Leslie Gordon Simons

Linking Mother–Father Differences in Parenting to a Typology of Family Parenting Styles and Adolescent Outcomes

Using longitudinal data from a sample of 451 families with a child in eighth grade at the time of study, three research questions have been addressed: First, the study explored the ways in which mothers and fathers differ with regard to four parenting styles. Second, the study examined the manner in which individual parenting styles combine to form family parenting styles. Finally, the study investigated the extent to which these various styles are related to delinquency, depression, and school commitment for adolescents. Regardless of reporter, the most common family parenting styles are those in which both parents display the same style of parenting. Having two authoritative parents is associated with the most positive outcomes for adolescents. In the absence of this optimal family parenting style, there is evidence that having one authoritative parent can, in most cases, buffer a child from the deleterious consequences associated with less optimal styles of parenting.

Supportive Parenting Moderates the Effect of Discrimination upon Anger, Hostile View of Relationships, and Violence among African American Boys

Studies have shown that exposure to discrimination increases the probability that African American adolescents will engage in delinquent behavior, especially acts of violence. The present study extended this research by examining the extent to which supportive parenting buffers a youth from these deleterious consequences of discrimination. Analyses based upon two waves of data from a sample of 332 African American adolescent males and their caretakers supported this hypothesis. Further, the results indicated that there are two avenues whereby supportive parenting reduces the probability that discrimination will lead to violence. First, supportive parenting decreases the chances that discrimination will lead to anger and a hostile view of relationships. Second, supportive parenting lowers the risk that anger or a hostile view of relationships, when they develop, will result in violence.

The Role of Religiosity in the Relationship Between Parents, Peers, and Adolescent Risky Sexual Behavior

Research has documented a negative relationship between religion and risky sexual behavior. Few studies, however, have examined the processes whereby religion exerts this effect. The present study develops and tests a model of various mechanisms whereby parental religiosity reduces the likelihood of adolescents’ participation in risky sexual behavior (early sexual debut, multiple sexual partners, and inconsistent condom use). Structural equation modeling, using longitudinal data from a sample of 612 African American adolescents (55% female), provided support for the model. The results indicated that parental religiosity influenced adolescent risky sexual behavior through its impact on authoritative parenting, adolescent religiosity, and adolescent affiliation with less sexually permissive peers. Some mediating mechanisms differed by the gender of the respondent, suggesting a “double-standard” for daughters but not for sons. Findings also indicated the importance of messages about sexual behavior that are transmitted to adolescents by their peers. Theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Collective Socialization and Child Conduct Problems: A Multilevel Analysis with an African American Sample.

This article uses hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of African American children and their primary caregivers to examine the association between various community factors and child conduct problems. The analysis revealed a rather strong inverse association between level of collective socialization and conduct problems. This relationship held after controlling for a variety of individual-level variables relating to family, peers, and school. Two other community-level variables, prevalence of crime and concentrated disadvantage, were not significantly related to conduct problems. Overall, the results suggest that successful childrearing is a community enterprise. It appears that communities significantly reduce their risk for child conduct problems to the extent that adults know the children, parents, and teachers in their area, and they are inclined to act upon these social ties either by reprimanding children who are misbehaving or by notifying the proper authorities.

From racial discrimination to risky sex: prospective relations involving peers and parents.

This study investigated how early experience with racial discrimination affected the subsequent risky sexual behaviors of a diverse sample of African American youths (N = 745). The analyses focused on 3 risk-promoting factors thought to mediate the hypothesized discrimination → risky sex relation: negative affect, affiliation with deviant peers, and favorable attitudes toward risky sex. In addition, attentive parenting was examined as a protective factor. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that youths who perceived more racial discrimination at age 10 or 11 were engaging in more sexual risk taking at age 18 or 19. This relation was mediated by the hypothesized risk-promoting factors via pathways that were consistent with our conceptual model. Results also indicated a prospective reciprocal relation between parenting and childrens deviant affiliations: deviant peer affiliations at age 10 or 11 predicted more attentive parenting behaviors by the parents; this response from the parents, in turn, predicted relatively fewer deviant affiliations when the youths were 15 or 16. Study findings are discussed in terms of their relevance to the disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted infections among African Americans.

Parenting Practices and Child Adjustment in Different Types of Households A Study of African American Families

This article uses a sample of 867 African American households to investigate differences in parenting practices and child outcomes by type of household. Results indicate that mothers provide similar levels of parenting regardless of family structure. Secondary caregivers, however, show a great deal of variation in quality of parenting. Fathers and grandmothers engage in the highest quality parenting, stepfathers the poorest, with other relatives falling in between. These differences in parenting do not explain family structure differences in child behavior problems. Results suggest that children do best when there are two caregivers in the household, although stepfathers are an exception to this rule. Child behavior problems are found to be no greater in either mother-grandmother or mother-relative families than in households with two biological parents. In terms of risk for child behavior problems, these family forms seem to be functionally equivalent.

Relational schemas, hostile romantic relationships, and beliefs about marriage among young African American adults

The present study tests a developmental model designed to explain the romantic relationship difficulties and reluctance to marry often reported for African Americans. Using longitudinal data from a sample of approximately 400 African American young adults, we examine the manner in which race-related adverse experiences during late childhood and early adolescence give rise to the cynical view of romantic partners and marriage held by many young African Americans. Our results indicate that adverse circumstances disproportionately suffered by African American youth (viz., harsh parenting, family instability, discrimination, criminal victimization, and financial hardship) promote distrustful relational schemas that lead to troubled dating relationships, and that these negative relationship experiences, in turn, encourage a less positive view of marriage.

A test of explanations for the effect of harsh parenting on the perpetration of dating violence and sexual coercion among college males.

This study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) with a sample of 760 college males to test various hypotheses regarding the avenues whereby harsh corporal punishment and a troubled relationship with parents increase the risk that a boy will grow up to engage in sexual coercion and dating violence. We found that three variables—a general antisocial orientation, sexually permissive attitudes, and believing that violence is a legitimate component of romantic relationships—mediated most of the association between negative parenting and our two outcomes. In addition to this indirect influence, we found that harsh corporal punishment had a direct effect upon dating violence. The findings are discussed with regard to various theoretical perspectives regarding the manner in which family of origin experiences increase the chances that a young man will direct violence toward a romantic partner.

Body Size and Social Self-Image Among Adolescent African American Girls The Moderating Influence of Family Racial Socialization

Social psychologists have amassed a large body of work demonstrating that overweight African American adolescent girls have generally positive self-images, particularly when compared with overweight females from other racial and ethnic groups. Some scholars have proposed that elements of African American social experience may contribute to the maintenance of these positive self-views. The article evaluates these arguments using data drawn from a panel study of socioeconomically diverse African American adolescent girls living in Iowa and Georgia. The article analyzes the relationship between body size and social self-image over three waves of data, starting when the girls were 10 years of age and concluding when they were approximately 14. The findings show that heavier respondents hold less positive social self-images; however, the findings also show that being raised in a family that practices racial socialization moderates this relationship.

The Effect of Religion on Risky Sexual Behavior among College Students

This study focuses on the mechanisms whereby religiosity influences adolescent involvement in risky sexual behavior. The study hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with a sample of approximately 2,100 undergraduates enrolled at two large state universities. Religious respondents reported a more conservative view of the circumstances under which sexual behavior is acceptable. This conservative perspective on sex was associated with older age at first intercourse and an increased likelihood that first intercourse was with a fiancé or spouse. Both of these outcomes, in turn, reduced the probability of having had a large number of subsequent sexual partners. In addition, there was a strong direct association between sexually permissive attitudes and a greater number of sexual partners. While these findings held for both males and females, we also found several sex differences. For example, negative feelings about first intercourse predicted an increased number of sexual partners for females, but was unrelated to number of partners for males.