Interview with Mark Hutten, M.A. [Parent Coach]
Question 1: In what way do parenting and parent-child relationships differ from late childhood (age 10-11 years) through mid-adolescence (15 years)? Although moms are less involved in kid's school activity as they grow older, kids feel their parents continue to provide school support in other ways. Moms & dads of older kids do not report different parenting practices than parents of younger kids. Nonetheless, as they grow older, kids feel the quality of their relationship with parents declines. Older kids report that their moms & dads understand them less and that they argue with parents significantly more. Older kids feel their moms & dads are less warm and more rejecting, and feel less at ease confiding in their moms and their dads than younger kids. Question 2: How do child adjustment and social relationships change over this period? Age changes in social relationships were consistent across the two samples. Smoking, alcohol use and af...