Family relationships and social competence during late adolescence: A longitudinal study

This study examined the associations between family relationships and social competence at two different points of time during late adolescence. Three hypotheses were formulated: (1) the association between family relationships and social competence is stronger at time 1 than at time 2; (2) family relationships at time 1 are positively related to social competence at time 2; (3) family relationship variables are more important than family structure variables in predicting social competence at both times of measurement. Gender differences in changes in family relationships and social competence over time were also explored.

Questionnaires were first completed by 1,437 freshman students at the University of Arizona during summer preregistration or during fall semester, 1980. A total of 225 students (86 males, 139 females) at the University of Arizona were recontacted during spring semester, 1984.

The family relationship measures included closeness to father, closeness to mother, low parental intrusiveness, and contentment at home. The social competence measures included social self-esteem/social competence, masculinity, femininity, shyness, satisfaction and importance of opposite-sex relationships, and satisfaction and importance of same-sex relationships.

A series of canonical correlation analyses were performed to test the three hypotheses for males and females separately. A series of correlated sample t-tests and one-way analyses of variance were performed to examine gender differences in changes in family relationships and social competence over time.

Overall, the results supported the first hypothesis for males, the second hypothesis for females, and the third hypothesis for both. There were also notable gender differences in family relationships and social competence over time. Taken together, these results suggest that males and females have different experiences in separating from the family. For males, after leaving home, family ties gradually diminish, for females, family ties are more strongly maintained. However, for all students, there were positive correlations between family relationships and social competence during both time periods.

Recommendations for future research include developmental studies which examine the sequence and characteristics of the parent-adolescent separation process for males and females, studies which examine the parent-adolescent separation process with a more diverse late adolescent population, and studies which explore additional qualitative aspects of the parent-adolescent relationships in association with adolescent developmental characteristics.