Probleemgedrag bij Brugklassers: Het Effect van de Ouder-Kindrelatie

Abstract

Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the link between the parent-child relationship and problem behaviour in early adolescence. The aspects of the parent-child relationship that were included in this research were parental warmth, conflict and monitoring. The problem behaviours that were measured were depression and aggression. Method 892 adolescents from five high schools in The Netherlands participated (427 boys and 459 girls). The age of participants ranged from 11 to 14 (M = 12.48). Self-reported measures were used to assess the included variables. To examine whether warmth, conflict and monitoring predicted early adolescent depression and aggression, two regression analyses were performed. Results The results show that less paternal warmth predicts more depression. More maternal warmth, on the other hand, also predicts more depression. Both parental and maternal warmth do not predict aggression. Conflict with both parents did predict more depression as well as more aggression. The relationship between monitoring by both parents and depression was found to be nonsignificant. Less monitoring by father (but not mother) does predict more aggression. Conclusions Specific aspects of the parent-child relationship do seem to predict depression and/or aggression in early adolescents. More research is needed to look into these associations so suitable help can be designed for early adolescents to prevent or decrease problem behaviour.