News Section | Children's Health
Changing ties with mums influence teenage boys’ behaviour
A boy’s relationship with his mother changes over time during childhood and adolescence, which affects their behaviour when they become teens.
The researchers looked at 265 mother-son pairs from low-income families in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, starting when the boys were 5 and continuing through adolescence.
For each of the pairs, the study looked at the family”s neighborhood, the mother’s relationship with her romantic partner, the quality of parenting provided by the mother, and the child”s temperament.
It also assessed the level of conflict and warmth between mothers and sons, and the boys” delinquent behavior, relationships with best friends, and sense of morality during adolescence.
Mothers of boys who had a difficult temperament when they were toddlers reported that their relationships with the boys included a lot of conflict and lower levels of closeness over time.
When mothers had better relationships with their significant others, they tended to form closer bonds with their sons that lasted throughout childhood and adolescence.
Boys who experienced a lot of conflict with their mothers were more likely to engage in delinquent behavior as teens. On the other hand, boys who hade a close relationship with their mothers were more likely to have a better relationship with their best friends during the teen years.
“These results suggest that successfully adapting to the transitions of childhood and adolescence may require parents and children to maintain relatively high levels of closeness and minimize conflict in their relationships,” according to Christopher Trentacosta, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University, the study”s lead author.
The study has been published in the journal Child Development.
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