Doing Good Deeds: An Examination of Adolescent Prosocial Behavior in the Context of Parent-Adolescent Relationships

In this study, adolescents' prosocial behavior toward parents was explored as an embedded aspect of parent-adolescent relationships. Gender, grade, attachment, and interdependency were examined as characteristics contributing to variation in adolescent prosocial behavior Adolescents (n = 129) in the 6th, 8th, and 10th grades; their mothers (n = 126); and their fathers (n = 104) completed questionnaires during two l-hour, in-home visits that were 1 week apart. For this study, the Adolescent Prosocial Behavior Inventory was developed, from which emerged two dimensions: affection and helpfulness. Additional analyses showed that mothers received more prosocial behavior than didfathers, and daughters acted more prosocially than did sons. Attachment had a direct and an indirect effect through interdependency on adolescent prosocial behavior From parents' viewpoints, interdependency related directly to helpfulness; whereas for sons'reports, attachment linked with helpfulness. Results supported a relationalperspective for understanding adolescents'prosocial behavior