Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31299/ksi.29.1.3
Communication and parental knowledge about their children's experience with behavioral problems- parent-adolescent discrepancies
Toni Maglica
orcid.org/0000-0002-0716-0037
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split
Abstract
Parental knowledge and monitoring, involvement in child activities and family communication are perceived as one of the strongest family protective factors, especially in adolescence when young people may have more experience with behavioral problems. Adolescents’ perceptions and assessments of themselves, their parents and the environment they grow up in are often different from those of their parents.
This paper aims to analyze characteristics of parent-adolescent communication, parental knowledge about their children’s experience with behavioral problems and determine potential discrepancies between parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions. The research was carried out on a convenient sample of n=447 adolescents and n=447 parents. By using the appropriate instruments, adolescents’ experience with behavioral problems, perception of frequency of communication and reasons discouraging adolescents from talking to their parents were analyzed. Both adolescents and their parents filled in the same questionnaires.
The results have shown that parents underestimate the level of their children’s experience with behavioral problems and, on the other hand, overestimate the frequency of communication about these problems compared with adolescents. Discrepancies were also found for reasons discouraging children from talking to their parents. Adolescents mostly attribute this to the fear of parental reaction. The results support existing knowledge in this field and may have strong practical implications for prevention and treatment interventions.
Keywords
adolescents; parents; communication; behavioral problems
Hrčak ID:
259637
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2021.
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