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Mother–Adolescent Dialogues and Adolescents' Behavior Problems in a Multicultural Sample: The Mediating Role of Representations
Author(s) -
SherCensor Efrat,
KorenKarie Nina,
Getzov Smadar,
Rotman Pazit
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12327
Subject(s) - psychology , multiculturalism , developmental psychology , immigration , consistency (knowledge bases) , narrative , social psychology , clinical psychology , pedagogy , linguistics , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , history
This study examined whether the link between higher maternal sensitive guidance of emotional dialogues and fewer adolescent behavior problems is mediated by adolescents' more coherent representations of their mothers. The study also explored the consistency of this model across families from varied cultural backgrounds. Participants were 143 Jewish‐Israeli mother–adolescent dyads from three cultural groups: immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, immigrants from Western countries, and native‐born Israelis. Maternal sensitive guidance was observed during mother–adolescent dialogues about emotional experiences. Adolescents' representations were assessed via their narratives regarding their mother and their relationship. Examiners reported adolescents' behavior problems. Results indicated that across cultural groups adolescents' more coherent representations partially mediated the association between higher maternal sensitive guidance and fewer adolescent behavior problems.