He Said What? Guided Cognitive Reframing About the Co‐Resident Father/Stepfather–Adolescent Relationship

Abstract

We studied young adolescents’ seeking out support to understand conflict with their co-resident fathers/stepfathers and the cognitive and affective implications of such support-seeking, phenomena we call guided cognitive reframing. Our sample included 392 adolescents (Mage = 12.5, 52.3% female) who were either of Mexican or European ancestry and lived with their biological mothers and either a stepfather or a biological father. More frequent reframing was associated with more adaptive cognitive explanations for father/stepfather behavior. Cognitions explained the link between seeking out and feelings about the father/stepfather and self. Feelings about the self were more strongly linked to depressive symptoms than cognitions. We discuss the implications for future research on social support, coping, guided cognitive reframing, and father-child relationships.

Guided cognitive reframing of adolescent-father conflict: Who Mexican American and European American adolescents seek and why

“…However, it is likely that the cognitive experience of reframing will depend on who is sought to provide the information. In other work (Cookston et al, under review), we test the latter part of this conceptual model of cognitive reframing; and in the current chapter we focus on the left side of the model to instead examine who adolescents talk to about father-adolescent conflict and specifically test the individual, family, and cultural-level factors that predict seeking out different sources. Next, we review whom adolescents turn to for support and the determinants of this support seeking.…”