Adolescents' perceptions of family responsibility-taking.

Taylor, Stephanie ; Field, Tiffany ; Yando, Regina 等

Parents consider responsibility-taking an important developmental issue for adolescents. However, little is known about how adolescents perceive their family responsibilities, and there has been no measure for this construct.

Recent increases in separated, divorced, and single-parent families have required adolescents to assume more responsibility in their families, such as household chores (Garbarino, 1986). Adolescents in such families may experience greater demands to make mature decisions (Amato, 1987; Dombusch, Carlsmith, Bushwall, Ritter, Leiderman, Hastorf, & Gross, 1985) and more frequently develop companionate and sympathetic relationships with their custodial parents than do adolescents from two-parent families (Polit, 1984; Weis, 1979). In addition, because adolescents in single-parent families may have more responsibilities inside the home, they have less time for outside activities (Keith, Nelson, Schlabach, & Thompson, 1990).

Investigators have suggested that the changing economy has also affected adolescents' responsibility-taking. Garbarino (1986) has observed that the more daily life becomes focused on having money, the more Americans have shifted away from child-centered lifestyles. For example, affluent parents tend to rush adolescents into preparing for future elite status (the hurried child syndrome), and financially struggling parents tend to rush children into obtaining employment. As a result, adolescents may assume increased familial responsibilities at a younger age. Although some researchers have reported negative outcomes for these adolescents, others have suggested that such responsibilities facilitate emotional autonomy and disengagement from the family (Ryan & Lynch, 1989).

For the family, adolescents' responsibility-taking may contribute to increased intimacy with parents. Recent research suggests that adolescents have closer relationships with their parents than was portrayed in earlier literature (Offer, Ostrov, Howard, & Atkinson, 1990; Smollar & Youniss, 1989). In turn, closer relationships lead to more positive social and emotional development (Groterant & Cooper, 1985, 1986; Hauser, Powers, Noam, Jacobson, Weiss, & Follansbee, 1984). Presumably, closeness to parents relates to family responsibility.taking, although little is known about this relationship and how adolescents view family responsibility-taking.

In one study, adolescents' experiences of control, responsibility-taking, and life satisfaction were found to be strongly related, and they viewed responsibility-taking positively (Ortman, 1988). However, adolescents' views about particular family responsibilities were not tapped. Another study reported that children who assumed more family responsibility tended to be more independent, mastered self-help skills, developed problem-solving abilities, and matured more quickly than did children who assumed less responsibility (Weis, 1979). Again, it was not clear how the children viewed particular family responsibilities. It may be that adolescents perceive responsibility-taking in general as a positive, autonomy-promoting activity, but view the actuality as a negative prolongation of family involvement and an interference with peer relationships.

In the present study, adolescents were administered a scale designed specifically to measure family responsibility-taking (Field & Yando, 1991). A major limitation of previous responsibility-taking research was the use of parents as informants. This study, however, was designed to tap adolescents' own perceptions of family responsibility taking, both potentially positive aspects (e.g., being closer to parents) and negative (e.g., worrying more about family, having more household tasks and less time with peers). Because adolescents may view family responsibility-taking as enhancing relationships with parents but interfering with relationships with peers, a self-report scale was included to tap intimacy with parents and peers. Additional scales tapped self-perceptions in related areas: self-esteem, depression, and risk-taking. These domains were selected because some research has suggested that a good relationship with parents facilitates the development of self-esteem, while less family responsibility-taking and less intimacy with parents may relate to greater depression and risk-taking behaviors.

METHOD

Subjects and Procedure

The scales were administered to 400 adolescents, aged 14 to 19 years (mean = 18). Slightly more than half (54%) were female; 33% were White non-Hispanic, 48% Hispanic, 12% Black, and 5% Asian. Sixteen percent of the respondents reported that they were low socioeconomic status (SES), 50% middle, and 33% upper SES (based on parents' income). Sixty-two percent lived in two-parent families, and 38% lived in divorced families (68% of which were female headed).

The scales were administered by classroom teachers toward the end of the students' senior year. The scales required 45 minutes to complete, and anonymity was assured.

Measures

Demographic questions. Demographic information included gender, ethnicity, parents' marital status, education level, and self-perceived socioeconomic status. Lifestyle information included grades, amount of exercise, eating problems, violence/angry feelings, suicidal thoughts, and drug and alcohol use.

Intimacy scales (Blyth & Foster-Clark, 1987). These scales measure level of intimacy with mother, father, and best friend; for example, "How important is your mother/father/best friend to you?" Answers range from not at all to very much, and higher scores signify greater intimacy. Psychometric data presented by Blyth and Foster-Clark (1987) suggest good internal consistency and test-retest reliability.

Self-esteem (Field & Yando, 1991). This scale was developed because other adolescent self-esteem questionnaires were considered too lengthy and complex to include in this 45-minute battery of self-report measures. Respondents are asked to compare themselves with their peers on the following descriptors: confident, anxious, happy, fearful, competitive, ambitious, hard-working, good-looking, good in sports, creative, independent, angry, honest, generous, caring, expressive, outgoing, sentimental, good at schoolwork, and moody. Responses are less, the same, or more. A self-esteem score is derived from the 20 items on this scale, with a higher score signifying greater self-esteem relative to peers. Adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .66) and test-retest reliability (r = .83) have been established for this scale.

Depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale; Radloff, 1977). The 20-item CES-D includes the primary symptoms of depression. Respondents are asked to report on their feelings during the preceding week. Responses are made on a 4-point Likert scale: rarely or none of the time, some or little of the time, a lot of the time, and most or all of the time. Higher scores signify greater depression. Mean scores and standard deviations for high school populations have been established (Radloff, 1991). In addition, the scale has demonstrated adequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity (Schoenbach, Kaplan, Wagner, Grimson, & Miller, 1983).

Risk-taking (Field & Yando, 1991). This brief scale was designed to tap sports-related (13 items) and danger-related (9 items) risk-taking. Adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .69) and test-retest reliability (r = .81) have been found for this scale.

Drug use. Four items on the demographic questionnaire pertained to smoking and the use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine, with answers ranging from never to regularly, and higher scores signifying more use. Even though the measure was anonymous, these questions were asked in the past tense so students would not feel incriminated by their answers.

Family responsibility-taking (Field & Yando, 1991). This 10-item scale was developed to tap adolescents' feelings about potentially positive and negative aspects of assuming family responsibilities. Items include doing housework, making mother/father (to whomever the student feels closest) feel better when she/he is "down," and having more responsibilities than peers (see Table 2 for all items). Responses range from rarely to very often. Internal consistency on this scale was adequate (Cronbach's alpha = .65), as was test-retest reliability using a subsample tested one month later (r = .83). Concurrent validity is suggested by the significant correlation between the family responsibility-taking total score and the intimacy with parents scores (r = .37 for mother and r = .28 for father, both p [less than] .01).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Correlation analyses were conducted. Family responsibility-taking was not related to gender, ethnicity, or family type (divorced/two-parent), nor was it related to grade point average. This may suggest that grades do not improve or decline with perceived family responsibility-taking. Perceived family responsibility-taking also was not related to intimacy with friends, depression, risk-taking, or drug use (see Table 1). However, it was significantly related to intimacy with mother, intimacy with father, and self-esteem.

Correlation analyses were used to examine relationships between the items on the responsibility-taking scale and total scores on the intimacy, self-esteem, and depression scales (see Table 2). The highest correlations were for "treated like friend by mother/father" and "can make mother/father feel better," which were positively related to intimacy and self-esteem and negatively related to depression. Depression was positively related to "worry about family," "have seen mother/ father cry," and "no time for friends." Fewer correlations were significant for "feel more responsible than peers," "would cancel plans for mother/father," "worry about family," and "have seen mother/father cry."

The adolescents clearly viewed family responsibility-taking as positive irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, or SES. Adolescents who perceived that they assumed more family responsibilities also felt that they had more intimate relationships with their parents, were less depressed, and had higher self-esteem. The relationship between perceived family responsibility-taking and intimacy with parents is perhaps not surprising given that many of the responsibility-taking items involve intimacy (e.g., "rather be with family," "enjoy listening to mother/father talk about work," "treated like friend by mother/father," "can make mother/father feel better"). Of course, it is not clear whether greater intimacy led to greater family responsibility-taking or the reverse. The negative correlation between "no time for friends" and intimacy suggests that adolescents who felt more intimate with their parents and friends also had more time for their friends. This is an unexpected finding given that more family-responsibility might be associated with less time for friends if adolescents were spending more time with their families. In that regard it is not surprising that extreme forms of family responsibility-taking, such as worrying about family and limited time with peers, were related to feelings of depression. These correlations suggest that this brief instrument (10 items) can be useful for clinicians assessing family responsibility-taking and may provide an indication of adolescents' depression, self-esteem, and intimacy. Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations and Correlations with Family Responsibility-Taking Score Scale Mean SD r Intimacy with Mother 26.1 6.8 .37(*) (range = 8-40) Father 22.4 7.7 .28(*) Friend 31.2 6.3 ns Self-Esteem 44.5 5.0 .24(*) (range = 20-60) Depression 20.9 12.3 ns (range = 0-16) Risk-Taking 43.1 7.5 ns (range = 22-92) * p [less than] .01

These results are consistent with other findings in the literature regarding peer and family relationships as well as closeness to parents (Smollar & Youniss, 1989). In turn, feelings of family connectedness are related to positive social and emotional development (Hauser et al., 1984). Family responsibility-taking was positively related to self-esteem, particularly the "treated like friend by mother/father" and "can make mother/father feel better" items, while these were negatively related to depression.

Significant concerns have been expressed about adolescents assuming increased responsibilities due to the higher incidence of divorce and single-parenting (Keith et al., 1990). However, the findings here on family responsibility-taking suggest that adolescents view these responsibilities as a positive experience. Table 2 Correlations with Individual Responsibility-Taking Scale Items Self- Items Intimacy Esteem Depression Rather Be With Family .28(**) .17(**) ns Enjoy Listening to Mother/Father Talk About Work .37(**) .16(**) -.14(*) Treated Like Friend by Mother/Father .43(**) .25(**) -.25(**) Can Make Mother/Father Feel Better .44(**) .25(**) -.25(**) Do Housework Without Complaining .14(**) .19(**) ns No Time For Friends -.19(**) ns .28(**) Feel More Responsible Than Peers ns .17(b) ns Would Cancel Plans for Mother/Father .27(**) ns ns Worry About Family ns ns .31(**) Have Seen Mother/Father Cry ns ns .23(b) Total Score .39(**) .24(**) ns * p [less than] .05, ** p [less than] .01

The authors thank the students and teachers who participated in this study. This research was supported by an NIMH Research Scientist Award (#MH00331) and an NIMH Research Grant (#MH40779) to Tiffany Field.

REFERENCES

Amato, P. (1987). Family processes in one-parent, stepparent, and intact families: The child's point of view. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 327-337.

Blyth, D. A., & Foster-Clark, F. S. (1987). Gender differences in perceived intimacy with different members of adolescents' social networks. Sex Roles, 17, 689-719.

Dornbusch, S. M., Carlsmith, J. M., Bushwall, S. J., Ritter, P. L., Leiderman, H., Hastorf, A. H., & Gross, R. T. (1985). Single parents, extended households, and the control of adolescents. Child Development, 56, 326-341.

Field, T., & Yando, R. (1991). Adolescents' Self-Perceptions Scale. Unpublished scale.

Garbarino, J. (1986). Can American families afford the luxury of childhood? Journal of the Child Welfare League of America, 65, 119-127.

Grotevant, H. D., & Cooper, C. R. (1985). Patterns of interaction in family relationships and the development of identity exploration in adolescence. Child Development, 56, 415-428.

Grotevant, H. D., & Cooper, C. R. (1986). Individuation in family relationships: A perspective on individual differences in the development of identity and role-taking skill in adolescence. Human Development, 29, 82-100.

Hauser, S. T., Powers, S. I., Noam, G. G., Jacobson, A.M., Weiss, B., & Follansbee, D. J. (1984). Family contexts of adolescent ego development. Child Development, 55, 195-213.

Keith, J. G., Nelson, C. S., Schlabach, J. H., & Thompson, C. J. (1990). The relationships between parental employment and three measures of early adolescent responsibility. Journal of Early Adolescence, 10, 399-415.

Offer, D., Ostrov, E., Howard, K., & Atkinson, R. (1990). Normality and adolescence. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 13, 377-388.

Ortman, P. E. (1988). Adolescents' perceptions of and feelings about control and responsibility in their lives. Adolescence, 23, 913-924.

Polit, D. (1984). The only child in single-parent families. In T. Falbo (Ed.), The single child family. New York: Guilford Press.

Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.

Radloff, L. S. (1991). The use of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Youth and Adolescents, 20, 149-165.

Ryan, R. M., & Lynch, J. H. (1989). Emotional autonomy versus detachment: Revisiting the vicissitudes of adolescence and young adulthood. Child Development, 60, 340-356.

Schoenbach, V. J., Kaplan, B. H., Wagner, E. H., Grimson, R. C., & Miller, F. T. (1983). Prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms in young adolescents. American Journal of Public Health, 73, 1281-1287.

Smollar, J., & Youniss, J. (1989). Transformations in adolescents' perceptions of parents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 12, 71-84.

Weis, R. S. (1979). Growing up a little faster: The experience of growing up in a single-parent household. Journal of Social Issues, 35, 97-111.