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Adolescence 9/e Book Cover
Adolescence, 9/e
John W. Santrock, University of Texas, Dallas

Families

Key Terms

authoritarian parenting  This is a restrictive, punitive style in which the parent exhorts the adolescent to follow the parent's directions and to respect work and effort. Firm limits and controls are placed on adolescents, and little verbal exchange is allowed. This style is associated with adolescents' socially incompetent behavior.
authoritative parenting  This style encourages adolescents to be independent but still places limits and controls on their actions. Extensive verbal give-and-take is allowed, and parents are warm and nurturing toward the adolescent. This style is associated with adolescents' socially competent behavior.
boundary ambiguity  The uncertainty in stepfamilies about who is on or out of the family and who is performing or responsible for certain tasks in the family system.
continuity view  A developmental view that emphasizes the role of early parent-child relationships in constructing a basic way of relating to people throughout the life span.
developmental construction views  Views sharing the belief that as individuals grow up, they acquire modes of relating to others. There are two main variations of this view. One emphasizes continuity and stability in relationships throughout the life span, the other emphasizes discontinuity and changes in relationships throughout the life span.
discontinuity view  A developmental view that emphasizes change and growth in relationships over time.
dismissing/avoidant attachment  An insecure attachment category in which individuals de-emphasize the importance of attachment. This category is associated with consistent experiences of rejection of attachment needs by caregivers.
emotional autonomy  The capacity to relinquish childlike dependencies on parents.
indulgent parenting  A style in which parents are highly involved with their adolescents but place few demands or controls on them. This is associated with adolescents' social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control.
insecure attachment  In this attachment pattern, infants either avoid the caregiver or show considerable resistance or ambivalence toward the caregiver. This pattern is theorized to be related to difficulties in relationships and problems in later development.
neglectful parenting  A style in which the parent is very uninvolved in the adolescent's life. It is associated with adolescents' social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control.
preoccupied/ambivalent attachment  An insecure attachment category in which adolescents are hypertuned to attachment experiences. This is thought to occur mainly because parents are inconsistently available to the adolescents.
reciprocal socialization  The process by which children and adolescents socialize parents, just as parents socialize them.
secure attachment  In this attachment pattern infants use their primary caregiver, usually the mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment. Secure attachment is theorized to be an important foundation for psychological development later in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
synchrony  The carefully coordinated interaction between the parent and the child or adolescent in which, often unknowingly, they are attuned to each other's behavior.
unresolved/disorganized attachment  An insecure category in which the adolescent has an unusually high level of fear and is disoriented. This may result from such traumatic experiences as a parent's death or abuse by parents.