The parent–adolescent relationship at puberty: Hispanic ethnicity and parent alcoholism as moderators.

Abstract

This study tested Hispanic ethnicity and parent alcoholism as moderators of pubertal status effects on the parent-child relationship in a community sample of 421 boys and girls 11.5-16.5 years old. Ethnicity was a significant moderator: The direction of the puberty effect on parent support and parent-adolescent conflict differed for Hispanic (primarily Mexican American) and non-Hispanic White boys. Parent alcoholism did not moderate the effect of puberty, but there was more conflict and less support between children of alcoholics and their parents than between controls and their parents. Puberty effects on the parent-adolescent relationship were also found above and beyond the effects of chronological age. Future directions for research in this area are discussed.