Abstract
The primary goal of this study was to examine patterns or groupings of adolescents' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) (measured through cortisol) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (measured through salivary alpha amylase or sAA) responses as a function of their parents' communication skills. A related goal was to decipher whether adolescents who demonstrate different patterns of physiological reactivity vary in their personal and relational health. The sample consisted of 118 parent-adolescent dyads who were asked to talk about something stressful related to the parents' relationship. The results revealed that adolescents' perceptions of their parent's communication skills predicted the likelihood that the adolescents would overreact, show no reaction, or down regulate in response to such a discussion, but only for sAA. All of the communication skills in question-social support, communication competence, feeling caught between the parents' conflict, and inappropriate disclosures-supported the hypothesis that adolescents with parents who they think are more communicatively skilled are better able to recover from a stressful interaction than adolescents whose parents are less skilled. Adolescents who were considered "overreactors" in sAA also had more negative health indices, somewhat lower psychological well-being, and poorer quality relationships with their parents.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 273-295 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Communication Monographs |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Communication Competence
- Cortisol
- Disclosure
- Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
- Interparental Conflict
- Physiology
- Salivary Alpha-Amylase
- Social Support
- Sympathetic Nervous System
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Language and Linguistics
Cite this
Parents' communication skills and adolescents' salivary α-amylase and cortisol response patterns. / Afifi, Tamara D.; Granger, Douglas A.; Denes, Amanda; Joseph, Andrea; Aldeis, Desiree.
In: Communication Monographs, Vol. 78, No. 3, 09.2011, p. 273-295.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Parents' communication skills and adolescents' salivary α-amylase and cortisol response patterns
AU - Afifi, Tamara D.
AU - Granger, Douglas A.
AU - Denes, Amanda
AU - Joseph, Andrea
AU - Aldeis, Desiree
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - The primary goal of this study was to examine patterns or groupings of adolescents' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) (measured through cortisol) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (measured through salivary alpha amylase or sAA) responses as a function of their parents' communication skills. A related goal was to decipher whether adolescents who demonstrate different patterns of physiological reactivity vary in their personal and relational health. The sample consisted of 118 parent-adolescent dyads who were asked to talk about something stressful related to the parents' relationship. The results revealed that adolescents' perceptions of their parent's communication skills predicted the likelihood that the adolescents would overreact, show no reaction, or down regulate in response to such a discussion, but only for sAA. All of the communication skills in question-social support, communication competence, feeling caught between the parents' conflict, and inappropriate disclosures-supported the hypothesis that adolescents with parents who they think are more communicatively skilled are better able to recover from a stressful interaction than adolescents whose parents are less skilled. Adolescents who were considered "overreactors" in sAA also had more negative health indices, somewhat lower psychological well-being, and poorer quality relationships with their parents.
AB - The primary goal of this study was to examine patterns or groupings of adolescents' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) (measured through cortisol) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (measured through salivary alpha amylase or sAA) responses as a function of their parents' communication skills. A related goal was to decipher whether adolescents who demonstrate different patterns of physiological reactivity vary in their personal and relational health. The sample consisted of 118 parent-adolescent dyads who were asked to talk about something stressful related to the parents' relationship. The results revealed that adolescents' perceptions of their parent's communication skills predicted the likelihood that the adolescents would overreact, show no reaction, or down regulate in response to such a discussion, but only for sAA. All of the communication skills in question-social support, communication competence, feeling caught between the parents' conflict, and inappropriate disclosures-supported the hypothesis that adolescents with parents who they think are more communicatively skilled are better able to recover from a stressful interaction than adolescents whose parents are less skilled. Adolescents who were considered "overreactors" in sAA also had more negative health indices, somewhat lower psychological well-being, and poorer quality relationships with their parents.
KW - Communication Competence
KW - Cortisol
KW - Disclosure
KW - Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
KW - Interparental Conflict
KW - Physiology
KW - Salivary Alpha-Amylase
KW - Social Support
KW - Sympathetic Nervous System
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79960754170&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79960754170&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03637751.2011.589460
DO - 10.1080/03637751.2011.589460
M3 - Article
VL - 78
SP - 273
EP - 295
JO - Communication Monographs
JF - Communication Monographs
SN - 0363-7751
IS - 3
ER -