Chunk #7 — Observed Parenting Behavior with Teens: Measurement Invariance and Predictive Validity Across Race — Rewards and Costs in Parenting Behaviors
Rewards for prosocial behavior (prosocial rewards) include parental warm and affectionate responses to their teens’ positive behaviors, as well as direct verbal agreement and endorsement. Dishion (2003) and others (Dorius, Bahr, Hoffman, & Harmon, 2004; Fletcher, Steinberg, & Williams-Wheeler, 2004; Melby, Conger, Conger, & Lorenz, 1993) have linked rewards for prosocial behavior to reduced youth antisocial behavior. A closely related set of parenting behaviors is the ability to do problem solving with their teen without hostility or protracted argument. Family problem-solving skills reduce the anger and hostility in the family and provide a more rewarding place for teens to grow and experiment. Frequently, skillful positive problem solving provides a reward to the teen for prosocial behaviors such as logical thinking, empathy, and calmly dealing with something painful or difficult. Like more direct rewards for prosocial behavior, problem-solving skills have been found to predict reduced youth antisocial behavior (Dishion, Burraston, & Li, 2003; Hops, Tildesley, Lichtenstein, Ary, & Sherman, 1990; Smetana, Crean, & Daddis, 2002).
