Session: Parents As a Protective Influence in Adolescence: A Focus on Aggression, Bullying, and Romantic Relationships (Society for Prevention Research 24th Annual Meeting)

There is a large body of research documenting the influence that parents have on adolescent development and various outcomes in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Although much of the parent-focused prevention programming has targeted younger children, the likelihood of engaging in risky and health-compromising behaviors increases during adolescence. The proposed panel of papers focuses on youth-parent relationships and parental influences, with the goal of addressing a range of challenges that youth face, including bullying/cyberbullying, aggressive and problem behavior, and navigating romantic relationships. The panel includes a collection of papers that focus on various aspects of the youth-parent relationship that may have a protective influence for youth.  

One of the studies presents preliminary findings from an adolescent-focused prevention program, whereas the other two papers consider implications for promoting parent-relevant protective factors and reducing risk for adolescents. Specifically, the first paper draws upon a large-scale study of school climate to better understand the potential role that parents play in supporting adolescents who are exposed to bullying and cyberbullying. The findings highlight a potential link between parents’ perceptions of school climate and youth’s experiences of bullying, particularly in relation to in-person bullying as compared to cyberbullying. The second paper includes 99 adolescent couples in romantic relationships who reported on parental support of romantic relationships and disclosure about romantic relationships; their findings highlight the protective role of parent support within the context of adolescent romantic relationships. Notable are gender differences in these associations, which may reflect parents’ differential socialization of male and female adolescents around romantic relationship issues, differences in males’ versus females’ participation in problem behaviors, or both. The third paper presents preliminary findings from an ongoing randomized controlled trial testing the impact of a recently adapted early adolescent version of the evidence-based Coping Power Program; this program includes components for youth, parents, and their teachers to promote effective problem solving, communication, and emotion regulation. These findings highlight the potential impacts of parent-relevant programming in adolescence.

A common theme across the papers is the importance of youth-parent relationships to support engaging in prosocial behaviors, as well as the home-school connection. A prevention researcher with expertise in developing and testing parent-focused programming will synthesize the main findings and identify common themes across the presentations.