The current paper examines the frequency of inter-generational disagreement reported by mothers and adolescents as a function of the quality of their interaction, and the match between their sexual attitudes. The authors expected that the quality of family interaction would act as a "family asset" that would enable members of families to manage and control the tensions caused by differences in (sexual) attitudes. Data on 319 British adolescent-mother pairs were analysed using structural equation modelling, revealing good support for these expectations: differences in sexual attitudes were more strongly linked to inter-family disagreement in low quality of mother-child interaction families than in high quality of mother-child interaction families. Implications of the study are discussed. (A)
Samenvatting