Parent-Adolescent (In)Congruence in Closeness and Conflict: Differential Links to Adolescent Emotion Regulation

Parent-adolescent perceptual (in)congruence in relationship has important implications for adolescent emotion regulation, yet little is known about how congruence and discrepancies in perceived closeness and conflict relate to cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. To address this gap, the present study examined these associations across early, middle, and late adolescence. Data were drawn from 1,875 Chinese parent-adolescent dyads (adolescents: M_age = 13.06, SD_age = 2.78, 50% female; parents: M_age = 40.23, SD_age = 5.32, 76.5% mothers). Polynomial regression and response surface analyses showed that congruent high closeness was associated with greater cognitive reappraisal, whereas congruent high conflict was associated with lower cognitive reappraisal and greater expressive suppression. Adolescents who perceived less closeness or more conflict than their parents reported lower cognitive reappraisal and greater expressive suppression. Moreover, closeness was more strongly linked to reappraisal, whereas conflict was more closely linked to suppression. These associations were generally consistent across early, middle, and late adolescence. Across relational domains, adolescents' own perceptions showed stronger associations with emotion regulation than parents' reports. These findings highlight the importance of considering both relational domains and multiple informants when understanding how parent-adolescent relationship perceptions are associated with adolescents' emotion regulation development.