Examining the Relationship Between Female Parents with Low Perceived Control and Adolescent Child Stress

Adolescence is a stressful time for many children. Changes in their environment or changes in social situations are some typical stressors that an adolescent child might encounter. Interactions with parents can also be stressors for a child. Previous research has shown that a risk factor for a parent using harsh parenting techniques is perceived control. Parents who have low perceived control are at a higher risk to engage in physical parenting techniques or child abuse. This study included 198 middle school students and their female parent or guardian pairs (296 total participants), with the adolescent participants ranging in age from 10- to 14-years-old. The adult participants were evaluated for their level of perceived control and the adolescent participants were evaluated for their level of perceived stress. Parents who perceived themselves as having a low amount of control over their child’s behavior (low ACF), were linked with their child having a high level of perceived stress. This effect was found only for the 14-year-old participants. Implications of results and areas of further research are suggested. It is possible that as a child gets older and enters puberty, the parent of the child feels as if they are losing control over their child and, as a result, resort to more forceful parenting techniques to regain control.