Measurement of Parent-Adolescent Communication

Millard J. Bienvenu, Sr.

The Family Coordinator, Vol. 18, No. 2. (Apr., 1969), pp. 117-121.

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Measurement of Parent-Adolescent
Communication*

A study of 376 high school students suggests significant contrasts i n patterns and
degrees of communication and the utility of an instrument to measure parent-
adolescent communication. Good listening habits, freedom of expression, under-
standing, and acceptance are associated with a higher degree of communication
whereas criticism, sarcasm, lack of trust and lack of acceptance of the adolescent
are associated with a significantly lower degree of communication. Implications of
findings are drawn for family life education, teaching, counseling and family
research.

There is an ever-growing trend in the be-
havioral sciences toward the recognition of
communication as the pipeline to human
relationships. Family communication is be-
lieved to be one of the major elements of
family interaction. One of the three major
dimensions of any human adjustment prob-
lem is the degree or extent or nature of the
communication between or among the par-
ties involved (Bernard, 1964, p. 709).
Communication mav be viewed as the
index of family operations and the means
whereby the family transacts the business
of life (Scherz, 1962). It provides the blue-
print by which the child grows from in-
fancy to maturity (Satir, 1964).
There are increasing indications that this
vital facet of the family processes is a sig-
nificant problem facing the contemporary
American family. Within the family, where
love is expected to prevail there is much ev-
idence of lack of understanding, lack of lis-
tening, lack of empathy; in short, lack of
communication (Jourard, 1964). Although
a few teen-agers are found to report all
their difficulties to their mothers and fa-
thers, most of them have trouble confiding
in their parents (Duvall, 1967). Research
also shows that parents have especially
* The author will furnish a copy of the Family
Communication Inventory to readers on request.
** Associate Professor of Home Economics,
Northwestern State College of Louisiana, Natchi-
toches, Louisiana.
April 1969 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR
failed to communicate adequate sex knowl-
edge to children (Shipman, 1968). Mount-
ing evidence from both parents and adoles-
cents attests to breakdowns in parent-ado-
lescent communication. Studies dealing ex-
clusively with the measurement of parent-
adolescent communication appear ex-
tremely limited. From the point of view of
improving parent-adolescent relations it
would be desirable to know more about the
patterns and characteristics of communica-
tion in families enjoying a higher degree of
communication with their teen-agers. A re-
view of previous family research and exist-
ing instruments revealed no other device
designed primarily to accomplish this type
of measurement. The development of the
Adolescent Form of the Family Communi-
cation Inventory (the author has developed
a form for the husband and one for the
wife) and the study reported herein were
undertaken in an attempt toward a partial
fulfillment of these needs.
Definition of Communication
Authorities in the behavioral sciences
suggest that human communication is now
generally believed to consist of any mes-
sages or information passing between the
members of a group of two or more. It is
the vehicle for social interaction-the pro-
cess of transmitting feelings, attitudes,
facts, beliefs and ideas between living be-
ings. While language is the primary means
117
of communication it is by no means the through 18, they were predominantly
only one. Non-verbal communication en- Roman Catholic in religious orientation.
compasses listening, facial expressions, si- The number of boys and girls were about
lences, gestures, touch, hearing, vision and evenly divided. All were in school atten-
all the other nonlanguage symbols and dance in grades 8 to 12. The group could
clues used by persons in giving and receiv- be described as being primarily from up-
ing meaning. per-lower and middle-class backgrounds.
Interpersonal communication may in- As an index of validity the chi-square
clude all the means by which individuals test was used in an item analysis to deter-
influence and understand one another mine those items showing a significant
(Ruesch, 1963). It may take many forms difference (in number of favorable and un-
and is transacted on the conscious, precon- favorable responses) between the upper
scious, and unconscious level. In viewing and lower quartiles of the inventory.'
the family as a primary group it is charac-
terized by relationships that have a depth Findings
of intercommunication which is one of the At the .O1 level of confidence 31 of the
paramount experiences tending to solidfy 36 items in the inventory were found to be
the internal operations of the family (Cer- significantly discriminating between the
vantes, 1966). upper and lower quartiles. Thirty out of
the 31 remaining items showed a discrimi-
Construction of the Inventorv nation of 20 percent or better between the
A 36 item scale was developed to mea- upper and lower quartiles. The mean score
sure the degree of parent-adolescent com- for the group of 376 subjects was 69. The
munication in families. It is a self-inven- Administration of the Inventorv was ac-
tory type of device in which the subjects complished in three phases because of three
respond by checking one of three possible different locations of the subjects. Conse-
responses, "Usually," "Sometimes," and quently, for cross-validation purposes an
individual look was taken at each of these
"Seldom." The responses to the items are
three subgroups within the larger group.
scored from zero to three with a favorable
Group one with 167 subjects scored a mean
response given the higher score.
of 68, group two with 126 subjects a mean
The 36 items were formulated from a re-
of 68, and group three with 8 3 subjects had
view of the literature and on the basis of
a mean of 71.
the author's previous clinical experience in
Further validation of the instrument was
family therapy and adolescent and parent
established in a subsequent study of par-
counseling. Some ideas for items were also
ent-adolescent communication in regular-
obtained from an examination of instru-
session and summer-session students. The
ments dealing with family interaction. To
latter were in summer school attendance
promote face validity the items were then
for make-up work due to prior academic
submitted to a clinical team consisting of a
failure or underachievement. There were
psychiatrist, psychologist and psychiatric
275 high school students involved in that
social worker whose consensus was that all
study; 97 comprising the summer-session
of the items were relevant to intrafami-
lial communication. The instrument, which
' Three reliability studies were conducted with
requires a 7th grade reading level, is best the present 40 items inventory. Using the Spear-
suited for adolescents 1 3 years and older man-Brown formula a split half correlation co-
living at home with both parents. efficient, computed on scores of 74 respondents on
the odd-numbered and on the even-numbered
statements, revealed a coefficient of .86 after cor-
Procedure and Sample rection. Using the Spearman Rho a test-retest
The instrument was administered to 376 study of 84 subjects within a three-week period
revealed a .78 correlation coefficient. A second
subjects in two Southwest Louisiana com- test-retest reliability study of 63 subjects within a
munities in 1967. Ranging in ages from 1 3 two week period showed an r of .88.

118 THE FA.1IILY COORDINATOR April 1969

group and 178 comprising the regular-ses-
sion group. The latter were administered
the inventory toward the end of the school
year and former in early summer. Using
the "t" test a significant difference in the
degree of parent-adolescent communication
was found between the two groups at the
.05 level of confidence.
Discussion
Table 1 shows some of the remaining
items which were highly discriminating be-
tween the upper and lower quartiles. Seven-
ty-eight percent of the subjects in the lower
quartile felt their mother wished they were
different (item 7) whereas only ten percent
of the upper quartile indicated this feel-
ing-a difference of sixty-eight percent.
Ninety-eight percent of the subjects in the
upper quartile, as compared to thirty-nine
percent in the lower quartile, indicated
they felt understood by their mother (item
33).
Criticism, sarcasm and lack of trust,
often cited as barriers to healthy communi-
cation, are reflected in items 22, 21, 32, 29,
and 30. Mothers appeared more critical
than fathers as reflected by items 22 and
21. A difference of 51% existed between
the upper and lower quartile with the
upper quartile receiving the lesser amount
of criticism from mothers. Lack of trust
from parents, a common complaint of ado-
lescents, is examined in items 29 and 30.
Fathers were felt to be a little more trust-
ing than mothers.
Confiding and sharing of information is
reflected in items 12, 14, 15, and 16. Nine-
ty-nine percent of the upper quartile indi-
cated that their families talked things over
with each other (item 12) whereas only
46% of the lower quartile indicated like-
wise. More subjects (19%) reported dis-
cussing personal problems with mothers
than with fathers as reflected by items 14
and 15. Item 16 shows that 100% of the
upper quartile, as contrasted to 61% of the
lower quartile, discussed their interests and
activities with their parents.
Expression of feelings, a requisite for
open communication, is reflected in item 24
with the upper quartile being permitted to
April 1959 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR
"blow off steam" at home much more fre-
quently than the lower quartile. Item 2 has
implications for listening, a vital ingredient
in communication. The importance of tone
of voice may be deduced from examining
items 31 and 25.
Other aspects of positive communication
may be reflected in responses to items 6,
8, 18, and 23. It is not surprising to learn
that teen-agers value parental respect for
their opinions, compliments and praise,
and expressions of confidence in their abili-
ties.
Implications
The items shown in Table 1 (as well as
some which were excluded) have implica-
tions for enhancing our knowledge of par-
ent-adolescent communication. Through
parent education, parents can be made
aware of some of the important elements of
dialogue with their teens and helped to im-
plement these in their relationships with
them. Until recently communication in the
American family has been one-way, from
the father to the children and today's par-
ents have no adequate model to emulate.
The Family Communication Inventory
has implications as a tool for promoting
dialogue between the generations. Data ob-
tained from group administrations to ado-
lescents have served as a basis for lively
and stimulating discussions in parent-teen
seminars conducted by the author. The in-
strument has also been used very enthusias-
tically as a teaching device in family living
classes in several high schools. It has
proven helpful to teachers in acquiring a
deeper understanding of the students' rela-
tionship with their parents and has served
as a basis for teaching principles of effec-
tive parent-child communication. As a sup-
plement to the items, the last page of the
Inventory elicits the adolescent's views on
his goals, his concerns about the future, his
home situation and his confidants. This has
helped high school guidance personnel and
administrators better understand their stu-
dent body. Finally, individual families have
used the FCI to study their own modes of
communication; it has been reported to
promote insight and stimulate the develop-
119
 TABLE 1. RANKING OF ITEMS ACCORDING T O FREQUENCY OF FAVORABLE
AND UNFAVORABLE RESPONSES
-

L'pper Qtrarlile Lower Qnartile

Ileru (A\-=94=1007{) (J= 04 =10007cj
-- - -

Favorable U?~fa/auorable Fuooreble Un~voreble

-
- .- . -

% z 07
/ 0 7;
7. Do you think your mother wished

you were different? 90.0 10.0 22.0 78.0

6. Do your parents respect your

opinion even if they don't agree

with it? 06.0 4.0 35.0 65.0

33. Does your mother seem to under-

stand you? 98.0 2.0 39.0 61.0
22. Does your mother criticize you? 74.0 26.0 16.0 84.0
11. Does your father wish you were
different? 96.0 4.0 39.0 61.0
2. Do your parents wait until you

are through talking before re-

sponding to what you say? 94.0 6.0 40.0 60.0

12. Does your family talk things over

with each other? 99.0 1.0 46.0 54.0
14. Do you discuss your personal
problems with your mother? 84.0 16.0 31.0 69.0
31. I s your mother's tone of voice
irritating? 87.0 13.0 34.0 66.0
25. Do you find your father's tone of
voice irritating? 86.0 14.0 35.0 65.0
32. Are your parents sarcastic toward
you? 88.0 12.0 37.0 63.0
21. Does your father criticize you? 80.0 20.0 32.0 68.0
28. Do you feel your parents have
confidence in your abilities? 98.0 2.0 50.0 50.0
24. Do your parents permit you to
blow off steam? 74.0 26.0 28.0 72.0
18. Do they pay you compliments
and say nice things to you? 99.0 1.0 59.0 41 .O
29. Does your mother trust you? 99.0 1.0 59.0 41.0
16. Do you discuss your interests and
activities with your parents? 100.0 0.0 61.0 39.0
23. Do they consider your opinion in
making decisions which pertain
to you? 94.0 6.0 57.0 43.0
15. Do you discuss your personal
problems with your father? 60.0 40.0 26.0 ii.0
1. Is family conversation easy and

pleasant at mealtimes? 98.0 2.0 66.0 34.0

30. Does your father trust you? 97.0 3.0 65.0 35.0

120 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR April 1969

ment of communication in families. The
FCI appears to show excellent potential as
a counseling tool to supplement an inter-
view. It pin points specific problem areas
and att terns of communication thus fur-
nishing clues for exploration and discus-
sion in later counseling interviews. It is
also used clinically for initial screening
validate the instrument with criterion
groups and test-retest reliability studies are
being analyzed. Following these steps a na-
tion-wide sampling will be obtained for
normative and standardization purposes.
REFERENCES
:
Bernard, Jessie. The Adjustment of Married

and diagnosis in ascertaining the degree of Mates. In H. T. Christensen (Ed.), Hand-

healthy or disturbed parent-adolescent com- book of Marriage and the Family. Chicago:

munication. The author has found from its Rand McNally, 1964, 709-711.

Cervantes, Lucius I. The Dropout. Ann Arbor:

clinical use that it aids the client in focus- University of Michigan Press, 1966.
ing on his relationships with his parents in Duvall, Evelyn M. Family Development. New

a wav that he had not done before. Fur- York: J. B. Lippincott, 1%7.

thermore, the non-verbal client is often bet- Jourard, Sidney M. The Transparent Self. New

ter able to communicate his feelings and at- York: D. Van Nostrand, 1964.

Ruesch, Jurgen. The Role of Communication in

titudes through this technique.
Although the FCI is founded in research,
it is not Dresented as a "~olished"tool but
as an initrument needini further
and development in the applied field. ~ d d
tional studies are being completed at the
time of this writing and others are in prog-
ress. Attempts are being made to further
Therapeutic Transactions. The Journal o f Com-
munication. 1%3. 13. 132-139.
Satir. ~ i r e i n LM. Conjoint Family Therapy. Palo
Alto: g i e n c e and Behavior Books, 1964.
Scherz, Frances H. Multiple-Client Interviewing:
~ -Treatment Implications. Social Casework, 1962,
11-16.
Shipman, Gordon. Psychodynamics of Sex Educa-
tion. The Family Coordinator, 1968, 16, 3-12.

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY, CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA

ANNOUNCES: ...
Summer Institute: New Methods in Marriage and Family Counseling
July 7-18,1969
HOWARD J. CLINEBELL,
JR., Director

Summer Workshop on Sensitivity Training and Interpersonal Skills

August 4-15,1969
DR. ROBERTM. HILTONand DR. HOWARD
J. CLINEBELL,
JR. are co-leaders of
this workshop.

Major Counseling Opportunities of the Minister

June 9-August 29,1969

Information about these courses which may be taken for graduate credit or audited
without credit may be obtained from: Registrar, School of Theology, College Ave. at
Foothill Blvd., Claremont, California 91711.

April 1969 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR