Parent-Adolescent Communication and the Circumplex Model

TLDR

Barnes and Olson’s 1985 study on parent‑adolescent communication within the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems provides the foundational context. The study aimed to test whether balanced families exhibit more positive parent‑adolescent communication than extreme families. Using 426 normal families, the authors developed family scores and performed separate analyses for parents, mothers, and adolescents to examine generational differences. Results showed the hypothesis held for parents but not adolescents, and family‑level discriminant analysis revealed a linear relationship between communication and cohesion, adaptability, and satisfaction, with better communication linked to higher scores on these dimensions.

Abstract

BARNES, HOWARD L., and OLSON, DAVID H. Parent-Adolescent Communication and the Circumplex Model. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 438-447. This study tested the relationship between parentadolescent communication and the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems. While most studies of the Circumplex Model have focused on problem families, this study used fathers, mothers, and adolescents from 426 normal families. Family scores were developed and used to help describe the type of family system. Because of generational differences in terms of how parents and adolescents perceived their communication, separate analysis was done for each group. It was hypothesized that Balanced families (Circumplex Model) would have more positive parentadolescent communication than Extreme families. This hypothesis was clearly supported for the parents but not for the adolescents. In contrast to the conflicting findings using individual level analysis (parents and adolescents), the findings at the family level using discriminant analysis indicated a linear relationship between parent-adolescent communication and the Circumplex dimensions (cohesion, adaptability) and family satisfaction. Families with good parent-adolescent communication perceived themselves in terms of the Circumplex Model as higher on family cohesion, family adaptability, and family satisfaction.