NCJ Number
244553
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 42 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2013 Pages: 1498-1511
Date Published
October 2013
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Focusing upon the family, a significant factor for adolescent mental health, this study examined how positive and negative daily family interactions relate to gender differences in internalizing symptoms
Abstract
By the age of 18, girls are more than twice as likely as boys to experience internalizing symptoms. Focusing upon the family, a significant factor for adolescent mental health, this study examined how positive and negative daily family interactions relate to gender differences in internalizing symptoms. Six hundred and eighty-one 12th grade students (54 percent female) completed diary checklists each night for 2 weeks in which they indicated whether they got along with their family (positive family interactions) and argued with their family (negative family interactions). Results indicate that negative daily family interactions explain, in part, why females experience heightened internalizing symptoms. Yet, even in the face of negative family interactions, positive daily family interactions have salutatory effects, reducing females' emotional distress and eliminating gender differences in internalizing symptoms at high levels of positive interactions. These findings underscore the importance of positive family interactions for adolescent girls' mental health. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.