Developmental changes in parental authority legitimacy and over-time associations with adjustment: Differences in parent, first-born, and second-born perspectives.

Abstract

Discrepancies in first- (M = 14.97 years, SD = 1.82) and second-born adolescents’ (M = 12.20 years, SD = 1.90 years) and their parents’ perceptions of parental authority legitimacy (PAL) were examined in a longitudinal sample of 145 predominantly White, middle-class, U.S. families. Utilizing a growth curve modeling approach, changes in the discrepancies between parents’ and both first- and second-born adolescents’ ratings of PAL over the course of 4 years were examined separately by the social–cognitive domain of the issues (social domain theory; Smetana, 2011; Turiel, 2002). We found that discrepancies between parents and first-borns increased over time for personal and multifaceted issues, whereas discrepancies for second-born adolescents increased over socially regulated issues. Additionally, larger initial discrepancies between parents and both adolescents over socially regulated issues (i.e., moral and conventional) were associated with greater depressive symptoms, while decreases in discrepancies over time were generally associated with better adjustment outcomes but with some domain and birth order differentiation. Discussion focuses on the developmental appropriateness (or inappropriateness) of family member perception differences in authority legitimacy over the course of adolescence.

Analytical challenges of testing hypotheses of agreement and discrepancy: Comment on Campione-Barr, Lindell, and Giron (2020).

“…For example, goodness of fit models suggest that differences in the degree of fit between a child’s temperament and the child’s environment will partially explain the developmental experiences of the child (e.g., Thomas & Chess, 1977). Similarly, Campione-Barr, Lindell, and Giron (2020) propose that variability in the discrepancy between parent and adolescent parent authority legitimacy (PAL) beliefs may have implications for the adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment. Furthermore, others have proposed that variability in the agreement of parent and child perceptions of parenting may have developmental consequences for the child (e.g., Laird & De Los Reyes, 2013).…”

More data, more problems: Analytical complications of studying differential family experiences over time: Reply to Laird (2020).

“…As with all good scientific advances, our deeper research questions will inevitably lead to better analytical and methodological advances. We hope, if nothing else, that our findings (Campione-Barr et al, 2020), in conjunction with the critical issues raised by Laird (2020), will generate further scientific debate, particularly within the realm of best practices with respect to the small but important field of PDT and sibling differential experiences. Because, while more complicated data and designs truly do cause more challenges for developmental scholars, they can also lead to important advances in our understanding.…”

“…Within the developmental science literature, within-unit measures such as a person over time or individuals within a family can be examples of such appropriate use of difference scores (Burt & Obradovic, 2013; Padilla et al, 2016). In an effort to appropriately examine agreement/disagreement over time within families as well as associations with youth adjustment in the most parsimonious way possible given our other constraints, we reported models with difference scores as well as the separate effects of parents’ and adolescents’ reports of PAL over time on youth adjustment (reported as supplementary analyses; Campione-Barr et al, 2020). This approach allowed us to compare where the difference score models revealed unique effects.…”

“…As we note in the article to which Laird (2020) is in response (Campione- Barr et al, 2020), we recognize that there may be concerns with our use of difference scores as a means of examining agreement (or disagreement) between parents and adolescents regarding the legitimacy of parental authority (PAL) over a variety of issues. We also recognize, however, that in an effort to examine our primary research questions, we were faced with many analytical challenges that required a balancing of priorities.…”

“…One area of developmental science where difference scores are still in regular use is that of parental differential treatment (PDT) or sibling differential experiences. In this response we argue that, in the case of our particular article (Campione-Barr, Lindell, & Giron, 2020), while the use of difference scores may not have been ideal, they were utilized for several reasons, including the history of the field in operationally defining within-family differential experiences through the use of discrepancy scores, as well as the complicated analytical nature of research examining more than one dyad within the same family. A discussion of whether or not analytical strategies need to change in this literature is important for the field to move forward.…”