Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

www.elsevier.com/locate/jado

Perceived parenting styles, personality traits and sleep

patterns in adolescents
Serge Brand a,*, Martin Hatzinger b, Johannes Beck a, Edith Holsboer-Trachsler a
a
Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, Depression Research Unit, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4025 Basel, Switzerland
b
Psychiatric Outpatient Department, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland

Abstract

The present study examined the role of parenting styles with respect to adolescents’ sleep patterns and
symptoms of depression and anxiety. A total of 246 adolescents (age: 17.58  1.62) took part in the study.
They completed several questionnaires with regard to parenting styles and to symptoms of anxiety and
depression; additionally, they filled in a questionnaire assessing sleep-related personality traits and
completed a sleep log for 7 consecutive days. Results showed a high overlap between parenting styles of
both parents, though with a different relation to adolescents’ sleep. Adverse parenting styles were highly
correlated with low sleep quality, negative mood, increased daytime sleepiness, and with increased symp-
toms of anxiety and depression. Adolescents with low positive and high negative parenting styles displayed
the most unfavorable sleep-related personality traits. Results suggest that parenting styles are related to
young people’s sleep pattern even at the beginning of late adolescence.
Ó 2009 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.

Keywords: Adolescence; Anxiety; Parenting styles; Depressive symptoms; Sleep; Sleep-related personality traits

Introduction

Sleep affects quality of life, daily functioning (cf. Banks & Dinges, 2007; Carskadon & Dement,
1981), memory (Stickgold, 2005), and academic performance (Curcio, Ferrara, & De Gennaro,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ41 61 32 55 114; þ41 79 439 64 30 (mobile phone); fax: þ41 61 32 55 513.
E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Brand).

0140-1971/$30.00 Ó 2009 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.01.010
1190 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

2006). Chronic sleep disturbances decrease physical and psychological functioning (Roberts,
Roberts, & Duong, 2008).
During the life span, notable changes occur with respect to sleep quantity and quality (Ohayon,
Carskadon, Guilleminault, & Vitiello, 2004). Compared to childhood, in adolescence, three
prominent changes occur: First, sleep quantity declines from about 10 h at 10 years of age to
between 6.5 and 8.5 h in older adolescents for weekdays (cf. Iglowstein, Jenni, Molinari, & Largo,
2003; Mercer, Merrit, Cowell, & Cowell, 1998). Second, a marked shift is observable towards
a longer sleep duration and later bed time from school nights (i.e., week nights) to off-school
nights (i.e., weekend nights) (cf. Mercer et al., 1998); this shift can even resemble jet lag-like
symptoms1 (Dahl & Lewin, 2002). Third, daytime sleepiness (20%) and insomnia symptoms
(25%) are common among adolescents (Ohayon, Roberts, Zulley, Smirne, & Priest, 2000; see also
Millman & Working Group on Sleepiness in Adolescents/Young Adults, 2005 for review).
A variety of factors influence adolescents’ sleep, and their potential reciprocal interactions are
complex. The possible influencing factors may be clustered into physiological, psychiatric, socio-
cultural and psychological factors. Physiological factors may refer, for instance, to narcolepsy,
breathing-related sleep disruptions, the circadian pattern of melatonin secretion or delayed sleep
phase preference (Carskadon, Vieira, & Acebo, 1992; cf. for overview Kotagal & Pianosi, 2006;
Millman & Working Group on Sleepiness in Adolescents/Young Adults, 2005). Psychiatric
disorders such as affective disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, attention-deficit/hyperac-
tivity disorders, and substance abuse have a further unfavorable impact on adolescents’ sleep (cf.
Kotagal & Pianosi, 2006; Millman & the Working Group on Sleepiness in Adolescents/Young
Adults, 2005). Socio-cultural factors refer to social-related altered life styles and constraints.
Among these, the following issues are highlighted: Peer activities such as attending sports
activities, music concerts or discos in the evenings and on weekends, a decrease in parental control
with respect to setting bedtimes (cf. Wolfson & Carskadon, 1998), as well as socially desirable
behavior such as going to bed later (cf. Wolfson et al., 2003), employment in addition to school
(cf. Millman & Working Group on Sleepiness in Adolescents/Young Adults, 2005), homework
requirements, and the availability of television or internet (Eliasson, Eliasson, King, Gould, &
Eliasson, 2002).
Psychological factors refer to all those factors which may lead to psychological stress. This
psychological stress may disturb sleep and sleep-related patterns. Among the multiple factors that
influence psychological stress, three prominent factors are underscored. First, new social settings
such as new peer groups (e.g., transition to university, new sports clubs) may lead to a night time
social life and therefore to new stress (cf. Vignau et al., 1997) and second, vocational decisions
may burden the adolescent, since these kinds of decisions will have far-reaching consequences for
professional life in early adulthood and later (Clark & Kupka, 1994). Third, there is evidence that
family dysfunction is highly correlated with sleep problems in 16-year-old adolescents: Vignau
et al. (1997) showed that among 763 high school students, about 41% complained about problems
1
Dahl and Lewin (2002, pp. 178e179) describe the jet lag-like phenomenon as follows: ‘‘[.] a typical adolescent on
Eastern Time going to bed at 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and sleeping in until noon will shift their
circadian system to Pacific Time within a few days. However, the shift to an earlier time compatible with going to school
on Eastern Time will require several days of a stable schedule to shift the temperature and hormone rhythms
completely. Therefore, many adolescents [.] may experience for several days jet lag-like symptoms of fatigue, difficulty
falling asleep at night, and difficulty awakening in the morning.’’
 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207 1191

such as falling asleep, maintaining sleep and waking up early in the morning. These sleep prob-
lems were highly related with various personal, but above all family disorders; that is, parents of
adolescents reporting poor sleep were more likely to be separated and to suffer physical and
psychiatric disorders. Vignau et al. (1997) concluded that family life may act as a stressor and
therefore interact with the adolescent’s sleep. In a similar vein, Tynjälä, Kannas, Levälahti, and
Välimaa (1999) reported that a good home atmosphere was the most important contributing
factor to good perceived sleep quality.
In summary, notable changes in adolescents’ sleep patterns occur as a result of organic/
physiological, psychiatric, socio-cultural and psychological influencing factors. Among the
psychological factors, family life seems to be particularly important; however, no data have been
gathered to clarify the association between perceived parenting styles and adolescents’ sleep
patterns.

Parenting styles

Growing up in a comforting home and experiencing a stable and secure relationship with one’s
parents is an important prerequisite for socialization (Vandeleur, Perrez, & Schoebi, 2007).
Parsons (1955) defined the family as the ‘‘factory where personality is made’’. The vehicle through
which the parents’ attitudes are experienced is parenting style. According to Darling and Stein-
berg (1993), parenting styles are the parents’ perceivable attitudes towards the child, and these
styles create an emotional climate in which the parents’ behavior is expressed. Krohne (1988)
defined parenting styles as a set of relatively stable behaviors through which parents interact with
their child in relatively specific situations, thus emphasizing that parents may show a relatively
uniform set of behaviors in a given context. For example, a parent with low degree of support will
not encourage his or her child to help with the housework, nor to achieve academic grades. In
contrast, a parent with a high degree of support will give positive and encouraging feedback to his
or her child regardless of whether the child has finished homework or is engaged in other activities
such as challenging sports activities or making music.
There is clear evidence for a relation between perceived parenting styles and children’s
psychological functioning. For example, Wolfradt, Hempel, and Miles (2003) sampled 276 high
school students (mean age: 15.4 years) and found that perceived parental pressure correlated
positively with trait anxiety and with depersonalization, i.e. with a loss of familiarity with both
environment and self (cf. DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Conversely, parental
warmth was positively associated with active coping and negatively with anxiety.
Similarly, Wagner, Cohen, and Brook (1996) emphasized that adolescents with perceived warm
parenting style were less likely to suffer from symptoms of depression after stressful life events
than adolescents who reported more rejecting and reproaching parenting styles. Other studies
have focused on the relation between parenting style and anxiety (Gerlsma, Emmelkamp, &
Arrindell, 1990; Muris & Merckelbach, 1998) and have suggested that parental rejection and
control, at least during childhood, directly causes symptoms of anxiety.
With respect to the association between perceived parenting style and psychopathological
symptoms, Krohne (1988) and Krohne and Pulsack (1995) proposed a concept of perceived
parenting styles, which allows a differentiated approach and treatment assessment for parents
undergoing family therapy or parenting counseling. Krohne and Pulsack’s (1995) concept consists
1192 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

of two positive and three negative dimensions. Support, the degree to which a child feels supported
in his or her activities, and Commendation, the degree with which a child feels he or she receives
positive verbal feedback, are considered as positive parenting styles. Considered as negative
parenting styles are: Reproach, the way parents give negative verbal reactions; Restriction, the way
parents do not allow or encourage autonomous responsible behavior or decision making in their
child; and Inconsistency, the degree with which a child perceives his or her parent’s behavior as not
consistent and therefore as not predictable over time with respect to his or her own behavior.
Krohne and Pulsack’s (1995) Parenting Style Inventory provides a good basis for concrete
interventions and counseling; therefore, we applied the Parenting Style Inventory in our research.
In sum, a broad body of research strongly suggests that parenting style is related to the ado-
lescent’s psychological conditions in both positive and negative directions. Warmth, support, high
demand and high responsiveness are associated with enhanced competencies and active problem-
solving; conversely, a rejecting, reproachable and neglectful parenting style predominantly is
related to symptoms of anxiety, depersonalization, and depression.
A core symptom of anxiety and depression is deteriorated sleep but, surprisingly, no data with
respect to sleep have so far been reported in relation to parenting styles. Specifically, it is unclear
to what extent perceived parenting styles are associated not only with the adolescent’s sleep
duration, but also with dimensions related to sleep such as sleep quality, mood, and sleepiness. In
addition, parenting styles in relation to sleep-related personality traits are not known; sleep-
related personality traits are understood as personality traits of patients with sleep complaints (see
specific assessment instrument below). Finally, the shift of sleep time or sleep duration during
weekends compared to weekdays (cf. Dahl & Lewin, 2002) has not been examined in relation to
parenting styles or to a possible association with sleep schedules.
The aim of the present study was therefore to gain deeper insight into the relation between
parenting styles as perceived by adolescents, sleep patterns, and symptoms of depression and
anxiety. Additionally, we examined the influence of the weekend shift on sleep-related schedules in
combination with parenting styles. Possible findings may be important in professional psycho-
logical and psychiatric contexts, since there is a high probability that adolescents’ issues and
concerns surrounding sleep complaints and difficulties with parents will be encountered.
Furthermore, adolescents’ sleepiness is often perceived to be a matter of motivation or school
refusal, and the current results may help to inform this issue. If parenting styles are related to the
adolescents’ emotional, cognitive and behavioral status, this should also be reflected in sleep and
sleep-related aspects. Hence, we formulated the following three hypotheses: First, if negative
parenting styles is related to affective symptoms such as anxiety (cf. Gerlsma et al., 1990; Muris &
Merckelbach, 1998), depersonalization (Wolfradt et al., 2003), and depressive symptoms (cf.
Wagner et al., 1996), these same parenting styles should also negatively correlate with the
adolescents’ sleep and sleep-related patterns such as sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and mood.
Second, since parenting styles may remain relatively stable over time (Krohne & Pulsack, 1995),
we hypothesize that they should also be associated with adolescents’ sleep-related personality
traits; these personality traits are understood as cognitive-behavioral attitudes with respect to
sleep that are relatively stable over time (cf. Hoffmann, Rasch, & Schnieder, 1996). Third, based
on conclusions of Dahl and Lewin (2002), we hypothesize that an increasingly marked weekend
shift to a later bed time will be reflected in depressive symptoms, anxious symptoms, sleep quality,
and daytime sleepiness, independently of parenting style.
 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207 1193

Method

Sample

A total of 246 adolescents (age in years: M ¼ 17.58, SD ¼ 1.62; 187 female: M ¼ 17.58,
SD ¼ 1.70, and 59 male: M ¼ 17.56, SD ¼ 1.33) took part in the study. Of these, 167 (67.9%) lived
with both parents, 39 (15.9%) lived with their mothers, 3 (1.2%) lived with their fathers, 7 (2.8%)
lived with their mother and stepfather, 1 (0.4%) lived with the father and a stepmother, and 29
(11.8%) did not provide these details. Regardless of the living arrangements, participants
completed the questionnaires assessing perceived parenting styles for all mothers (N ¼ 246) and
for 231 fathers.
Procedure

Participants were recruited in the Cantons Basel and Basel Land, two districts of the German
speaking North-Western part of Switzerland. The heads of three high schools gave permission to
recruit students from their schools. Then, students were informed about the purpose of the study
and about the voluntary basis of the participation. All participants were assured of the confi-
dentiality of their responses and gave informed consent. Informed consent of parents was required
for those students aged below 18 years. Participants were required to complete several psycho-
logical, sleep and sleep-related questionnaires as described in detail below, and to keep a sleep log
for 7 consecutive days, covering 2 weekend days and 5 weekdays. All those students who were
approached agreed to participate. The majority of participants completed the questionnaires in
about 40 min during class (range, 24e60 min), while the sleep log was completed at home.
These preliminary results form part of an ongoing research project investigating life and sleep
quality in adolescents conducted in the German speaking part of Switzerland.
Materials

Parenting Style Inventory

The Erziehungsstil Inventar ([Parenting Style Inventory]; Krohne & Pulsack, 1995) is a rating
questionnaire to assess perceived parenting style, and it is filled in separately by adolescents, for
mothers and fathers. It consists of 60 items, which are aggregated into five dimensions: Support
(e.g., ‘‘My mother/my father listens to me, when I talk about what I want to become as an adult’’;
‘‘My mother/my father explains to me why she/he forbids me to do something’’; ‘‘When I’m
helping my mother/my father and I make a mistake, she/he explains to me how to do it better’’),
Commendation (e.g., ‘‘My mother/my father is pleased when I save my pocket-money’’; ‘‘My
mother/my father is pleased when I help with the housework’’; ‘‘My mother/my father is pleased
when I ask to help her/him’’), Reproach (e.g., ‘‘My mother/my father gets angry, when I
contradict her/him’’; ‘‘My mother/my father gets angry, when I get low grades at school/at work’’;
‘‘My mother/my father gets angry, when I get a bad school report’’), Restriction (e.g., ‘‘When I do
something wrong while I’m helping my mother/my father, she/he says to go away’’; ‘‘My mother/
my father decides what I have to eat’’; ‘‘My mother/my father says, that my fingers are all
thumbs’’), and Inconsistency (e.g., ‘‘Sometimes, it’s not at all clear to me why my mother/my
father reproaches me’’; ‘‘When I contradict my mother/my father, I don’t know what she/he will
1194 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

do’’; ‘‘When my mother/my father promises something, I don’t know if it will come true’’).
Answers are given on a 4-point rating scale ranging from 1 (¼never or very seldom) to 4 (¼always
or practically always). The higher the average score, the more pronounced a dimension is
(Cronbach’s alpha for mothers ¼ 0.87; Cronbach’s alpha for fathers ¼ 0.88).

Depression Scale
The Depression Scale (Von Zerssen, 1976) consists of 16 items and asks about typical
depression-related symptoms such as decreased mood, lack of satisfying social and leisure
activities, thoughts about suicide, hopelessness and loss of sleep. Answers are given on a 4-point
rating scale ranging from 1 (¼not at all true) to 4 (¼definitively true). Higher scores reflect more
pronounced depressive symptoms (Cronbach’s alpha ¼ 0.93).

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Laux, Glanzmann, Schaffner, & Spielberger, 1981) asks
about actual (state) and continuous (trait) anxiety symptoms. Typical items to assess state anxiety
are: ‘‘I feel tense’’, or ‘‘I’m worried that something could go wrong’’. Typical items to assess trait
anxiety are: ‘‘I feel relaxed’’, ‘‘I’m happy’’, or ‘‘I tend to take everything too seriously’’. Answers
are given on a 4-point rating scale ranging from practically always to practically never, with
anchor points ranging from 1 to 4 (for some items scoring is reversed). Higher scores reflect more
pronounced state or trait anxiety (Cronbach’s alpha ¼ 0.85).

Sleep-related personality traits

Participants also completed a sleep-related personality questionnaire, specifically designed to
assess personality traits of patients with sleep complaints (Fragebogen zur Erfassung allgemeiner
Persönlichkeitsmerkmale Schlafgestörter; FEPS I & II; Hoffmann et al., 1996). The FEPS I ques-
tionnaire consists of 64 items describing six sleep-related personality traits and subjective sleep
quality. Answers are given on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (¼not at all true) to 5 (¼completely true).
The dimensions addressed are displayed in Table 1. Higher scores reflect more unfavorable qualities
(e.g., subjective sleep quality: impaired, disturbed, not regenerative; Cronbach’s alpha ¼ 0.87). The
FEPS II questionnaire consists of 23 items with the following dimensions: ‘Focusing’ refers to the
tendency of a person with sleep complaints to continuously think about their difficulties in getting to
sleep, maintaining sleep, waking up early in the morning and/or suffering from increased daytime
sleepiness. The dimension ‘Worrying about unresolved problems’ refers to the tendency of a person
with sleep complaints to continuously think about and feel preoccupied with unresolved problems.
Again, higher scores indicate more negative traits (Cronbach’s alpha ¼ 0.89).The underlying ratio-
nale for these two dimensions assumes that dysfunctional, negative cognitions such as continually
worrying about not being able to sleep or about unresolved problems are the main factors involved in
developing and maintaining sleep problems (cf. Backhaus & Riemann, 1996; Harvey, 2000, 2002;
Hoffmann et al., 1996). The sleep-related personality questionnaire was chosen because it has been
shown to be applicable both for patients suffering from sleep disorders and for healthy subjects (see
also Brand, Frei, Hatzinger, & Holsboer-Trachsler, 2005).

Daily sleep log

The sleep log was based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; Buysse, Reynolds,
Monk, Berman, & Kupfer, 1989). The psychometric properties of the PSQI are very satisfying (cf.
 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207 1195

Table 1
Dimensions of the sleep-related personality traits questionnaire (FEPS I).
Dimensions Poles
Favorable pole Unfavorable pole
Attitude towards life Satisfied, confident, positive Depressive, dissatisfied,
resigned, lacking emotion
Self-confidence Self-confident, resolute, carefree Anxious, unsure, indecisive, easily
irritated
Mental arousal Relaxed, balanced, calm Tense, irritable, exhausted, burdened
Physical arousal Relaxed, balanced, Nervous, over-agitated, complaining
without any complaints
Aggressive behaviora Externalizing, competitive, Internalizing, over-controlling,
sustaining one’s own opinion inhibited, evasive
Self-perception of body sensations Easy going, Hypochondriac, complaining
carefree, confiding
Subjective sleep quality Regenerative, undisturbed, unimpaired Impaired, disturbed, not regenerative
Note. FEPS ¼ Fragebogen zur Erfassung allgemeiner Persönlichkeitsmerkmale Schlafgestörter (Hoffmann et al., 1996).
a
The expression ‘‘aggressive behaviour’’, proposed by the test authors, may be misleading; perhaps the dimension should be
translated as ‘‘assertive behavior’’.

Devine, Hakim, & Green, 2005), and the German adaptation was taken from a conventional and
widely used manual for psychological treatment of sleep complaints (Backhaus & Riemann,
1996). Participants were asked to fill out the log twice a day for a week, in the evening and in the
morning. For evenings, participants answered questions on an 8-point visual analogue scale
about: Sleepiness during the day (1 ¼ very sleepy), concentration during the day (1 ¼ very bad
concentration), and mood at bed time (1 ¼ very bad mood ). For mornings, the questionnaire asked
about sleep quality (1 ¼ very bad sleep quality), mood at awakening (1 ¼ very bad mood ) and
feeling of restoration (1 ¼ not at all restored ), using the same analogue scale (Cronbach’s
alpha ¼ 0.90). In addition, details of sleep onset latency (in minutes), the number of awakenings,
and the total sleep time (in hours and minutes) were requested. Nights were defined as weekday
nights if the participant went to school or to work the following day; accordingly, weekend nights
were Friday and Saturday nights.

Substance use questionnaire

An ad hoc questionnaire assessed the use and consumption of tea, coffee, nicotine (i.e., ciga-
rettes), alcohol, cannabis and hard drugs. Answers were given on a 4-point rating scale ranging
from 1 (1 ¼ not at all ) to 4 (1 ¼ every day). The higher the overall sum score, the higher the
amount and frequency of substance use (Cronbach’s alpha ¼ 0.96).

Results

Parenting styles

Adolescents completed The Erziehungsstil Inventar [Parenting Style Inventory] separately for
both parents, and provided information on their perceptions of parents’ Support, Commendation,
Restriction, Reproach and Inconsistency. Table 2 gives the correlations between the mother’s and
1196 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

Table 2
Correlations within and between mother’s and father’s parenting styles.
Mother Parenting styles
Father
Support Commendation Restriction Reproach Inconsistency
Support 0.57*** 0.31*** 0.44*** 0.27*** 0.29***
Commendation 0.37*** 0.65*** 0.28*** 0.07 0.03
Restriction 0.36*** 0.11 0.67*** 0.44*** 0.43***
Reproach 0.33*** 0.03 0.48*** 0.62*** 0.43***
Inconsistency 0.29*** 0.01 0.48*** 0.33*** 0.67***
Note. n ¼ 231. Correlations: Pearson’s r, two-tailed. ***p < 0.001.

the father’s scores on the different parenting style dimensions based on 231 respondents who
provided ratings of both parents. Overall, there is a consistency between the parents’ parenting
styles; correlation coefficients are medium to large and higher.2
Relationship between parenting styles, sleep, depression and anxiety symptoms,
and substance use

Table 3 provides an overview of the correlations computed between parenting styles

(separated for mothers and fathers) and sleep-related variables extracted from the daily sleep
log, as well as scores from the Depression Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and
substance use. As a general pattern, and irrespective of whether the parenting style referred to
mothers or fathers, adolescents who reported higher mood (evenings and mornings), increased
concentration during the day and low daytime sleepiness also reported having parents with
higher positive parenting styles. Conversely, adolescents who rated their parents’ styles as
negative also reported low morning and evening mood, low concentration during the day and
high daytime sleepiness.
Specifically, with regard to morning ratings, adolescents reporting a longer SOL (sleep onset
latency), reported also having mothers with low supportive, but high negative parenting styles, as
well as fathers with high Restriction parenting style. For total sleep time, adolescents reporting
longer total sleep time also reported both mothers and fathers with high Commendation parenting
styles, though correlation coefficients were small. Therefore, parenting styles were related to
quality of sleep and sleep-related measurements, as well as in part to SOL; with respect to sleep
duration, associations were very low.
Furthermore, adolescents reporting both mothers and fathers with high positive parenting
styles also had low scores for symptoms of depression and anxiety (state and trait). Accordingly,
the inverse pattern of results was found for negative parenting styles; that is, adolescents
describing their parents as having negative styles also reported stronger symptoms of depression
and anxiety (state and trait).
There was a small correlation between mothers’ Commendation and lower substance use, but
no other correlations with substance use.
2
Cohen (1988) defined a small correlation as r ¼ 0.1, medium as r ¼ 0.3, and large as r ¼ 0.5.
Table 3
Correlations between parenting styles and sleep variables derived from the daily sleep log.
Parenting styles
Mother (n ¼ 246) Father (n ¼ 231)

S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

Positive parenting styles Negative parenting styles Positive parenting styles Negative parenting styles
SU CO RES REP INC SU CO RES REP INC
Evening ratings
Mood 0.58*** 0.38*** 0.37*** 0.21*** 0.27*** 0.34*** 0.15* 0.40*** 0.18** 0.20**
Concentration dd 0.43*** 0.33*** 0.29*** 0.22*** 0.25*** 0.28*** 0.20** 0.26*** 0.10 0.13*
Sleepiness dd 0.40*** 0.28*** 0.30*** 0.14* 0.22** 0.26*** 0.10 0.32*** 0.18** 0.13*
Morning ratings
Mood 0.41*** 0.41*** 0.29*** 0.10 0.21** 0.20** 0.19** 0.24*** 0.10 0.14*
Sleep quality 0.54*** 0.35*** 0.46*** 0.31*** 0.36*** 0.31*** 0.13* 0.42*** 0.23*** 0.26***
SOL 0.24** 0.00 0.28*** 0.20** 0.22** 0.14* 0.11 0.15* 0.15* 0.08
TST 0.06 0.13* 0.09 0.06 0.05 0.01 0.13* 0.06 0.07 0.03
DS 0.24*** 0.22*** 0.25*** 0.10 0.25*** 0.17* 0.11 0.21** 0.11 0.27***
STAI
State anxiety 0.49*** 0.34*** 0.39*** 0.36*** 0.35*** 0.28*** 0.16* 0.30*** 0.27*** 0.22***
Trait anxiety 0.31*** 0.19** 0.29*** 0.22*** 0.33*** 0.22*** 0.06 0.31*** 0.27*** 0.34***
Substance usea 0.08 0.14* 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.00 0.03
Note. SU ¼ Support; CO ¼ Commendation; RES ¼ Restriction; REP ¼ Reproach; INC ¼ Inconsistency; higher scores of a parenting style means
that the dimension is more pronounced. Mood, concentration, and sleep quality: higher scores indicate higher mood, concentration, and sleep
quality; sleepiness: higher scores mean increased sleepiness. dd ¼ during the day; SOL ¼ sleep onset latency; TST ¼ total sleep time; DS ¼ Depression
Scale: higher scores mean increased depressive symptoms; STAI ¼ State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: higher scores mean increased symptoms.
a
Substance use: aggregated and averaged values of tea, coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis and hard drugs; higher scores indicate increased substance use.
Correlations: Pearson’s r, two-tailed. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

1197
1198 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

Parenting styles and sleep-related personality traits

To test the relation of parenting styles on sleep-related personality traits, the five parenting styles’
dimensions for both parents were aggregated and merged into two new variables: Positive parenting
style is the average of mothers’ and fathers’ Support and Commendation; Negative parenting style is
the average of mothers’ and fathers’ Reproach, Restriction and Inconsistency. Then, the two new
variables were median-split and dichotomized into low and high positive and negative parenting
styles, respectively. Next, using the sleep-related personality traits (FEPS I & II) as dependent
variables, several 2  2 factor ANOVAs were performed. We hypothesized that positive and
negative parenting styles would each independently and differentially be associated with sleep-
related personality traits, and in terms of interactions, we expected most unfavorable sleep-related
personality traits in those adolescents indicating lower positive and higher negative parenting styles.
Table 4 presented the descriptive and inferential statistics. Positive parenting styles were related
to more aggressive/assertive behavior and self-confidence. In contrast, negative parenting styles
were related to more self-perception of body sensations, physical arousal, focusing on sleep
complaints, and worrying about unresolved problems. Significant mean differences were found for
both factors and interactions with respect to attitude towards life and subjective sleep quality:
Positive parenting style was related to a better attitude towards life and greater subjective sleep
quality, while negative parenting style was related to poor attitude towards life and subjective
sleep quality. Finally, the most unfavorable values were found for those adolescents reporting the
combination of low positive and high negative parenting styles (see Fig. 1). No significant mean
differences were found for mental arousal.
In sum, a positive parenting style was positively, and a negative parenting style was negatively
associated with adolescents’ favorable sleep-related personality traits, with most unfavorable
sleep-related personality traits for those adolescents indicating low positive and high negative
parenting styles.

Mood, sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and weekend shift of sleep time

According to Dahl and Lewin (2002), a marked shift towards increased sleep time and later bed
time may produce jet lag-like symptoms and may negatively affect sleep. Therefore, we hypothesized
that an increased weekday to weekend shift would influence mood (mornings and evenings), sleep
quality, concentration during the day and daytime sleepiness independently from parenting styles. To
assess the shift, the average bed time during the week (nights from Sunday to Thursday inclusive) was
compared with the average bed time during the weekend (Friday and Saturday nights). The mean
difference of 166.11 min (SD ¼ 150.85; range, 178.50 to 676.00 min) indicated a later bed time at the
weekend of nearly 3 h, with large interindividual differences (see Table 5). To test the hypothesis, five
multiple regressions were performed with positive and negative parenting styles and the degree of shift
as independent variables. Results are shown in Table 6. First, DurbineWatson coefficients to indicate
independence of residuals were satisfactory.3 Second, after stepwise inclusion, multiple regression
models sufficiently explained (R and R2) the dependent variables.

3
According to Brosius (2002), DurbineWatson statistics coefficients between 1.5 and 2.5 indicate that the residuals of
independent variables are independent.
Table 4
Impact of parenting style on sleep-related personality traits; descriptive and inferential statistics.
FEPS Parenting styles Statistical analyses
Positive parenting M (SD) Negative parenting M (SD) Factor positive parenting Factor negative parenting Interaction
positive  negative
parenting
Low High Low High F df p F df p F df p
Attitude to lifea 3.87 (0.15) 3.06 (0.16) 3.14 (0.15) 3.78 (0.16) F(1, 230) ¼ 13.70, p ¼ .000 F(1, 230) ¼ 8.63, p ¼ .004 F(1, 230) ¼ 5.11, p ¼ .025
Self-confidenceb 3.69 (0.17) 3.21 (0.17) 3.25 (0.17) 3.65 (0.17) F(1, 230) ¼ 4.02, p ¼ .046 F(1, 230) ¼ 2.79, p ¼ .096 F(1, 230) ¼ 3.11, p ¼ .079
Mental arousalc 3.58 (0.16) 3.61 (0.16) 3.37 (0.16) 3.82 (0.17) F(1, 230) ¼ 0.02, p ¼ .882 F(1, 230) ¼ 3.78, p ¼ .053 F(1, 230) ¼ 2.14, p ¼ .145
Physical arousald 4.51 (0.19) 4.09 (0.19) 3.80 (0.19) 4.80 (0.20) F(1, 230) ¼ 2.30, p ¼ .130 F(1, 230) ¼ 13.60, p ¼ .000 F(1, 230) ¼ 0.22, p ¼ .640
Aggressive 4.94 (0.14) 4.55 (0.14) 4.80 (0.14) 4.69 (0.14) F(1, 230) ¼ 4.07, p ¼ .045 F(1, 230) ¼ 0.29, p ¼ .590 F(1, 230) ¼ 0.29, p ¼ .592
behaviore
Self-perception 3.85 (0.17) 4.12 (0.17) 3.61 (0.17) 4.35 (0.17) F(1, 230) ¼ 0.13, p ¼ .250 F(1, 230) ¼ 9.70, p ¼ .002 F(1, 230) ¼ 0.31, p ¼ .578
BSf
Subjective sleep 1.81 (0.10) 1.42 (0.11) 1.35 (0.13) 1.88 (0.11) F(1, 230) ¼ 6.67, p ¼ .010 F(1, 230) ¼ 12.93, p ¼ .000 F(1, 230) ¼ 5.70, p ¼ .017
qualityg
Focusingh 4.00 (0.13) 3.91 (0.13) 3.60 (0.13) 4.31 (0.14) F(1, 230) ¼ 0.20, p ¼ .652 F(1, 230) ¼ 14.15, p ¼ .000 F(1, 230) ¼ 0.44, p ¼ .507
Worrying about 4.42 (0.15) 4.37 (0.15) 4.11 (0.15) 4.68 (0.15) F(1, 230) ¼ 0.06, p ¼ .800 F(1, 230) ¼ 7.34, p ¼ .007 F(1, 230) ¼ 0.10, p ¼ .755
unresolved
problemsi
Note. BS ¼ body sensations; FEPS ¼ Fragebogen zur Erfassung allgemeiner Persönlichekeitsmerkmale Schlafgestörter ¼ sleep-related personality ques-
tionnaire (Hoffmann et al., 1996); a low score means: the dimension is more pronounced towards the first pole; e.g., ‘‘physical arousal’’: subjects with 3.82
points have a higher physical arousal than those with 3.37 points.
a
Satisfied, confident, trustful vs. depressive, dissatisfied, resigned, lack of emotion.
b
Self-confident, resolute, carefree vs. anxious, unsure, indecisive, easily irritated.
c
Relaxed, balanced, calm vs. tense, irritable, exhausted, burdened.
d
Relaxed, balanced, without any complaints vs. nervous, over-agitated, with complaints.
e
Externalizing, competitive, sustaining one’s own opinion vs. internalizing, over-controlling, inhibited, evasive.
f
Easy going, careless, confiding vs. hypochondriac, complaining.
g
Regenerative, undisturbed, unimpaired vs. impaired, disturbed, not regenerative.
h
Careless about sleep vs. continuously thinking about sleep complaints.
i
Easy going, putting problems aside vs. worrying about unresolved problems.
1200 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

5
More negative
4

Attitude towards life

3

2
Low negative
parenting style
1
High negative
parenting style
More positive 0
Low High
Positive parenting style

Fig. 1. Values for Attitude towards life as a function of positive and negative parenting styles. Positive (F(1,
230) ¼ 13.70, p ¼ 0.000), negative parenting styles (F(1, 230) ¼ 8.63, p ¼ 0.004), and their interaction (F(1, 230) ¼ 5.11,
p ¼ 0.025) influenced the values for Attitude towards life. Lower scores indicate a trend towards satisfied, confident, and
trustful; higher scores indicate a trend towards depressive, dissatisfied, resigned, and lack of emotion.

Shift, and positive and negative parenting styles independently influenced variables for
mood (evening), sleep quality, concentration during the day and daytime sleepiness, whereas
for mood in the morning, negative parenting had no significant influence. Thus, the pattern of
results showed that mood, concentration and sleep quality increased, and sleepiness during the
day decreased, when parenting styles were more positive, less negative, and the weekday to
weekend shift was smaller. A further analysis correlating the positive and negative parenting
styles with the mean shift difference showed that a positive parenting style was negatively
correlated with the shift (r ¼ 0.19, p ¼ 0.002), whereas no correlation was found for negative
parenting style and shift (r ¼ 0.08, ns).

Discussion

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between perceived parenting
styles, sleep patterns and sleep-related personality traits, and to assess the impact of bed time shift
from weekdays to weekend days on sleep-related variables.
Three hypotheses were formulated and each of these is now considered in turn.

Table 5
Descriptive statistics for sleep on weekday and weekend nights.
Dimensions Nights
Weekday nights Weekend nights
Total sleep time (h) (SD) 7.22 (1.97) 9.37 (3.37)
Sleep onset latency (min) (SD) 20.20 (18.90) 15.70 (12.70)
Bed time (range) 9.50 p.m. (7.30 p.m.e2 a.m.) 0.30 a.m. (7.30 p.m.e7 a.m.)
Wake time (range) 6.40 a.m. (5 a.m.e9 a.m.) 10.30 a.m. (5.30 a.m.e3 p.m.)
Note. Weekday nights: average over the five nights from Sunday through Thursday; weekend nights: average of Friday
and Saturday nights.
Table 6
Multiple linear regression models to describe the influence of weekdays e weekend days shift, and positive and negative parenting style on mood
(evenings and mornings), sleep quality, sleepiness and concentration during the day.
Dimension Variables Coefficient Standard error Coefficient (b) 95% CI t p R R2 DurbineWatson

S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

statistics
Mood (evening) Intercept 5.042 0.819 e 3.43 to 6.65 6.16 0.000 0.50 0.25 1.88
Shift 0.001 0.001 0.14 0.00 to 0.003 2.43 0.016
Positive parenting 0.090 0.015 0.34 0.12 to 0.060 5.63 0.000
Negative parenting 0.074 0.020 0.21 0.032 to 0.115 3.50 0.001
Mood (morning) Intercept 4.845 0.720 e 3.43 to 6.26 6.74 0.000 0.43 0.18 1.43
Shift 0.002 0.000 0.19 0.001 to 0.003 3.25 0.001
Positive parenting 0.064 0.014 0.30 0.091 to 0.038 4.75 0.000
Negative parenting 0.029 0.019 0.10 0.008 to 0.065 1.56 0.119
Sleep quality Intercept 3.173 0.741 e 1.713 to 4.633 4.28 0.000 0.53 0.27 1.65
Shift 0.001 0.001 0.14 0.000 to 0.002 2.56 0.011
Positive parenting 0.065 0.014 0.27 0.092 to 0.037 4.65 0.000
Negative parenting 0.106 0.019 0.32 0.068 to 0.143 5.54 0.000
Sleepiness Intercept 5.020 0.833 e 3.38 to 6.66 6.03 0.000 0.37 0.14 1.65
Shift 0.001 0.001 0.15 0.000 to 0.003 2.41 0.017
Positive parenting 0.055 0.016 0.23 0.086 to 0.024 3.49 0.001
Negative parenting 0.054 0.021 0.16 0.012 to 0.097 2.53 0.012
Concentration Intercept 4.700 0.670 e 3.37 to 6.02 6.99 0.000 0.52 0.27 1.33
Shift 0.003 0.000 0.34 0.002 to 0.004 6.02 0.000
Positive parenting 0.060 0.013 0.27 0.081 to 0.032 4.48 0.000
Negative parenting 0.042 0.017 0.14 0.008 to 0.076 2.42 0.016
Note: CI ¼ confidence interval; R ¼ multiple correlation coefficient; R2 ¼ multiple coefficient of determination.

1201
1202 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

Our first hypothesis was that if negative parenting styles are related to affective symptoms such
as anxiety (cf. Gerlsma et al., 1990; Muris & Merckelbach, 1998), depersonalization (Wolfradt
et al., 2003), and depressive symptoms (cf. Wagner et al., 1996), unfavorable parenting styles
should also be negatively related to the adolescents’ sleep and sleep-related patterns including
sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and mood. The results support this hypothesis; evening ratings
of concentration during the day, mood and decreased sleepiness correlated with positive parenting
styles, as did morning ratings of increased mood, feelings of being restored, and better sleep
quality. In contrast, negative parenting styles were correlated with unfavorable values for mood,
concentration and sleepiness and mothers’ negative parenting styles correlated positively with
SOL, indicating poorer sleep quality. Parenting styles did not correlate with TST (total sleep
time). Therefore, parenting styles were related to quality of sleep and sleep-related measurements,
as well as in part on SOL, but not on sleep duration. Thus, our results are in line with several
previous research findings indicating an unfavorable impact of family life on the adolescent child’s
sleep patterns (cf. Tynjälä et al., 1999; Vignau et al., 1997). Further, our data provide additional
evidence that recording of sleep time alone is not sufficient to reliably indicate sleep complaints or
deteriorations. In this view, adolescents labeled as ‘good’ sleepers spent less time sleeping than
those in a ‘poor’ sleeper group (Brand et al., 2005). Similarly, in a study of working adults,
sleeping hours did not predict work-related sleep difficulties (Nishikitani, Nakao, Karita,
Nomura, & Yano, 2005). Finally, individually perceived sleep quality and daytime functioning,
rather than sleeping time, are also the main criteria for defining insomnia according to the DSM-
IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
The second hypothesis was that, since parenting styles may remain relatively stable over time,
these should also be associated with adolescents’ sleep-related personality traits. Results suggest
that a positive parenting style is positively, and independently a negative parenting style is
negatively related to adolescents’ favorable sleep-related personality traits, with the unfavorable
sleep-related personality traits found among those adolescents indicating low positive and high
negative parenting styles.
If we consider parenting style as the acquired experience of parental coping with educating
children, and the adolescents’ sleep-related personality traits as reflections of medium- and long-
term processes and attitudes rather than short peaks in mental states (cf. Hoffmann et al., 1996),
we may claim that these two dimensions are directly linked as a result of long-term learning
processes. This assumption is consistent with findings (Wolfradt et al., 2003) that unfavorable
parenting styles are positively correlated with trait, but not with state anxiety. Moreover,
a longitudinal study showed that parental support had a favorable impact on the academic careers
of Latino students despite their low socioeconomic status (Ong, Phinney, & Dennis, 2006). Thus,
these two studies highlight the influence of parenting style on adolescents’ health status and
performance in the long-term, and our results are in line with these findings.
Our third hypothesis was also confirmed: Greater bed time shift from weekday to weekend nights
and negative parenting style predicted poorer mood and concentration, and greater daytime
sleepiness, as did a negative parenting style. In contrast, a positive parenting style predicted better
mood and concentration, as well as lower daytime sleepiness. If the weekend shift is akin to jet lag-
like symptoms (cf. Dahl & Lewin, 2002), our results can be related to those of previous studies.
Wolfson and Carskadon (1998) reported that lower weekend delay of sleep schedules was associated
with better school performance, lower daytime sleepiness, less depressive mood and sleep/wake
 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207 1203

behavior problems. This pattern of results was replicated with another sample, and furthermore,
weekend shift was related to increased risk-taking behavior (O’Brien & Mindell, 2005).
The issue arises as to how to explain the association between the parents’ adverse parenting styles
and the children’s sleep complaints. In other words, why and how should these two dimensions be
linked? We assume that at least three processes may explain this relationship, one related to
personality, a second to stress-induced mental arousal and a third, to reciprocal childeparent impact.
First, Parsons (1955) defined the family as the ‘‘factory where personality is made’’, and the
vehicle through which parents’ attitudes are perceived is parenting style. Accordingly, Wolfradt
et al. (2003) emphasized the association between unfavorable parenting styles and dysfunctional
personality traits. In a related vein, our data support an association between parenting style and
(sleep-related) personality traits.
Second, mental arousal due to perceived stress may be the common source for family life as stressor
(Vignau et al., 1997), for anxiety (Gerlsma et al., 1990; Muris & Merckelbach, 1998; Wolfradt et al.,
2003), and for depression (Gerlsma et al., 1990; Wagner et al., 1996). Additionally, Harvey (2000,
2002) claims that dysfunctional thoughts concerning sleep complaints or unresolved problems
are the main sources of insomnia. In this view, our data show a high overlap between parenting
style, reduced sleep quality and symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the common basis
may be psychological arousal. In sum, we hold that an unfavorable emotional climate (e.g.,
Darling & Steinberg, 1993), revealed in terms of low positive and high negative parenting styles,
may lead to increased mental arousal and consequently to impaired sleep.
Third, rather than assuming either that parenting style influences the children’s psychological
status, or vice versa, there is a third possibility (though highly speculative and not possible to
prove with the current data). Patterson et al.’s model for the development and maintenance of
children’s coercive behavior (Patterson, DeBaryshe, & Ramsey, 1989) may be applicable to our
study question. This model claims that adverse parenting styles such as high behavioral and
responsive inconsistency, low control and lack of warmth interact with a child’s unfavorable
temperament (e.g., easily irritable, irascible, low tolerance of frustration), behavior (e.g., oppo-
sitional-aggressive, hyperactive), and intellectual skills (e.g., low degree of fast and accurate
information processing) and vice versa. Thus, this model claims a reciprocal impact and feedback
loop between parents’ style and child’s psychosocial, intellectual and behavioral characteristics
over time. Similarly, we may speculate that, over time, adverse parenting styles and the child’s
symptoms of deteriorated sleep, anxiety and depression reciprocally influence one another, as our
data seem to indicate. In sum, one may claim that both parents and children may be ‘‘swept’’ into
a sort of ‘‘negative spiral’’ in which reciprocal effects occur. In this regard, Bell and Belsky (2008)
hypothesized reciprocal effects: On one hand, sleep problem of 11-year-old children was observed,
when three years before the father was absent and mothers were less sensitive in interacting with
the child, and when the motherechild relationship was unfavorable. On the other hand, children’s
sleep problems predicted adverse changes in maternal emotionality and sensitivity three years
later. For short, future research should focus on reciprocal processes.

Limitations

One major limitation of the present study is its cross-sectional design, which does not allow
a conclusive judgment as to whether parenting styles cause the child’s symptoms of sleep
1204 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207

complaints, anxiety or depression. The opposite causal direction is also possible, i.e., a child’s
unfavorable behavior could negatively influence its parents’ coping strategies in everyday life.
However, we hold that if this were true, we would have expected higher values for educational
style with respect to the dimensions Support and Commendation, because implicitly, these
dimensions reflect the parents’ capacity to grasp their child’s needs, strains, and developmental
issues. This was not the case; unfavorable values for the children’s symptoms of sleep complaints,
anxiety and depression correlated with low degrees of parents’ Support and Commendation. In
this respect, favorable parenting styles were related to increased scores of hope across 4 years in
young adolescents (Heaven & Ciarrochi, 2008). Moreover, Brand, Gerber, Hatzinger, Beck, and
Holsboer-Trachsler (in press) could show that applying SEMs (structural equation modeling),
mothers’ poor sleep was linked to adolescent children’s poor sleep with unfavorable parenting
styles as moderating factor.
The investigation is further limited with respect to the sample: Since participants were
predominantly recruited from high schools, the sample does not reflect an entirely representative
cross-section of adolescents with respect to vocational career, socioeconomic status, and ethnic
origins (cf. LeBourgeois, Giannotti, Cortesi, Wolfson, & Harsh, 2004). This may perhaps also
explain generally the low use of substances such as alcohol, medicaments and cannabis. More-
over, with the exception of mothers’ Commendation, no correlation between parenting styles and
substance use was found. Furthermore, it is possible that the 4-point scales applied did not allow
a more fine-grained data analysis. In addition, data may potentially be biased, because only
adolescents who were willing and able to complete the questionnaires and who kept the daily sleep
log for seven consecutive days participated in the study.
The study design does not allow clarification of the extent to which adolescents with depressive
and anxiety symptoms were more prone to describe their parents’ parenting style as more negative
and more prone to conflicts. However, we argue that we do not see a contradiction but rather
consistency with the idea that unfavorable mental states lead to deteriorated information pro-
cessing on both affective and perceptual-cognitive levels.
Furthermore, one might object that no objective sleep-data (e.g., using sleep-EEG or actig-
raphy) were assessed. However, there is evidence that retrospective self-reported and daily-
reported sleep patterns are as valid as actigraphically estimated sleep behaviors (Wolfson et al.,
2003). Therefore, sleep logs seem to be particularly suitable when sleep patterns of large samples
are assessed.

Conclusions

Restoring and satisfying sleep is crucial for cognitive, emotional and behavioral functioning.
Accordingly, unsatisfactory sleep-related functioning may become pronounced during adolescence,
a developmental stage in which new psychosocial skills such as intimacy and sexuality are acquired
and explored (cf. Brand, Luehti, von Planta, Hatzinger, & Holsboer-Trachsler, 2007), and in which
feelings of self-worth may depend on a stable, reliable and supportive family background (Heaven &
Ciarrochi, 2008), in addition to peer feedback. The results of our study support the notion that
parenting style is associated with adolescents’ psychological status and well-being, and tally with
previous findings (cf. Gerlsma et al., 1990; Muris & Merckelbach, 1998; Ong et al., 2006; Wagner
et al., 1996; Wolfradt et al., 2003). In particular, a high degree of Support was positively associated
 S. Brand et al. / Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 1189e1207 1205

with adolescents’ favorable sleep patterns and sleep-related personality traits. Our data argue
against the commonly held belief that adolescents’ daytime sleepiness is a matter of motivation or
school refusal. Instead, our findings support the desirability of giving parents counseling to enhance
positive parenting styles such as Support and Commendation, and to reduce negative parenting
styles such as Restriction, Reproach and Inconsistency. Thus, our results are in line with previous
findings which emphasize that adolescents’ emotional relationship to their parents may remain close
even in late adolescence (O’Koon, 1997).
Future research may focus on methodological issues to disentangle the different factors that
may lead to unfavorable sleep patterns. Other research efforts may emphasize possible favorable
factors such as regular daytime activities during the week and the weekends (cf. Stein, Fisher,
Berkley, & Colditz, 2007) or psychological constructs such as Orientations to Happiness and
Satisfaction with Life (cf. Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2003) to guide parents and children towards
a healthy family climate.

Acknowledgments

We are particularly thankful to Blanka Batschwaroff, Alexandre Mueller, Raphael Schaer,

Martin Walde, and Michael Wirth for their important assistance in data collection and data entry.
Furthermore, we thank Nick Emler (Surrey, UK) for helpful comments and advice.
The study was conducted without external funding and we declare no conflicts of interest.

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