Relationships between dysfunctional parenting and adolescent symptoms

This study used self-report measures to examine the relationships of parenting practices to seven emotional, behavioral, and somatic symptoms of 66 high school seniors. Dysfunctional parenting, characterized by teens' perceptions of conflict, criticism, negative behavior management, and child dependency, was significantly associated with symptoms experienced by adolescents. Statistical models for each of the seven symptoms indicated that: symptoms of boys were more related to dysfunctional parenting than those of girls; non-parenting variables were only associated with symptoms of girls; and dysfunctional parenting was related more to symptoms of internalizing in boys and externalizing in girls. In addition, conflict with fathers was the parenting variable that was the most predictive of symptoms in both girls and boys, even though both reported having more conflicts with mothers. Dysfunctional parenting by mothers was statistically associated with symptoms but generally contributed less to the models, especially for girls. These findings suggest avenues for early intervention with parents by family physicians when adolescents have certain symptoms.