Journal of Adolescence 2002, 25, 373–384doi:10.1006/jado.2002.0482, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on

Relationship of perceived parenting practices to angerregulation and coping strategies in African-Americanadolescents

RODNEY CLARK, JEREMY D. NOVAK AND DEVIN DUPREE1

This study examined the relationship of perceived parenting practices to anger andcoping in a sample of 70 African-American adolescents. Regression analyses reveledthat perceptions of parental strictness were negatively related to anger temperament,anger-out, and avoidance (all po0?05), and was positively associated with engaging indemanding activities (po0?02). Additionally, perceptions of parental involvementwere positively related to seeking diversions (po0?04), and perceptions of parentalautonomy granting were negatively related to anger-out (po0?02). These findingshighlight the potential importance of the perceived parent–adolescent relationship forAfrican-American adolescents.

r 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.

Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Introduction

The family environment is an important contextual factor that has the potential ofinfluencing psychosocial and physical health trajectories in youth (Bronfenbrenner, 1979;Moos and Moos, 1981; Compas, 1987; Cummings and Davies, 1994; Fincham et al., 1994;Steinberg et al., 1994; Clark and Armstead, 2000a; Lau and Kwok, 2000). A converging bodyof literature suggests that within the family context, the quality of parenting behaviors andbeliefs (practices) is associated with numerous developmental outcomes (Maccoby andMartin, 1983; Baumrind, 1991). Two different theoretical frameworks have guided researchexploring the relationship between parenting practices and youth outcomes (Darling andSteinberg, 1993).

In the first approach (categorical), a typological assignment method is used to characterizea ‘‘general’’ style of parenting. These general parenting styles include authoritative,authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful parenting (Steinberg et al., 1994; for a more detaileddescription of typologies see Maccoby and Martin, 1983). Although findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies suggest that these typologies predict adolescent outcomessuch as academic competence in European American adolescents, they fail to do so inAfrican American adolescents (Steinberg et al., 1992, 1994). In addition to the relative lackof predictive utility of these typologies with African-American adolescents, this approach hasseveral more general limitations (Lewis, 1981). For example, this typology, because it is aconfiguration of parenting practices, does not lend easily to the discernment of mechanismsthat influence adolescent functioning (Darling and Steinberg, 1993). That is, in their

Reprint Requests and correspondence should be addressed to: Rodney Clark, Biobehavioral Research Laboratory,Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, 71 West Warren, Detroit, MI 48202, U.S.A. (E-mail:rclark@sun.science.wayne.edu).1Devin Dupree was a research apprentice (high school component) in the Biobehavioral Research Laboratory.

0140-1971/02/$35�00+0�00 # 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

374 R. Clark et al.

contextual model of parenting styles, Darling and Steinberg (1993) posited that parentingpractices directly influence youth behaviours and characteristics, whereas more commonlyused parenting typologies exert their influence indirectly.

In the second approach (dimensional), more specific parenting practices are postulated toexist along a continuum. For example, building on the work of previous researchers (e.g.Baumrind, 1991), Steinberg et al. (1991, 1992) proposed three conceptually and empiricallyderived parenting practices. The first constellation of practices, acceptance/involvement,represents how warm and involved parents are perceived to be. The perceived extent towhich parents monitor, restrict, and are knowledgeable about the activities of their childrencharacterizes the second set of parenting practices, strictness/supervision. Lastly, psychologicalautonomy granting is the umbrella term used to describe the perceived use of democraticdisciplinary practices and the encouragement of child expressiveness by parents. Researchindicates that these parenting practices are related to such youth outcomes as internalizingand externalizing behaviours, self-concepts, substance use, and coping (Mboya, 1995; Cohenand Rice, 1997; McCabe et al., 1999; Griffin et al., 2000) in both African American andEuropean American samples.

In some cases, however, the relationship between parenting practices and adolescentadjustment has been shown to vary as a function of ethnicity. For example, Baldwin et al.(1990) found that parental restriction was negatively associated with academic outcomes in asubsample of participants that was primarily European-American and positively related toacademic outcomes in a subsample of participants that was primarily African-American.Also, in one review of the literature exploring the developmental consequences of physicaldisciplining, Whaley (2000) reported that although the use of physical disciplining ispositively related to disruptive disorders in European-American families, a negativerelationship (or no significant association) is generally observed in African-Americanfamilies. Even though the available data with African-American families are limited, takentogether, the findings from studies using the categorical and dimensional approaches suggestthat specific parenting practices may be more efficacious predictors of adolescent functioningthan parenting styles in African American families.

Independent of the theoretical approach that is employed (i.e. dimensional or categorical),it remains unclear if the relationship between parenting practices (or combinations thereof)and youth outcomes is direct or if these practices influence other individual factors that aremore directly related to adjustments in youth. Adolescent coping, for example, is oneindividual factor that may be more proximally related to developmental trajectories(Patterson and McCubin, 1987; Stern and Zevon, 1990), via influencing the untowardpsychosocial and physiological effects associated with perceived stressors (Burchfield, 1979;Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Hauber et al., 1998; Clark et al., 1999).

Another individual factor that may be more proximally related to psychosocial andphysiological functioning in youth includes affect regulation (e.g. the propensity toexperience and express anger). Studies indicate, for instance, that individuals who haveproblems controlling angry feelings or who express anger via marked attempts to eithersuppress or outwardly express angry feelings have more negative psychosocial andphysiological profiles, relative to individuals who are better able to control angry feelingsor whose attempts to suppress or outwardly express angry feelings are less marked (Johnsonand Pandina, 1991; Speilberger, 1996; Everson et al., 1998; Melnick and Hinshaw, 2000).

Research suggests that parents play an instrumental role in introducing modes of affectregulation and coping strategies to youth (Chapman and Mullis, 1999; Melnick and

Parenting practices and adolescent coping 375

Hinshaw, 2000). This parental contribution to the child’s affective and coping repertoirecontinues through adolescence and may persist into adulthood (Valliant, 1977; Pattersonand McCubbin, 1987). As such, the parental modeling of behaviour and parental responsesto youth behaviour (e.g. reinforcement and punishment) may be among the pathways bywhich parenting practices influence regulatory and coping strategies that youth learn toemploy. Although published data on parenting practices and adolescent coping in African-American families remain limited, the findings from one predominately European-Americansample reveled that perceptions of paternal and maternal hostility were positively related toself-medicating and outward expressions of emotions in male, but not female youth (Johnsonand Pandina, 1991).

In summary, research that explores the contribution of familial factors to more adaptiveadolescent functioning in African-American adolescents remains limited (McAdoo, 1992).This study extends on the current literature in at least two important ways. First, given therelative lack of predictive validity using the typological assignment method with African-American adolescents, a dimensional view of parenting is used in the current study. Second,as a preliminary step toward more clearly explicating the relationship of parenting practicesto adolescent outcomes, this investigation explores associations among parenting practicesand more proximal predictors (i.e. individual characteristics of youth) of these outcomes.The delineation of these relationships has the longer-term potential of aiding with thedevelopment of more efficacious strategies aimed at increasing the prevalence of positivepsychosocial outcomes in adolescents. It was hypothesized that perceptions of parentalacceptance, autonomy granting, and strictness would be negatively associated with thesuppression of anger, the outward expression of anger, and the propensity to respond tounprovoked anger, and positively related to cognitive attempts to control angry feelings.Additionally, perceptions of parental acceptance, autonomy granting, and strictness wereexpected to be positively related to more active general coping strategies and negativelyassociated with more passive general coping strategies.

Methods

ParticipantsAmong the 116 African-American inner-city high school students who were giveninformation sheets describing the study and questionnaire packets, 61% (n ¼ 70; 34 malesand 36 females) completed the necessary written assessments for inclusion in this study.Information sheets and questionnaire packets were distributed during a regularly scheduledclass session and were collected the following school day. Students were instructed tocomplete the questionnaire packet if (1) their parents understood and signed the consentform, and (2) if they (student) agreed to participate in the study. Active informed consentwas obtained from parents (i.e. a signed consent form was required for student participation),and student participants gave passive informed consent (i.e. the completion of thequestionnaires by student participants demonstrated their consent to participate).Participants were recruited through established contacts with school administrators andstudent groups, and were paid $5?00 for their participation. As illustrated in Table 1, themean age of the sample was 16?14 years (S.D. ¼ 0?89, range 14–18), and the majority ofparticipants (55?7%) reported that they were being raised by a single parent. No data werecollected from parents.

Table 1 Select sample characteristics

Variable Total (n ¼ 70) Male (n ¼ 34) Female (n ¼ 36)

Mean (S.D.)Age (years) 16?14 (0?89) 16?00 (0?89) 16?28 (0?88)Parentinga,b

Acceptance/Involve-ment

27?09 (5?84) 27?18 (5?70) 27?00 (6?06)

Psychological Autono-my Granting

22?96 (4?42) 21?91 (4?45) 23?94 (4?23)

Strictness/Supervision 12?21 (3?99) 12?33 (3?72) 12?09 (4?29)PercentageGrade

10th 25?7% 29?4% 22?2%11th 32?9% 44?1% 22?2%12th 41?4% 26?5% 55?6%

Family structureTwo-parent 42?9% 26?5% 58?3%Single-parent 55?7% 70?6% 41?7%Live alone 1?4% 2?9% F

aAuthoritative Parenting Scale (APS; Steinberg et al., 1991).bThe range of possible scores for the Acceptance/Involvement, Psychological Autonomy Granting, and Strictness/

Supervision subscales of the APS was 8–32, 7–28, and 0–24, respectively.

376 R. Clark et al.

QuestionnairesA brief set of demographic questions was assembled for use in this study, to assess theirrelationship to the criterion variables (i.e. potential confounders). These questions helped toobtain information about age, grade in school, gender, and household composition.

The Authoritative Parenting Scale (APS; Steinberg et al., 1991) was used to assessadolescents’ perceptions of parenting practices. This measure has three subscales:Acceptance/Involvement (e.g. ‘‘I can count on my parents to help me out, if I have somekind of problem.’’), Psychological Autonomy Granting (reversed scored; e.g. ‘‘My parents saythat you shoudn’’t argue with adults.’’), and Strictness/Supervision (e.g. ‘‘In a typical week,what is the latest you can stay out on SCHOOL NIGHTS. . .’’). Because of low item-totalcorrelations (i.e.o0?20) for item #9 of the Acceptance/Involvement subscale and item #2and item #12 of the Psychological Autonomy Granting subscale, these items were deletedwhen computing the scale scores and alpha coefficients. With the aforementionedmodifications, the Acceptance/Involvement (8-items), Psychological Autonomy Granting(7-items), and Strictness/Supervision (8-items) subscales had Cronbach’’s alpha coefficientsof 0?83, 0?60, and 0?76, respectively. The possible scores for the Acceptance/Involvement,Psychological Autonomy Granting, and Strictness/Supervision subscales ranged from 8 to 32,7 to 28 and 0 to 24, respectively. Higher scores on the subscales of parental acceptance,autonomy granting, and strictness indicated greater perceptions of warmth and love,democracy and independence, and strictness, respectively.

The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (AXS; Speilberger et al., 1985) was used toassess anger regulation. Specifically, Angry Temperament (4-items; e.g. ‘‘I am a hotheadedperson.’’) and the three indices of Anger Expression: Anger-in (8-items; e.g. ‘‘When angry orfuriousy I boil inside.’’), Anger-out (8-items; e.g. ‘‘When angry or furiousy I say nasty

Parenting practices and adolescent coping 377

things.’’), and Anger Control (8-items; e.g. ‘‘When angry or furiousy I keep my cool.’’) weremeasured. Each subscale used a four-point Likert scale that ranged from ‘‘1’’ (none) to ‘‘4’’(almost always), with possible scores that ranged from 4 to 14 for the Anger Temperamentsubscale and from 8 to 32 for the Anger Expression subscales. Higher scores on the subscalesassessing anger temperament (a ¼ 0?80), anger-in (a ¼ 0?63), anger-out (a ¼ 0?76), andanger control (a ¼ 0?78) reflected an increased tendency to experience and express angerwithout inducement, hold in angry feelings, direct angry feelings toward others or objects,and to control the expression of anger, respectively.

The Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE; Patterson andMcCubbin, 1987) was used to assess strategies employed by adolescents to negotiatechallenges and demands. Using a Likert scale, the responses ranged from ‘‘1’’ (never) to ‘‘5’’(most of the time). Because of low Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (o0?60) for the currentsample, the Ventilating Feelings (6-items; a ¼ 0?51), Developing Self-Reliance (6-items;a ¼ 0?50), Investing in Close Friends (2-items; a ¼ 0?43), Solving Family Problems (6-items; a ¼ 0?45), Seeking Professional Support (2-items; a ¼ 0?54), and Relaxing (4-items;a ¼ 0?44) subscales were not used. Additionally, because of low item-total correlations(o0?20) for item #9 and item #33 of the Seeking Diversions, item #4 and item #32 of theDeveloping Social Support, and item #36 of the Avoiding Problems subscales, these itemswere deleted when computing the scale scores and alpha coefficients for these subscales.With the aforementioned modifications, the following subscales were used in the analyses:Seeking Diversions (6-items, a ¼ 0?64, e.g. ‘‘Sleep.’’), Developing Social Support (4-items,a ¼ 0?62, e.g. ‘‘Try to help other people solve their problems.’’), Avoiding Problems (4-items,a=0?67, e.g. ‘‘Drink beer, wine, liquor.’’), Seeking Spiritual Support (3-items, a=0?60, e.g.‘‘Go to church.’’), Engaging in Demanding Activities (4-items, a ¼ 0?70, e.g. ‘‘Get moreinvolved in activities at school.’’), and Being Humorous (2-items, a ¼ 0?64, e.g. ‘‘Joke andkeep a sense of humor.’’). For each subscale, higher scores reflected an increased propensityto use that particular strategy to deal with challenges and demands.

Data analysisMultiple regression models (backward elimination procedure) were used to examine therelationship of perceived parenting practices to anger regulation and coping strategies. Giventwo sets of analyses (i.e. anger regulation and coping) were conducted, a Bonferronicorrection was used to minimize spurious findings. As such, the independent effects of themodels examining anger regulation and coping strategies were only reported if the p-value forthe overall model was less than 0?025 (i.e. 0?05/2). The backward elimination procedure wasselected for this study, because the predictive utility of parenting practices could be assessedafter the effects of age, gender, and household composition were considered. This regressionprocedure starts with all of the variables in the model and assesses the overall statisticalsignificance of the generated F-statistic. The variable contributing the least variance to themodel is then deleted, and the predictive utility of the remaining variables is re-assessed.This procedure continues until all of the variables remaining in the model are significant at agiven alpha level (a ¼ 0?05 for this study).

Criterion variables. The four subscale scores of the AXS were the criterion variables inthe first set of analyses, and the six subscale scores of the A-COPE were the criterionvariables in the second set of analyses.

378 R. Clark et al.

Predictor variables. The primary variables of interest in the multiple regression modelswere the three APS subscales (Acceptance/Involvement, Psychological Autonomy Granting,and Strictness/Supervision). Correlation analyses revealed that the relationships between theparenting subscales ranged from 0?08 (ns) to 0?38 (po0?01). Based on a sample size of 70, analpha of 0?05, and a medium effect size based on the definitions for multiple regressionproposed by Faul and Erdfelder (1992), if all three of the parenting variables remained inregression models, the power (0?79) would be in the acceptable range.

Results

Chi-square analyses indicated significant gender differences for household composition(w2 ¼ 6?76, df ¼ 1, po0?009), but not for grade in school (w2 ¼ 5?91, df ¼ 2, p ¼ 0?05).The potential confounding effects of age (in years), gender (male or female), and householdcomposition (single-parent or two-parent household) were explored by examining therelationship between these variables and the criterion variables. Correlation analysesrevealed that age was negatively related to the coping strategy of Engaging in DemandingActivities (po0?05). T-test analyses indicated that the subscales scores for the APS andAXS were not significantly different for males and females. These analyses did indicate,however, that relative to females, males had significantly higher mean scores for the AvoidingProblems (t ¼ 2?65, po0?02) and Being Humorous (t ¼ 2?21, po0?04) subscales. T-testanalyses also revealed that participants living in single-parent households had significantlyhigher Seeking Diversions subscale scores than participants living in two-parent households;for this analyses, the one participant who lived alone was not included. As a result of thesepreliminary analyses, age, gender, and household composition were included as controlvariables in the regression analyses discussed below.

As illustrated in Table 2, Pearson correlation coefficients were conducted between selectstudy variables. The correlation between the Involvement and Strictness subscales of theparenting measure was significant (r ¼ 0?38, po0?01). Several significant bivariaterelationships were also observed between the parenting subscales and criterion variables.The Anger Temperament and the Anger Expression subscales of the AXS were related in theexpected directions (Speilberger, 1996, p. 21), and the nonorthogonal association observedbetween the Ax-in and Ax-out subscales was consistent with findings from other adolescentsamples (Musante et al., 1999).

The results of the regression analyses are presented in Table 3. The overall modelspredicting Anger Temperament (F(2,62) ¼ 7?11, po0?002, R2 ¼ 0?19), Anger-out(F(2,62) ¼ 6?68, po0?003, R2 ¼ 0?18), Seeking Diversions (F(2?62) ¼ 4?46, po0?02,R2 ¼ 0?13), Avoiding Problems (F(2,62) ¼ 6?83, po0?003, R2 ¼ 0?18), and Engaging inDemanding Activities (F(1,63) ¼ 6?59, po0?02, R2 ¼ 0?09) were statistically significant. Inthese analyses, age was a significant predictor of Anger Temperament (po0?009), andgender was a significant predictor of the coping strategy Avoiding Problems (po0?02). Thatis, the tendency to experience and express unprovoked anger decreased with age, and femaleparticipants were more likely to avoid problems, relative to males. Additionally, householdcomposition was a significant predictor of the coping strategy Seeking Diversions (po0?05),such that participants from single-parent households were more likely to cope by divertingtheir attention with other tasks than participants from two-parent households.

Table 2 Pearson correlation coefficients among selected study variables

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1. Involvement *2. Autonomy �20 *3. Strictness 38b �08 *4. Anger-in �14 �17 �26a *5. Anger-out 18 �36b �20 50d *6. Anger control 10 �02 23 02 �33b *7. Anger temperament �05 �19 �30a 37b 64d �36b *8. Seeking diversions 26a �13 11 �06 24 �10 08 *9. Developing social support 05 �01 23 �13 06 14 01 50d *10. Avoiding problems �24 �16 �30a 14 18 �21 28a �07 �14 *11. Seeking spiritual support 14 04 22 �36b 02 �08 �04 42c 41c 11 *12. Demanding activities 28a �18 30a �27a 07 �13 00 57d 43c �07 44d *13. Being humorous 13 �05 21 �14 �07 06 �23 54d 46d 01 38b 46d *

apo0?05.bpo0?01.cpo0?001.dpo0?0001.

Paren

ting

practicesan

dad

olescent

coping

37

9

Table 3 Multiple regression modelsa predicting anger and coping strategies

Criterion/predic-torb

Parameter estimate Standard error P-value Partial R2

Anger scalec

Anger temperamentAge �1?05 0?39 o0?009 0?11Strictness �0?25 0?08 o0?003 0?08

Anger-outAutonomy �0?40 0?12 o0?002 0?12Strictness �0?28 0?14 o0?05 0?06

Coping strategiesd

Seeking diversionsHousehold com-

position2?13 1?05 o0?05 0?06

Involvement 0?22 0?10 o0?04 0?07Avoiding problems

Gender �2?39 0?88 o0?009 0?10Strictness �0?27 0?11 o0?02 0?08

Engaging in demanding activitiesStrictness 0?29 0?11 o0?02 0?09

aIn the first set of analyses four separate regression models, using a backward elimination procedure, wereconducted with each anger subscale as the criterion variable. In the second set of analyses, six separate regressionmodels, using a backward elimination procedure, were conducted with each coping subscale as the criterion variable.

bPredictor(s) remaining in model at po0?05. Models where no significant predictors remained are not illustrated.cSpeilberger et al. (1985).dA-COPE subscales (Patterson and McCubbin, 1987).

380 R. Clark et al.

Although the Acceptance/Involvement parenting variable was not significantly related tothe anger variables, it was positively related to the general coping strategy of SeekingDiversions, accounting for 7% of the variability in this coping strategy. That is, adolescentswho perceived their parents as more involved and accepting tended to cope by seekingdiversions less often. Psychological Autonomy Granting was negatively associated withAnger-out (po0?002, partial R2 ¼ 0?12). That is, perceptions of more non-coercivedisciplinary practices were associated with fewer outward expressions of anger. The regressionanalyses also revealed that Strictness/Supervision was negatively related to AngryTemperament and Anger-out (both po0?05). The direction of the parameter estimatessuggests that as parental strictness decreases, the propensity to experience and expressunprovoked anger and take out angry feelings in destructive ways increases. The Strictness/Supervision variable was also significantly associated with the coping strategies AvoidingProblems and Engaging in Demanding Activities (both po0?02). The direction of theparameter estimates suggests that increased perceptions of parental strictness were associatedwith more activity engagement and with fewer avoidant behaviors.

Discussion

The present study explored the relationship of perceived parenting practices to angerregulation and coping strategies in African-American adolescents. Although perceived

Parenting practices and adolescent coping 381

parenting practices were the primary predictor variables in this studyFopposed to theauthoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful parenting typologies, additionalresearch is still needed that explores the validity (esp. predictive) of the parent typologies forAfrican-American families. Also, the relative lack of African-American youth in thestandardization sample for the adolescent coping scale used in this investigation, coupledwith the observation in the current study that half of the coping subscales had unacceptablylow alpha coefficients, suggest that further research examining the reliability of this measureis warranted.

Consistent with other reports (e.g. Patterson and McCubin, 1987; Chapman andMullis, 1999), the participants in this study reported using various coping strategies to dealwith challenges and problems (data not shown), and males and females differed incharacteristic ways regarding their reported use of these strategies. The results also supportedprior findings that the expression of anger (Speilberger, 1996), as well as perceptions ofparenting practices are similar for male and female adolescents (Johnson and Pandina, 1991;Cohen and Rice, 1997; Paulson et al., 1998) and that anger-in and anger-out are notorthogonal constructs in adolescent samples (Musante et al., 1999). Although somestudies indicate that perceptions of parenting practices vary by age (e.g. Frydenberg andLewis, 1991; Johnson and Pandina, 1991), the restricted age range in this study mostprobably contributed to the failure to observe differences in age-related perceptions ofparenting practices.

Among the three parenting practices, perceived parental strictness was most consistentlyrelated to anger regulation and coping strategies in this adolescent sample. Although it isplausible that these findings were secondary to chance findings because of the statisticalrelatedness among the criterion variables, results of the correlation analyses indicated thatthe criterion variables for which parental strictness was a significant predictor were either notrelated or only weakly so (except the expected relatedness between the anger subscales).Moreover, the more conservative alpha for the overall analyses helped to minimize thecomparison-wise Type I error rate. As such, these findings suggest that perceptions ofparental monitoring and limit setting may be important parental practices that facilitate moreadaptive coping strategies, as well as more active strategies to regulate anger in African-American adolescents. Directions for future research include exploring if adolescents whohave a relative failure to regulate affective states associated with challenges and demands, orwho learn to respond to experiences of anger with either increased suppression or heightenedoutward expression, are at greater higher risk of developing more negative psychosocial andphysical outcomes as adults.

Perceptions of parental involvement and autonomy granting were also associated, albeitless consistently, with regulatory and coping strategies in the predicted directions.Participants who perceived their parents as not inhibiting their individuation tended todeal with challenges and problems with less passive strategies. Adolescents who feel that theycan go to their parents and close friends, possibly as additional sources of support, may cometo learn how to successfully employ more active problem-solving strategies modelled byparents and peersFopposed to engaging in negative attention seeking behaviours (e.g.anger-out). Given that family and peer relationships are among the major potential sourcesof stress for adolescents (Siddique and D’Arcy, 1984) that have been shown to be associatedwith psychosocial and vascular functioning (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Johnson and Pandina,1991; Clark and Armstead, 2000b; Lohman and Jarvis, 2000), future research that exploresthe extent to which these strategies help adolescents to buffer the untoward biopsychosocial

382 R. Clark et al.

effects associated with negotiating these relationships (Patterson and McCubbin, 1987;McCabe et al., 1999) is needed.

Although partial support was garnered for some of the study hypotheses, the findingsshould be interpreted in light of certain limitations. First, the cross-sectional design of thisstudy precluded causal interpretations regarding the relationship between perceptions ofparenting and adolescent coping. As such, even though parenting practices were postulatedto predict anger expression and coping strategies in this study, alternate hypotheses are (1)that attempts by youth to regulate affect and to negotiate demands influence parentingpractices, and (2) that the relationship of parenting practices to anger expression and copingstrategies is bidirectional (e.g. Whaley, 2000). Future research using longitudinal designswould help to address this limitation. Second, the failure to assess other potential mitigatingvariables such as socioeconomic status (McLoyd, 1990) and gender of parent (Shek, 2000;McAdoo and McAdoo, 2001) may have led to an oversimplified interpretation of theobserved relationships among parenting, anger regulation, and coping. Third, the relativelysmall sample size precluded adequate tests of potentially important effects (e.g.gender� parenting practice). Fourth, because information on the criterion and predictorvariables was obtained from a single source and with self-report measures, it is plausible thatthe observed relationships were inflated secondary to common source and common methodvariance. This notwithstanding, the pattern of relationships observed in the current studywas consistent with findings from studies where this limitation was less of a factor (McCabeet al., 1999; Renk et al., 1999; Griffin et al., 2000). For example, in one observational study ofboys, Melnick and Hinshaw (2000) found that parenting behaviours were related to childcoping during a frustrating experimental task. Although the single source approach iscommon in the study of parenting styles and practices, further research in this area is neededthat employs multiple methods. Finally, because this study assessed perceptions of parentingpractices and reported coping strategiesFopposed to observational reports or parent reportsof parenting practices, it is plausible that the pattern of responses were secondary to biasesparticular to the study sample. Even though this argument has its merits, research suggeststhat relative to objective demands, perceptual realities are more important predictors ofpsychosocial and psychophysiological functioning (Burchfield, 1979; Lazarus and Folkman,1984).

Although the findings from this study clearly require replication, the results highlight thepotential importance of the parent–adolescent relationship for African-American families.Future research is needed, which examines the potential mitigating effects of adolescentcoping strategies on the relationship between parenting practices and adolescent functioning.The delineation of more proximal mitigating factors may help to explain the resiliency ofmany African-American adolescents.

Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a Research Scientist Development Award(1 K01 MH01867-01) to the first author from the National Institute of Mental Health and aresearch fellowship from the Merrill Palmer Institute at Wayne State University.

The authors are grateful to Dr Kelly S. Ervin, the discussion group at the Black EmpiricalPsychology Conference (2000), and anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlierdrafts of this manuscript.

Parenting practices and adolescent coping 383

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