Adolescents-Parent Relationships As Perceived By Younger And Older Adolescents

Abstract

This study examined the perception of adolescent-parent relationship by older and younger adolescents. It was hypothesised that there will be no significant difference in the perception of adolescent-parent relationship among older and younger adolescents. 320 adolescents drawn from both junior and senior secondary schools in Rivers state of Nigeria were used as participants for this study. There ages were between 11 years and 18 years. Adolescents whose ages fall between 11 and 13years were used as representative sample for younger adolescents while those who fall within the ages of 14 and 18years were used as representative sample for older adolescents. A 14-item questionnaire measuring adolescentparent relationships was utilized to examine the quality of this relationship. Chi-square statistics was used to analyze the results which showed that early adolescents were more positive in their relationship with their parents than older ones, X² cal =1.37; X² critical = 7.815, df 3. Result of this study has implication on child- parent interaction - on the kind of control expected of parents on their children bearing in mind differences in cognitive development of adolescents of different chronological ages.