Links between parental autonomy support and psychological control and Chinese emerging adults' conceptions of adulthood

Framed through family life course theory, two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between parenting and Chinese emerging adults' conceptions of adulthood. Study 1 identified five important adult criteria among 763 participants (M_age = 23.13; 54.8% girls) through exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2, 616 participants (M_age = 22.51; 71.6% girls) completed measures of parental autonomy support (PAS) and psychological control (PPC), subjective adult status, and adult criteria. Results showed that PAS was positively associated with subjective adult status and endorsement of almost all adult criteria, whereas PPC was both positively and negatively associated with different adult criteria. Findings reveal the influence of family factors on youth transition to adulthood in the Chinese context and may have implications for family based interventions.     

Formal and Informal Community Care to Older Adults: Comparative Analysis of the United States and Great Britain

Support to frail elders is of international and growing importance. This article compared receipt of assistance with ADL limitations, home health help, any assistance received, and unmet needs in functionally impaired individuals aged 70 years old or older in the United States (n = 1847, 80% women, M _age = 80 years) and Great Britain (n = 1203, 57% women, M _age = 78 years). Informal and formal assistance levels were higher in Great Britain, and rates of unmet need did not differ across ADL domains measured. Receipt of formal and informal care were associated positively, which is consistent with both supplementary and complementary perspectives on the formal-informal care interface. Few individuals in either country received formal services alone. Results suggest that community-based formal support does not substitute for family help. Implications for family and economic policy are discussed.     

Emotional Reactivity to Daily Family Conflicts: Testing the Within-Person Sensitization

Although the sensitization hypothesis posits that heightened reactivity to interparental conflict is linked to adolescent psychopathology, limited studies tested whether sensitization would emerge in parent-adolescent conflict and across ethnicity or culture. This study revisits the sensitization hypothesis by examining adolescent emotional reactivity to interparental and parent-adolescent conflicts on a daily timescale. The sample included 163 adolescents (55% girls; M_age = 12.79) and their parents (78% females; M_age = 45.46) who completed a 10-day reports in Taiwan. Multilevel modeling results showed that, instead of interparental conflict, adolescents with greater histories of parent-adolescent conflict exhibited higher emotional reactivity when parent-adolescent conflict was higher. The findings underscore the importance of parent-adolescent conflict in evaluating adolescent developmental risk.     

Family Process as Mediator of Biology X Environment Interaction

SUMMARY

The present study used Baron and Kenny's (1986) mediated moderation model to explore a potential mediator-parenting behaviors-of an interaction between biological risk and adoptive parent psychopathology which has been shown to significantly predict adolescent problem behaviors in a sample of adult adoptees (M_age = 25; n = 133). The outcomes of interest were retrospective reports on adoptee adolescent nonaggressive conduct disordered behaviors and aggressive/oppositional behaviors. Predictors were biological risk in the birth parents of the adoptees, psychopathology in the adoptive parents, and retrospectively reported parenting behaviors of the adoptive parents. The mediated moderation model was not supported due to the nonsignificance of the biological risk X adoptive parent psychopathology interaction term. However, support for an independence model was supported in that biological risk interacted with maternal warmth and overprotection to predict adolescent adoptee behavior. Greater maternal warmth decreased problem behaviors among adoptees with a biological risk for psychopathology; whereas greater maternal overprotection increased adolescent problem behaviors among adoptees with biological risk. Fathers' parenting behaviors did not interact with biological risk to predict adolescent adoptee behavior. Finally, the findings were consistent across type of behavior suggesting a homogenous effect.     

Sexual minority youth in romantic relationships: Associations with youth well-being

This study investigated differences in depressive symptoms, loneliness, and self-esteem for monosexual (lesbian, gay) and plurisexual (bisexual, pansexual, queer) sexual minority youth (SMY) by relationship status (single, partnered) and relationship configuration (same-gender partner, different-gender partner). Participants included 338 SMY (M_age = 19.10 years) who reported on their relationship status, partner's gender identity, well-being, and ability to confide in partner about LGBTQ issues. Results indicated that for plurisexual youth, single status was associated with greater loneliness; plurisexual youth with same-gender partners reported fewer depressive symptoms and marginally greater ability to confide in their partner about LGBTQ issues than those with different-gender partners. Findings reveal similarities across SMY while also highlighting some unique challenges among plurisexual youth with different-gender partners.     

Disparities in Persistent Victimization and Associated Internalizing Symptoms for Heterosexual Versus Sexual Minority Youth

This study investigated whether lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents were at higher risk for persistent victimization of bullying compared to heterosexual adolescents, and how victimization trajectories were associated with internalizing symptom development across LGB and heterosexual adolescents. Data came from a five‐wave study (M_ageT1 = 11.1 to M_ageT5 = 22.3; n = 151 LGB; n = 1,275 heterosexual) and informants were adolescents and their parents. Adolescents were classified in three victimization trajectories: persistent (5.6%), decreasing (28.1%) or low (66.3%) victimization. LGB adolescents reported more persistent victimization, relative to no (OR = 6.79, 95% CI [3.52, 13.13]) or decreasing victimization (OR = 3.09, 95% CI [1.53, 6.24]), compared to heterosexual peers. Further, persistent victimization was more strongly associated with anxiety among LGB than among heterosexual adolescents.     

I was,I am,I will be: Identity and time perspective before and during COVID-19

The ways in which youth reach a stable identity, a core developmental task of emerging adulthood, are intertwined with their perceptions of the past, present, and future. Additionally, these dynamics are embedded in and are strongly influenced by the socio-historical context and concurrent events, such as COVID-19. This study examines how different groups of emerging adults (university students and workers) engage in identity processes in educational/vocational and interpersonal domains and frame their perspective of time before (N = 299, M_age = 21.90; 51.4% females) and during the pandemic (N = 497; M_age = 23.11; 68.2% females). Significant differences in identity processes and time perspective emerged between the two cohorts. Moreover, significant associations between identity and time perspective were found to be similar across different identity domains and cohorts.     

Predictors of Adolescent Participation in Organized Activities: A Five‐Year Longitudinal Study

This study examined (a) growth curves of youth participation in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs throughout the high school years and (b) the associations between a series of predictors and the initial participation rates and growth over time. The predictors included individual, friend, and family factors. The moderating effect of youths' gender was also examined. Study participants were 272 youths (55% girls, M_age=12.4 years) and their parents. The predictors were assessed in Grade 6 and were based on reports by youths, parents, teachers, and classmates. Participation in organized activities was assessed annually from Grades 7 to 10. Altogether, the findings revealed that participation in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs remains stable across the high school years. However, interindividual differences were found in the participation growth curves. This variation was predicted by individual, friend, and family factors, mostly with respect to sports activities.     

Preparing Black and Latinx children for police encounters: Caregiver response profiles and child self-regulation

We hypothesized that the goodness-of-fit between profiles of observed, caregiver-provided ethnic–racial socialization (ERS), and child self-regulation (i.e., inhibitory control) would differentially associate with child behavioral outcomes. Conversations between 80 caregivers (45% Latinx; 55% Black) and their children (M _age  = 11.09; 46% female) were rated for ERS. Measures included an inhibitory control composite (ages 2.5–3.5) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; age 12). Three profiles were determined: Comprehensive (n  = 34), Reactive (n  = 8), and Pragmatic (n  = 38). Only youth with low inhibitory control in preschool appeared to benefit from Pragmatic ERS, whereas youth with normative or high inhibitory control in early childhood displayed lower internalizing and externalizing behaviors when they had Comprehensive or Reactive rather than Pragmatic caregivers.     

Relations between social withdrawal subtypes and socio-emotional adjustment among Chinese children and early adolescents

The aim of the present study was to compare the relations between subtypes of social withdrawal and socio-emotional adjustment in Chinese children and early adolescents. Participants included 571 children (M_age = 9.62 years) and 345 adolescents M_age = 12.12 years) in mainland China. Social withdrawal subtypes (i.e., shyness, unsociability, social avoidance) and indices of socio-emotional adjustment were assessed via self-reports, peer nominations, and teacher ratings. Shyness tended to be more strongly associated with emotional maladjustment in early adolescence, whereas unsociability was more strongly associated with socio-emotional difficulties in childhood. For social avoidance, associations with indices of negative adjustment (i.e., social anxiety, emotional symptoms, peer problems) were stronger in childhood, however, associations with indices of positive adjustment (i.e., life satisfaction, well-being) were stronger in early adolescence.     

Educational identity and maternal helicopter parenting: Moderation by the perceptions of environmental threat

This four-wave study examined longitudinal associations between maternal helicopter parenting and college students' educational identity processes over 1 year, as well as the moderating effects of mothers' perceived environmental threats (i.e., uncertainty and competition). Participants were 349 first-year university students (39.8% male, M_age = 18.20) and their mothers (M_age = 49.10) in Hong Kong. Latent class growth analysis identified two subgroups based on levels of mothers' threat perceptions (i.e., lower vs. higher). Multi-group random-intercept cross-lagged models found that, at the within-person level, students' reconsideration of educational commitments positively predicted helicopter parenting only for mothers with higher threat perceptions. These findings mainly support youth-driven effects on overbearing parenting behaviors. Mothers' threat perceptions might exacerbate these excessive responses to youth's academic turbulence.     

Parenting,emotion regulation,and externalizing symptomatology as adolescent antecedents to young adult health risk behaviors

This study used longitudinal data to elucidate how trajectories of negative parenting across adolescence are associated with young adult health risk behaviors (HRBs) by testing difficulties with emotion regulation and externalizing symptomatology as sequential underlying mediators. The sample included 167 adolescents (53% males, M_age = 14 at Time 1 and M_age = 18 at Time 5) who were assessed five times. Adolescents self-reported on negative parenting, emotion regulation, externalizing symptomatology, and engagement in HRBs. Results suggest that increasingly negative parenting across adolescence has adverse consequences for emotion regulation development and in turn, externalizing symptomatology, which confers risk for young adult HRBs. Results offer insights towards mechanisms for prevention and intervention and public health policy aimed at reducing the prevalence and consequences of engagement in HRBs.     

A cross-national study on adolescent substance use: Intentions,peer substance use,and parent-adolescent communication

This longitudinal two-wave cross-national study investigated whether intentions, friends' substance use, and parent-adolescent substance-use specific communication predict adolescent alcohol and cannabis use 1 year later, while estimating reversed links. The temporal order between these two substances was also examined. We used multi-group cross-lagged panel modeling on data from 2 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples: Sint Maarten (N = 350; M_age = 14.19) and the Netherlands (N = 602; M_age = 13.50). Results showed that in the Netherlands, cannabis use predicts more subsequent problems (alcohol use, intention to use cannabis, and affiliation with cannabis-using friends). But for Sint Maarten, alcohol use predicts more subsequent problems (cannabis use, intention to use alcohol, and affiliation with alcohol-using friends). These opposing results demonstrate that caution is warranted when generalizing results across countries.     

Parent‐Adolescent Communication About Sex: Retrospective Reports by Latino College Students

Latina female (n= 97) and Latino male (n= 69) college students (M age = 21.4 years) completed self‐report surveys regarding family of origin experiences, including sexual communication with parents while growing up. Latino parents of this comparatively highly educated sample tended to use direct rather than indirect strategies for communicating about sexuality with their children. Young women reported higher levels of sexual communication with mothers while growing up than did young men, and respondents reported less communication with fathers than mothers. Among young women, sexual communication with mother was positively associated with non‐Mexican origin and negatively associated with having older brothers living at home. In contrast, maternal education was positively associated with mother‐son communication about sex. Paternal education and the absence of older brothers positively predicted communication with both sons and daughters. The analyses provide novel information regarding sexual communication in Latino families and suggest directions for future research.     

Daily Dynamics of Adolescent Mood and Identity

Important linkages between daily mood and identity formation have been theorized, but have not been empirically tested as of yet. This study provided a first examination of these linkages within individuals (N = 392; 55.1% boys; M_age at T1 = 13.24, SD = 0.44) across 15 series of 5 days distributed over 5 years. Results revealed negative within‐time associations of educational and relational commitment with negative mood. Negative mood was positively associated with educational in‐depth exploration and educational and interpersonal reconsideration. Additionally, there were some cross‐lagged effects suggesting that identity and mood mutually affect one another across days. These results contribute to the growing knowledge on how identity unfolds in everyday life by revealing important associations with daily mood.     

Black Mothers' Perceptions of the Role of Race in Children's Education

Many Black parents consider racial climate and academic quality when thinking and making decisions about their children's schooling experiences. However, few studies have directly asked Black parents about the role they believe race will play in their children's schooling, if any. The authors interviewed 76 Black mothers (M_age = 34; SD_age = 6.67) of children entering first grade (M_age = 6.13; SD_age = 0.36), asking what role they believed race would play in their children's schooling. The authors found that mothers considered the racial composition of the school and the perspectives and behaviors of teachers and the administration to be important factors when assessing the role of race in their children's education. Mothers were also particularly concerned about the discrimination their sons may face because of their position as Black boys. Given these contextual factors, mothers considered themselves to be protective agents through their involvement in their children's academic lives.     

Authority,Autonomy, and Deception: Evaluating the Legitimacy of Parental Authority and Adolescent Deceit

This research examined adolescents’ judgments about lying to avoid parental control over different types of activities. Participants (N = 66, M_age = 16.38, 73% European American) were interviewed about hypothetical situations describing adolescents who defied parental directives and lied about their defiance. Judgments about the legitimacy of parents’ directives and protagonists’ deception differed by types of parent relationship with adolescents (mutual or unilateral). Directives were least accepted, and deception was most accepted, in the context of unilateral relationships. Judgments also differed by domain of the action (personal, prudential, or conventional). Participants were least accepting of parental directives, and most accepting of deception about personal activities. Findings indicate that adolescents value honesty and parental authority, but sometimes give priority to concerns with autonomy and mutuality.     

Exploring Parents' Experiences and Reactions to Adolescents' Hyperactivity,Impulsivity, and Attention Problems

Adolescents' hyperactivity, impulsivity, and attention problems (HIA) have been shown to make parents feel powerless. In this study, the authors examined whether these feelings were dependent on parents' experiences with their older children. Two models that offer different predictions of how parents make use of their earlier experiences when raising their later‐born children were explored: the learning‐from‐experience model and the spillover model. The authors used reports from 372 parents with 1 child (M_age = 11.92) and 198 parents with 2 children (M_age = 11.89 and 14.35) from a small town in a European country. The results did not support a learning‐from‐experience process. Instead, consistent with a spillover process, parents felt particularly powerless about their younger children with HIA if they also felt powerless about their older children. This study suggests that parents' experiences of raising their older children are important for their reactions to HIA in their younger children     

Adolescent emotion regulation trajectories: The influence of parent and friend emotion socialization

With mounting evidence demonstrating the link between child emotion regulation (ER) and emotion socialization, we conducted a longitudinal study to understand (a) emotion-specific trajectories of adolescent ER and (b) how specific parent and friend emotion socialization strategies impact ER over 4 years. Participants were 209 adolescents (52.5% girls; M_age = 12.66 years; 75.7% White) and their parents. Latent growth curve models identified unique trajectories for anger and sadness/worry regulation. Anger regulation increased across time, whereas sadness/worry regulation remained highly stable longitudinally, lacking variance for growth modeling. Friend emotion socialization emerged as a more salient predictor of anger regulation than parent emotion socialization. Friend reward, override, and punish responses predicted initial levels. Friend punish and parent magnify responses predicted the slope.     

Longitudinal associations of parental psychological control and friend support with autonomy during early adolescence

Although theories suggest transactional associations between adolescents' autonomy and relationships with parents and friends, few studies have examined these within-person effects. This longitudinal study examined the within-person co-development of adolescents' autonomy and relationships with parents and friends. Adolescents (N = 244 M_age = 11.54, SD = 0.43 at T1; 50% boys) participated in a four-wave study across 2 years in the Netherlands. In random-intercept cross-lagged panel models, within-person results showed that higher levels of autonomy predicted less parental psychological control but not vice versa. However, no lagged-effects between friend support and autonomy were found. This study suggests that adolescents' autonomy steers changes in parental psychological control.