Parent–Child Disagreements About Safety During Preadolescence

Objectives Much research has examined how parents manage safety issues for young children, however, little is known about how they do so in the preadolescent years when children’s demand for autonomy increases. The current study focused on youth in this transition stage (10–13 years) and examined parent–child disagreements about safety, including how parents learn of these, react to these, and resolve these (Aim 1), if the parent–child relationship or sex of the child impacts these processes (Aim 2), and the nature and reasons why children intentionally keep safety-relevant secrets from their parents (Aim 3). Methods A short-term longitudinal design was applied. Parents initially completed questionnaires and, with their child, retrospectively recalled safety disagreements. Over the next month, parents tracked safety disagreements and children tracked secrets they withheld from parents. Results The findings revealed significant gender differences: Daughters were more likely than sons to spontaneously disclose safety issues to their parents, and parents were more likely to discuss the issue and provide teaching to daughters than sons. Relationship quality emerged as an important factor, particularly for boys: A positive parent–child relationship predicted increased parental teaching in response to a safety-relevant issue for boys only. Children kept secrets from their parents about safety-relevant information in order to maintain their autonomy and independence. Conclusion Parent–child disagreements about safety are influenced by the positive nature of the parent–child relationship and differ for sons and daughters.