College Students' Adjustment: The Role of Parent-College Student Expectation Discrepancies and Communication Reciprocity

• NCJ Number: 223687
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 37 Issue: 8 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 967-982
• Author(s): Allison Kanter Agliata; Kimberly Renk
• Date Published: September 2008
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined discrepancies between college-students' goal expectations and their perceptions of their parents' goal expectations for them and parent-student communication reciprocity (mutual exchanges of thoughts and feelings) in their impact on student adjustment.

Abstract

The study found that discrepancies between parents' actual expectations and college students' perceptions of their performance were related to lower self-worth and more adjustment difficulties. This suggests that college students judge their current performance on how well they believe they are meeting an ideal, whether it is based on their own or their parents' expectations. Further, the discrepancies between mothers' actual expectations and their ratings of their college students' performance were related to college students' adjustment. Regarding parent student communication reciprocity, college students' perceptions of reciprocal communications predicted adjustment more consistently than parents' perceived level of communication across the expectation discrepancies. College students' perceptions of higher communication reciprocity with their parents was related to higher levels of self-worth and adjustment in college. Thus, students' perceptions of the quality of communication with their parents may be more important to their adjustment than the actual quality of the communication. The study involved a diverse sample of 69 male and 105 female freshmen and sophomores attending a large southeastern university. A subsample of their mothers and fathers also participated in the study. The Living Up to Parental Expectations Inventory was used to assess the discrepancy between college students' perceived parental expectations and their perceived self-performance. The Perception of Parental Reciprocity Scale measured the students' perceptions of communication reciprocity between themselves and their parents; and the Self-Perception Profile for College Students assessed competencies and self-worth. Adjustment in college was measured with the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire. The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale assessed students' levels of social desirability. 8 tables and 35 references