Impact of communication patterns on perceived differences in attitudes of adolescents and their parents toward contemporary issues

The quality of relationships between parents and their adolescents has received considerable attention by scholars in the fields of individual and family studies. The focus of this study was to examine the presence or absence of an "actual" or a "perceived" generation/communication gap between parents and their adolescent children. An investigation of parent and adolescent attitudes toward sexual behavior and parental management behavior was also conducted. In addition, the researcher was concerned with the relationship of perceptions of intergenerational communication patterns (openness of exchange, problems in communication, and parental management behavior) with the accuracy with which parents and their adolescents ascribe attitudinal beliefs to each other.

Individual survey data were collected from a sample of 47 high school sophomores and their mothers and fathers. Analyses were conducted on the dimensions of parent/ adolescent communication patterns and parent/adolescent attitudes toward contemporary issues. Analyses were also conducted for gender differences in intergenerational dyads. Pearson product-moment correlations were used to analyze the relationship between perceptions of communication and accuracy with which parents and adolescents perceive attitude differences.

A major conclusion of the study was that parents and adolescents do differ as to their self-reported attitudes regarding sexual behavior and parental management behavior, with adolescents tending to be somewhat more liberal in their attitudes. Parents and adolescents also exhibited a high level of accuracy in perceiving what the others' attitudes would be, with adolescents and fathers being somewhat more accurate than mothers.

A further conclusion was that parents perceived more openness and fewer problems in family communication than adolescents, and sons and daughters perceived more openness with their mothers than fathers. Finally, no relationship was found between parents* and adolescents’ perceptions of their communication patterns and their perceptions of differences in their attitudes.

These research results seem to have implications for theory and practice in anticipating and explaining the changes in levels of family communication in response to developmental stimuli throughout the life cycle. Further research is warranted in the area of identifying levels of satisfaction expected in family communication.