Items followed by a –R were reverse scored so that all scale scores (the mean of included items) reflect high scores in that construct. All items asked after the sentence stem‚ “In the past three months…”
Parent-Adolescent Communication – reverse scored items comprise the problem-freecommunication subscale and the others comprise the open communication subscale.
(Bold items were included on the Adolescent Disclosure Scale)
1. I could discuss my beliefs without feeling restrained or embarrassed.
2. Sometimes I had trouble believing everything my parents told me –R
3. My parents were always good listeners.
4. I was sometimes afraid to ask my parents for what I wanted –R
5. My parents had a tendency to say things to me which would have been better left unsaid. –R
6. My parents could tell how I was feeling without asking.
7. I was very satisfied with how my parents and I talked together.
8. If I was in trouble‚ I could have told my parents.
9. I openly showed affection to my parents.
10. When we were having a problem‚ I often gave my parents the silent treatment. –R
11. I was careful about what I said to my parents. –R
12. When talking to my parents‚ I had a tendency to say things that would have been better leftunsaid. –R
13. When I asked questions‚ I got honest answers from my parents.
14. My parents tried to understand my point of view.
15. There were topics I avoided discussing with my parents. –R
16. I found it easy to discuss problems with my parents.
17. It was very easy for me to express all my true feelings to my parents.
18. My parents nagged/bothered me. –R
19. My parents insulted me when they were angry with me. –R
20. I didn’t think I could tell my parents how I really felt about some things. –R
Parental Autonomy-Granting and Indirect Control
21. My parents told me that their ideas were correct and that I should not question them –R
22. My parents answered my arguments by saying something like “you’ll know better when yougrow up” –R
23. My parents said I should give in on arguments rather than make people angry –R
24. My parents emphasized that I shouldn’t argue with adults –R
Parental Involvement
25. My parents were generally involved in different areas of my life
26. I knew my parents cared about the different activities I was involved in from day to day
27. My parents got involved with my hobbies (e.g.‚ sports‚ artwork‚ clubs‚ church‚ 4-H‚ etc.).
Parental Inconsistency
28. My parents soon forgot the rules they had made. –R
29. My parents usually didn’t find out about my misbehavior. –R
30. My parents sometimes allowed me to do things they said were wrong. –R
Parental Consistency (cont.)
31. My parents didn’t pay much attention to my misbehavior. –R
32. My parents frequently changed the rules I was supposed to follow. –R
33. My parents didn’t insist that I do my homework. –R
34. My parents punished me for doing something one day but ignored it the next. –R
35. My parents seldom insisted that I do anything. –R
36. My parents changed their minds to make things easier for themselves. –R
37. My parents let me get away without doing work I had been given to do. –R
THE PARENT-ADOLESCENT RELATIONSHIP‚ ADOLESCENTS’ DISCLOSURETO PARENTS‚ AND ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE USE.Susan E. Purcell
A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology.
Chapel Hill. 2007. Approved
Adolescent Disclosure. This construct reflects adolescents’ willingness to openly share information with parents and is drawn from a measure of the quality of communication between parents and adolescents‚ the quality of communication between parents and adolescents‚ the 20-item Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (Barnes & Olson‚ 1989).
The six items on the current study’s scale for adolescent disclosure were selected based upon their face validity with the construct of adolescent disclosure to parents and similarity to items used in other studies of disclosure (e.g.‚ Crouter et al.‚ 2005; Soenens et al.‚2006; Stattin & Kerr‚ 2000).