Gender Differences in Adolescent Perceptions of Parent-Adolescent Openness in Communication and Adolescent Empathy

The purpose of this study was to examine how the relationship between adolescent perceptions of openness in parent-adolescent communication and adolescent empathy may differ by gender of the respondent. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to test the possibility of an interaction between adolescent gender and parent communication in predicting two other-oriented dimensions of empathy empathic concern and perspective taking) in 236 adolescents ages 14 to 16. Gender of the adolescent, openness in mother-adolescent communication, and openness in father-adolescent communication were significant predictors of adolescent empathic concern. Gender also moderated the relationship between openness in mother-adolescent communication and empathic concern. Further, openness in mother-adolescent communication was a significant predictor of adolescent perspective taking. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.