Dyadic resistance during parent–adolescent interactions: A state space grid analysis before and after high school

Abstract

Objective

This study examined micro-level resistance dynamics that occur during parent–adolescent interactions before and after the transition to high school.

Background

Although research on parent–adolescent disputes has emphasized global measures of frequency and intensity, less attention has been paid to the actions of resistance during parent–adolescent interactions. This study fills a gap in what is known about parent–adolescent resistance dynamics.

Methods

A state space grid approach informed by dynamic systems and family conflict theories was conducted on two videorecorded conversations in a sample of 26 Canadian parent–adolescent dyads. Flexibility, attractor, and intergrid distance analyses assessed intradyadic variability in how parents and adolescents resisted one another moment to moment.

Results

Attractor analysis revealed that the most probable state during resistance sequences shifted: Before high school it was the Parent Justifying–Adolescent Justifying cell, after it was the Parent Minimizing–Adolescent Rejecting cell. t-test results of intergrid distance scores showed a significant difference in the positioning of resistance sequences after high school.

Conclusion

Results offer evidence that dyadic resistance differs before and after significant family transitions like the move to high school.

Implications

Future research on dyadic resistance microprocesses could examine whether the proposed conceptual categories could be applied to dyads across multiple areas of difference to scrutinize its utility for a range of cultural and caregiver relationships.