Negative Parental Expectations Encourage Misbehavior in Teens

A new study indicates that teens are more likely to conform to negative stereotypes when their parents expect them to do so.

The study, conducted by professor of psychology Christy Buchanan of Wake Forest University and co-authored by Johna Hughes of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, included more than 250 adolescents and their mothers. The adolescents were surveyed in sixth or seventh grade and then again a year later.

Buchanan commented on the implications of the study: "Parents who believe they are simply being realistic might actually contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Negative expectations on the part of both parents and children predict more negative behaviors later on. Higher expectations for risk-taking and rebelliousness predict higher levels of problem behavior, even controlling for many other predictors of such behavior."

Buchanan believes that parents who expect their children to become rebellious when they become teenagers may be making a significant mistake. Parents' assumptions that their kids will act a certain way may communicate to their children that something is wrong if the children don't act that way:

"Sometimes parents expect more negative behavior from their own adolescents than they should, based on the adolescent's history of behavior. By thinking risk-taking or rebelliousness is normal for teenagers and conveying that to their children, parents might add to other messages from society that make teenagers feel abnormal if they are not willing to take risks or break laws. This can mean, for example, that when parents expect teens to drink before they turn 21 or to engage in other risky behaviors, kids are less likely to resist societal pressures to do so."

(Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: behaviors, parents, teen risk taking

posted by Aspen Education Group @ 8:54 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

Kids With Married Parents at Lower Risk for Sex, Drugs

Children whose parents live together but aren't married are more likely to engage in risky behaviors compared to children of married parents, according to a Canadian study.

Researchers at the Institute of Marriage and Family used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, checking on them at ages 6 to 11 and then again at ages 14 to 19. The ones who lived with unmarried parents were more likely to smoke, deal drugs, be sexually active, and have poor relationships with their parents. Almost half (49 percent) of the children ages 6 to 9 years old whose parents were unmarried lived with only one biological parent.

Married couples tended to be better educated, older, and more likely to be religious.

Labels: behaviors, parents, risks

posted by Aspen Education Group @ 9:25 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

Alcohol and Drug Use Increasing in Small-Town Illinois

According to an article published on the local news website for Wabash Valley, Illinois, teen drug and alcohol abuse has increased over the past year. The data come from the Body Electric Coalition, which conducted a study of teen behavior in East Central Illinois. The findings contradict the 10-year trend, which shows an overall decrease in alcohol and drug abuse. In addition, use of one significant substance - methamphetamine - is down from the past year.

The director of the Body Electric Coalition commented on the recent increase and related behaviors: "By and large drug use over the ten years have gone down as have alcohol and tobacco use...[however] we're also finding that violence, teen dating abuse, pregnancy, and those issues that have to do with teen sexuality are also on an uprise. (Sources: www.mywabashvalley.com)

Labels: abuse, behaviors, teen-addiction

posted by Aspen Education Group @ 10:41 PM  0 Comments Links to this post