Should parents apologize to their adolescents to mend their parent-adolescent relationship? A multi-method, multi-phase investigation.

ABSTRACT: Apologies following interpersonal offenses tend to mend relationships, but the role of parental apologies in the parent-adolescent relationship is understudied. Further, parental apologies may have diametrical effects on the parent-adolescent relationship depending on their phrasing. In this three-phase study, we recruited 288 adolescents to assess the role of perceived (phase 1), coded (phase 2), and manipulated (phase 3) parental victim-centered and defensive apologies in the parent-adolescent relationship (i.e., adolescent forgiveness, relationship satisfaction, and perceptions of parental authority). Results from all three phases converged to suggest that victim-centered apologies predict greater forgiveness, more autonomous and less controlled motivations to forgive, and higher relati

SUBMITTER: Robichaud JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12000636 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature