Household chaos and mother-adolescent communication

Household chaos creates unpredictability and stress in families' lives compromising the quality of family interaction and communication. This study examined how mother and adolescent perceptions of daily household chaos relate to adolescent disclosure of information to mothers. We also explored indirect effects through mother and adolescent responsiveness. Participants included 109 mother-adolescent dyads who completed a 7-day diary study (adolescent age 14-18 years, 49% female, 38% White, 25% Asian, 17% Hispanic, 7% Black, 13% multiple/other ethnicities). Multilevel models revealed that on days when adolescents reported more household chaos than usual, they were more likely to disclose information to their mothers. On days when mothers and adolescents perceived more household chaos, they perceived their relationship partner as less responsive, and on days when mothers and adolescents perceived less responsiveness from their relationship partner, they reported less adolescent disclosure. There was a significant indirect effect among mothers' reports at the daily level, such that on days when mothers reported more household chaos than usual, they reported their adolescents as less responsive, and in turn, as disclosing less information to them. Averages across the week showed that mothers who reported higher average levels of household chaos compared to other families reported less adolescent disclosure. Mothers and adolescents who reported more household chaos compared to other families perceived their relationship partner as less responsive, and less adolescent responsiveness predicted less adolescent-reported and mother-reported adolescent disclosure on average compared to other families. Findings are discussed in terms of relational disengagement in chaotic home environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).