The implications of parental differential treatment: A family systems approach
Abstract
Over the past several decades scholars have highlighted links between parental differential treatment (PDT) and offspring adjustment. Despite years of research, however, several critical gaps in the literature have yet to be fully examined. First, researchers have largely assumed two divergent approaches to measuring PDT (difference scores and perceptions) to be analogous but have not considered their possible distinctions and linkages. Second, little work has tested the intersection of maternal and paternal differential treatment or addressed whether being less favored by both parents is linked with poorer outcomes than if less favored by one parent only. Lastly, most studies have focused on differential treatment between two siblings with little attention to the study of differential treatment among siblings in families with three or more offspring. To date no research that I am aware of has tested whether the context of family size moderates links between PDT and youth adjustment. The current dissertation addresses these three gaps in the literature by conducting three studies using three separate data sets. Findings indicate that difference scores and perceptions are likely distinct yet conceptually linked constructs. Specifically, actual differences in treatment (difference scores) may be indirectly linked to offspring well-being through the perception of PDT. Results did not indicate a maternal differential treatment X paternal differential treatment interaction, suggesting that being less favored by two parents may not be worse than being less favored by one parent only. Lastly, results suggested that in some instances links between PDT and youth adjustment do vary by family size as well as the average level of parental support. Contrary to expectations, however, in larger families with high average levels of support and in small families with low average levels of support, more favored treatment was linked to poorer emotion regulation. Discussion focuses on each individual gap in the literature as well as cross-cutting themes across the three studies.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Whiteman, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Social research|Psychology
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