| dc.description.abstract | The aim of this study was to examine the relation between parenting behavior and adolescents’ disclosure and intimacy within the relationship with parents, and to examine ethnic differences. A sample of 541 indigenous and non-indigenous adolescents with a mean age of 14.4 years in the Netherlands, completed questionnaires at school. The results showed ethnic similarities in the mean levels of reported support, authoritative control, disclosure and intimacy. Non-indigenous adolescents experienced a higher level of authoritarian control from their parents than indigenous adolescents. Further results showed that parenting behavior was indeed related to adolescents’ disclosure and intimacy. Especially parental support showed a strong positive relation with both disclosure and intimacy. Authoritative control was only positively related to disclosure, whereas authoritarian control was negatively related to disclosure. There were no ethnic differences found for the relation between parenting behaviors and disclosure and intimacy. The results show the importance of support for a positive relation with parents, a factor that plays an important role in preventing adolescents’ behavior problems. Longitudinal research is recommended for investigating causal relations between parenting behavior and disclosure and for the mediating role of disclosure in parenting behavior and adolescents’ behavior problems. | |
