Perceived actions of parents and attitudes of youth

The present study assessed the self-concepts and evaluations of parents of a sample of high school students. Findings indicated that students' evaluations of parents, but not self-concepts, were significantly correlated with the perceived "loving" actions engaged in by their parents toward one another. These findings are in marked contrast to the results reported by Parish (1988), who surveyed college students, and suggest that more research is needed to determine if these findings are artifacts of the samples surveyed, or are indicative of developmental shifts that occur as individuals move from adolescence to adulthood.