When Do Adolescents Accept or Defy to Maternal Prohibitions? The Role of Social Domain and Communication Style

Growing Up in Times of COVID-19: When a Window of Opportunity is Temporarily Closed

During the COVID-19 crisis, the governmental restrictions seriously affected the daily lives of adolescents (aged 12–25). They could not attend school, had to limit face-to-face contact with peers, and had to stay at home with their parents. This chapter combines insights from theoretical models on adolescent development with some of the first empirical findings of the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents. We will discuss how lockdown and social distancing measures affect mental health and well-being in a formative and vulnerable period in life. Specifically, the authors focus on delayed attainment of developmental tasks toward adulthood, the importance of friendships, and how parents can promote developmental growth and resilience in a “new common.” Advice is included on how future society can and should be shaped around the developmental needs, risks, and opportunities that characterize adolescence.

Communication matters: The role of autonomy-supportive communication by health care providers and parents in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

AIMS

Although research exists on parental communication in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D), the role of communication by health care providers remains understudied. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, this study examined the role of autonomy-supportive communication (i.e., providing meaningful rationale and offering choices with regard to treatment recommendations) by providers and parents, and how they interact in the prediction of diabetes outcomes.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 135 adolescents (mean age 14.3 ± 2.1SD years), 171 mothers, and 121 fathers reported on autonomy-supportive communication from health care providers and parents, and on adolescent treatment adherence. HbA1c values were retrieved from the medical record.

RESULTS

In adolescent reports, perceived autonomy-supportive communication from providers but not from parents was positively related to treatment adherence. A significant interaction between autonomy-supportive communication from providers and parents pointed to the highest level of treatment adherence when adolescents perceived both providers and parents as autonomy-supportive. In contrast, parental reports revealed that parental autonomy-supportive communication was positively related to treatment adherence, whereas autonomy-supportive communication by providers was not.

CONCLUSIONS

Autonomy-supportive communication by providers and parents is associated with better treatment adherence in adolescents with T1D. Interventions to improve autonomy-supportive communication by parents and providers may improve treatment adherence of adolescents (e.g., communication training).

The role of logical consequences in adolescents' cognitive precursors of compliance and internalization

It is well established that parents' responses to adolescents' transgressions play a role in adolescents' future compliance and internalization process. However, research has yet to reach a consensus on the effectiveness of several specific authority exertion strategies. One of these strategies, which theoretically holds the potential to foster both compliance and internalization, is parental use of logical consequences. Using an experimental vignette methodology and a sample of 214 adolescents (M_age = 15.28 years), the current study compared the effects of logical consequences with classical authority exertion strategies (mild punishments, reasoning, and no authority exertion). Results showed that adolescents held favorable perceptions regarding logical consequences; they rated logical consequences as the most acceptable and, on an equal footing with mild punishments, the most effective strategy to elicit future compliance. Furthermore, whereas older adolescents did not generally anticipate that their reasons to comply would vary as a function of parents' choice of authority exertion strategies, younger adolescents anticipated that they would comply for more well-internalized reasons in response to logical consequences compared with mild punishments. Implications of these findings for the promotion of optimal parenting and future research directions are discussed.

Adolescent–Parent Relationships: Progress, Processes, and Prospects

The nature of adolescent–parent relationships has been a topic of enduring concern in developmental science. In this article, we review theory and current research on several central topics. First, we define adolescence as a developmental period and briefly discuss current theoretical and analytical approaches. Then, we consider adolescent–parent relationship quality, including developmental trends and individual differences in negative interactions, positive relationships, and conflict resolution, as well as research that examines relationship quality within different family subsystems. Next, we discuss effects of emotional variability and flexibility on parent–adolescent relationships and review research on adolescents’ and parents’ beliefs about parental authority legitimacy. This is followed by a discussion of current research on parenting effects on adolescent–parent relationships, including approaches that provide greater specificity in defining parental control and its links with relationship quality, as well as research on parental monitoring and adolescent information management. We conclude this article with directions for future research.

When is Parental Monitoring Effective? A Person-centered Analysis of the Role of Autonomy-supportive and Psychologically Controlling Parenting in Referred and Non-referred Adolescents

Over the last few years, the protective role of parental monitoring on adolescent adjustment (i.e., active parental efforts aimed at setting limits and tracking adolescents' activities and whereabouts) has been challenged. Recent research has shifted attention to the conditions under which monitoring may be more or less effective. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, this study investigated the role of parents' autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting in effects of parental monitoring on adolescents' adjustment. It also considered the role of adolescents' clinical status (i.e., clinically referred vs non-referred). Adopting a person-centered approach, we aimed to identify naturally occurring profiles of monitoring, autonomy-support, and psychological control and to examine differences between these profiles in terms of life satisfaction, positive affect, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Participants included 218 referred (M_age = 14.44, 56% girls) and 218 matched adolescents from a larger sample of 1056 community (Mage = 14.83, 52.9% girls). Multigroup Latent Profile Analyses revealed five parenting profiles which were structurally equivalent in both samples: high monitoring with either high autonomy support or high psychological control, low monitoring with either high autonomy-support or high psychological control, and an average profile. Referred youth were significantly more present in the average profile and in the profiles characterized by high levels of psychological control. As hypothesized, profiles showed a differential association with adolescents' self-reported adjustment, with the high monitoring-high autonomy support profile yielding the most optimal and the low monitoring-high psychological control profile yielding the worst outcomes. Associations between profiles and outcomes were similar for referred and non-referred adolescents. These findings highlight the importance of considering the parenting climate (i.e., autonomy-supportive versus psychologically controlling) to understand effects of parental monitoring during adolescence.

The Moderating Role of Vertical Collectivism in South-Korean Adolescents' Perceptions of and Responses to Autonomy-Supportive and Controlling Parenting

Research increasingly demonstrates that associations between autonomy-relevant parenting and adolescent adjustment generalize across cultures. Yet, there is still an ongoing debate about the role of culture in these effects of autonomy-relevant parenting. The current study aimed to contribute to a more nuanced perspective on this debate by addressing cultural variability in micro-processes involved in autonomy-relevant parenting and, more specifically, in adolescents’ appraisals of and responses to parental behavior. In this vignette-based experimental study, involving 137 South-Korean adolescents (54% female, mean age = 16 years), we examined whether individual differences in vertical collectivism affect the association between descriptions of potentially autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting practices and (a) appraisals of these practices (in terms of perceived autonomy support and control and experiences of autonomy need satisfaction and frustration), and (b) anticipated responses to these practices (i.e., negotiation, submissive compliance, and oppositional defiance). Participants in the autonomy-supportive condition reported more perceived autonomy support and autonomy satisfaction and lower perceived control and autonomy need frustration than participants in the controlling condition. Collectivism moderated between-vignette effects on perceived control and autonomy need frustration such that the differences between the autonomy-supportive and controlling vignettes were less pronounced (yet still significant) among adolescents scoring higher on collectivism. Collectivism did not moderate effects of the vignettes on the responses to parenting, but yielded a main effect, with collectivism relating to more submissive compliance and less oppositional defiance. Overall, the results suggest that both universal and culture-specific processes are involved in autonomy-relevant socialization.