Parental Practices in Late Adolescence, a Comparison of Three Countries: Canada, France and Italy

The objective of this study was to examine parental practices, such as affection, control and conflict, in three countries: Canada, France and Italy. The sample was composed of more than 900 late adolescents with an average age of 17 years, from three large cities: Montreal, Paris and Rome. Participants answered a self-report questionnaire that assessed five measures: emotional bonds with the father and mother, parental supervision, tolerance towards friends, punitiveness for violation of rules, and conflict frequency. Analyses of the results indicated that the country of origin discriminated for most of the parental practice dimensions. Canadian adolescents considered their parents to be more tolerant and rated them as using less punitive measures when rules were broken. Canadian parents also seemed to adopt comparable norms for boys and girls, which could be interpreted as a form of sexual egalitarianism, whereas Italian and French parents appeared less tolerant towards girls. Italian adolescents reported strong emotional bonds with each parent, and also identified more conflicts in their relationships with parents. French adolescents reported weaker emotional bonds with each parent and less parental supervision. Results were interpreted in the light of studies that have reported an influence of cultural background on both parental practices and parental decisions in each of these countries.