Age and Gender Differences in Adolescents' Preferences for Parental Advice

This study examined which parent an adolescent would approach for advice about age-appropriale concerns, using 72 male and female middle and high school students as participants. MANOVA analyses of parental (mothters vs. fathers) advice preference indicated that adolescents overwhelmingly preferred maternal advice on self social, family, school-related, and philosophical issues. Further, logistical (probit) regression analyses indicated that only adolescent gender and paternal relationship quality emerged as consistent predictors of parental advice preference. Girls were more likely than boys to seek and follow mothers'advice on self, social, andfamily issues. However, the more negative the relationship with the fathers, the more likely both male and female adolescents were to seek mothers 'advice about social, family, and school-related issues.