons? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Questions What are the trajectories of parental knowledge? Does parental knowledge predict adolescent internalizing? If knowledge predicts internalizing, why so? Research has shown link between family interaction and both knowledge and internalizing Third variable? Mediating factor? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Questions If knowledge predicts internalizing, why so? Third variable? Mediating factor? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Results of Kerr & Stattin (2000) Depression / Low Self-Esteem Parental Knowledge Child Disclosure .70 -.24 -.24 -.16/-.26

Questions If knowledge predicts internalizing, why so? Third variable? Mediating factor? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Results of Kerr & Stattin (2000) Depression / Low Self-Esteem Parental Knowledge Child Disclosure .70 -.07 -.05 -.16/-.26 Depression / Low Self-Esteem Child Disclosure Parental Knowledge .70 -.16 -.26 -.24/-.24

Questions If knowledge predicts internalizing, why so? Third variable? Mediating factor? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Results of Kerr & Stattin (2000) Depression / Low Self-Esteem Parental Knowledge Child Disclosure .70 -.07 -.05 -.16/-.26 Depression / Low Self-Esteem Child Disclosure Parental Knowledge .70 -.16 -.26 -.07/-.05 Family communication might be either third variable or mediator of the parental knowledge-internalizing link. We will examine parental aversive behaviors adolescent non-disclosure and opposition which previously have been related to both knowledge and internalizing.

Sample N = 1,744 adolescents in Swedish town 5 annual self-report surveys 2001-2005 www.hkr.se/gowert-masche 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Age Time 1: Predictors T2-5: Growth Curves, age 11-18

What are the trajectories of parental knowledge? Will it be the Deviant group model? Or the Independent processes model? Trajectories not entirely parallel, but similar.  Most support for Independent Processes Model www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Does parental knowledge predict adolescent internalizing? T2-T5  Yes, it does! www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Does parental knowledge predict adolescent internalizing? T2-T5  Yes, it does! www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Or does internalizing predict knowledge? T2-T5 No, it does not! www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Or does internalizing predict knowledge? T2-T5 No, it does neither! www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Summary so far Stable interindividual differences in parental knowledge, Largely independent of general age decline. Knowledge longitudinally predicts low trajectories of internalizing But internalizing does not predict knowledge How can this effect of knowledge be explained? By a third variable? A mediator? www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Two measures of communication processes www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Aversive Parental Behaviors Adolescent Non-disclosure & opposition

Trying the third-variable explanation www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Stronger predictor than knowledge itself!

Trying the third-variable explanation T2-T5 Aversive Parental Behaviors (only high vs. low: ) www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Trying the third-variable explanation T2-T5 Aversive Parental Behaviors www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Adolescent Non-disclosure & opposition 

Trying the third-variable explanation T2-T5 Aversive Parental Behaviors www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Adolescent Non-disclosure & opposition + T1 Knowledge - -

Trying the third-variable explanation T2-T5 Aversive Parental Behaviors www.hkr.se/gowert-masche Adolescent Non-disclosure & opposition + T1 Knowledge -

Discussion The last set of findings suggest a third-variable explanation: Aversive parenting predicts adolescent non-disclosure and opposition (cross-sectionally) Nondisclosure and opposition predicts both low parental knowledge and adolescent internalizing Low parental knowledge predicts internalizing, but largely spurious effect What about the alternative: Knowledge  Family communication  Internalizing? Improbable given the huge longitudinal effect of family communication on knowledge. There cannot be much association “left” for reversed effect, even less for an indirect, mediated effect. www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Strengths & Limits Growth mixture modeling with predictors previous than the growth curve, controlling auto-regressions of the dependent variable Quite safe causal interpretations Distinction between different groups All data adolescent self-report Might inflate effects But unlikely across time when controlling previous levels www.hkr.se/gowert-masche

Take-home message “I don’t tell you!” Aversive parental behaviors predict adolescent opposition and non-disclosure. This in turn predicts low parental knowledge, and it predicts adolescents’ internalizing problems. Interindividual differences and intraindividual decline of knowledge are independent of each other. Interindividual knowledge differences indicate functional/dysfunctional family communication, and are powerful predictor of future adolescent problems, but knowledge is hardly a causal factor on its own – no “monitoring.” www.hkr.se/gowert-masche