The Relationship between Maternal Overprotection, Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems, and Psychological Need Frustration: A Multi-Informant Study Using Response Surface Analysis

Linking Parent-Adolescent Congruence in Perceived Parental Emotional Support to Adolescent Developmental Outcomes: The More, the Better?

Parents and their children can have congruent or incongruent perceptions of parenting, which has been shown to have downstream effects on certain adolescent outcomes. However, little is known about whether such effect holds for various domains of developmental outcomes or across adolescent boys and girls. Investigating 2268 parent-girl (Mage = 15.73, SDage = 0.29, 75.5% were mothers) and 2090 parent-boy (Mage = 15.75, SDage = 0.29, 71.8% were mothers) dyads from Hong Kong, this study examined the associations between parent-adolescent (in)congruence and adolescent emotional symptoms, positive emotions, and academic performance. Polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed that both congruence and incongruence were linked to emotional symptoms and positive emotions in varying patterns, but only congruence was tied to academic performance. Associations between (in)congruence and developmental outcomes generally were similar between boys and girls. These findings underscore the importance of decomposing (in)congruence effects in family processes and emphasizing the complexity of adolescent development.

Relationship between parent-adolescent discrepancies in educational expectations and academic burnout: A response surface analysis

This study employed a questionnaire survey to collect multi-source data from 745 pairs of junior high school students and their parents, exploring the relationship between parent-adolescent discrepancies in educational expectations and students' academic burnout, characterized by boredom and fatigue due to disinterest or overwhelming workload. The primary focus was on the mediating effect of students' academic self-efficacy, which reflects an individual's confidence in their ability to manage academic tasks. To precisely address the matching and discrepancy in parent-adolescent educational expectations, as well as to quantify the mediating role of academic self-efficacy, polynomial regression and response surface analysis techniques were employed. Response surface analysis is a statistical technique specifically designed to examine how (mis)matching predictor variables relate to outcome variables, visualizing their relationship in three-dimensional space. The results showed that when parent-adolescent educational expectations were aligned, an increase in both levels could lead to decreased academic burnout through elevated academic self-efficacy. Conversely, when there was a discrepancy between parent and adolescent expectations, higher expectations from the child compared to the parent could further reduce academic burnout by enhancing academic self-efficacy. These results underscored the significant mediating effect of academic self-efficacy between parent-adolescent discrepancies in educational expectations and academic burnout. These findings provide a reference framework for parents and educators to develop targeted interventions and prevention strategies for adolescent academic burnout, focusing on harmonizing parental and adolescent educational expectations and enhancing academic self-efficacy.

Discrepancies in Parent-Child Perception of Parental Control and Associations with Children's Anxiety: The Buffering Effect of Parent-Child Closeness

Previous research has predominantly relied on single-informant reports to establish the association between parental control and children's anxiety. However, there remains ambiguity regarding the extent to which discrepancies in parent-child reports of parental control are related to children anxiety. This study examined parent-child perceived discrepancies in parental control and their association with children's anxiety, along with the moderated effect of parent-child closeness through cross-sectional and prospective analysis. The sample consisted of 790 children (Mage = 11.34, SD = 6.73, 45.60% for girls), with 741 father-child dyads and 760 mother-child dyads included. Data were analyzed using polynomial regressions with response surface analysis. The results indicated that children tended to perceive higher levels of parental psychological control and lower levels of behavioral control compared to their parents' perceptions. In the cross-sectional analysis, a significant association between greater incongruence in psychological/behavioral control and higher levels of children's anxiety at T1 was observed exclusively in father-child dyads. In prospective analysis, for both father-child and mother-child dyads, congruence in higher levels of psychological control was associated with higher levels of children's anxiety at T2, while congruence in higher levels of behavioral control was associated with lower levels of children's anxiety at T2. Additionally, greater incongruence in psychological/behavioral control was linked to higher levels of children's anxiety at T2. Furthermore, mother-child closeness emerged as a significant moderator such that perceived incongruence in psychological/behavioral control could not affect children's anxiety at T2 in the high mother-child closeness condition. These findings highlight the significance of considering parent-child congruence and incongruence when examining the impact of parental control on children's anxiety.

Linking adolescents' phubbing to depression: the serial mediating effects of peer relationship quality and psychological need frustration

Introduction

Phubbing is defined as a phenomenon in which individuals use their smartphones during conversations with others, focusing on the smartphones and escaping from interpersonal interactions. This phenomenon has been extensively studied in the literature. However, most studies concerning phubbing have focused on understanding its impact on the receivers; few have investigated the consequences of phubbing on the actors themselves. The present study aimed to explore the link between adolescents' phubbing behavior and depression, focusing on the underlying psychological mechanisms.

Methods

A total of 441 Chinese high school students participated in this study in September 2023. SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 24.0 were used to analyze the data. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to test the effect of phubbing on depression. A serial mediation model was applied to assess the roles of peer relationship quality and psychological need frustration in the link between phubbing and depression.

Results

This study found that among adolescents, (1) phubbing had a significant direct association with depression; (2) phubbing had two significant indirect associations with depression, separately mediated via peer relationship quality and psychological need frustration; (3) the direct effect of phubbing on depression was sequentially mediated through peer relationship quality and psychological need frustration; (4) these results were applicable to both male and female adolescents.

Discussion

These findings suggested that interventions aimed at improving peer relationships and addressing psychological need frustration might reduce depressive symptoms associated with phubbing in adolescents.

Parenting Under Pressure: Associations between Perceived Social Pressure and Parental Involvement among Mothers and Fathers

In many Western countries, the ideology of intensive parenting has gained prominence in the discourse of experts, policymakers, and within popular culture. This ideology emphasizes deep parental involvement in emotional, physical, and financial aspects (Lee et al., 2014). Meeting these demanding standards can exert significant pressure on parents, especially on mothers often considered as the primary caregiver. Moreover, these pressures may prompt parents to be highly, and potentially overly, involved in their children's lives. Using data from 146 parent dyads (N = 292 parents; Mage = 47.57 years) of Swiss adolescents, the study explores parental perceptions of pressure to be a perfect parent and its association with one positive (responsiveness) and two negative types of involvement (overprotection and overvaluation). Thereby, we estimated Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIM) to examine mutual influences between mothers and fathers. The results indicated that mothers reported experiencing significantly more pressure than fathers. We found evidence for a positive association between perceptions of pressure and parental overprotection among both parents. The results also showed that there was a significant association between feelings of pressure and overvaluation, but only among fathers. Associations between pressure and responsiveness were not significant, and no significant partner effects were observed in any of the models. In conclusion, mothers particularly face heightened pressure to be perfect parents, but both parents may adapt their parenting strategies in response to perceived pressure to be perfect as a parent. These findings highlight the potential issues associated with societal pressures on parents and their impact on parenting behavior.

The Association between Discrepancies in Parental Emotional Expressivity, Adolescent Loneliness and Depression: A Multi-Informant Study Using Response Surface Analysis

Incongruent perceptions of parental emotional expressivity between parents and adolescents may signify relational challenges, potentially impacting adolescents' socioemotional adjustment. Direct evidence is still lacking and father-adolescent discrepancies are overlooked. This study employed a multi-informant design to investigate whether both mother-adolescent and father-adolescent discrepancies in perceptions of parental expressivity are related to adolescents' mental well-being, specifically focusing on loneliness and depression. Analyzing data from 681 families (mean age of adolescents = 15.5 years old, 51.2% girls, 40% only-children) in China revealed that adolescents tended to perceive paternal and maternal emotional expressivity more negatively than their parents, particularly fathers. Polynomial regression and response surface analysis showed significant links between parent-adolescent congruence and incongruence and adolescent loneliness. (In)Congruence between adolescents and mothers or fathers predicted later adolescent depression, mediated by adolescent loneliness and varied by the dimension of emotional expressivity. These findings provide insights into the roles of mothers' and fathers' emotional expressivity in shaping children's mental well-being during adolescence.

Interplay of Adolescents' and Parents' Mindsets of Socioeconomic Status on Adolescents' Stress-Related Outcomes

The reciprocity and variation of values and beliefs are dynamic features of the parent-child relationship. Parents and adolescents may hold congruent or incongruent views regarding the malleability of socioeconomic status (mindset of SES), potentially influencing adolescents' psychological and physiological stress outcomes, as reflected in stress perceptions and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. The current study investigated how patterns of parent-adolescent congruence and incongruence in mindset of SES were associated with adolescents' perceived stress and diurnal cortisol patterns four months later. A total of 253 adolescents (Mage = 12.60, 46.2% girls) and their parents (Mage = 40.09 years, 59.5% mothers) participated in this study. Polynomial regression analyses and response surface analyses showed that adolescents perceived lower levels of stress when they themselves or their parents reported a stronger growth mindset of SES. Additionally, adolescents with a stronger growth mindset of SES also exhibited a steeper diurnal cortisol slope. Moreover, parents' mindset significantly interacted with adolescents' mindset to influence adolescents' diurnal cortisol patterns such that when adolescents hold weaker growth mindset of SES, those with higher parental growth mindsets had significantly higher cortisol awakening response and steeper diurnal cortisol slope. Furthermore, adolescents who showed incongruence with their parents but had averagely stronger growth mindsets of SES reported a significantly steeper diurnal cortisol slope than those who had averagely weaker growth mindsets with their parents. The findings point to the beneficial impacts of the growth mindset of SES on stress-related outcomes among adolescents, as well as the significance of considering both parents' and adolescents' mindsets when exploring these associations.

Examining profiles of convergence and divergence in reports of parental warmth: Links to adolescent developmental problems

Parental warmth during the transition from childhood to adolescence is a key protective factor against a host of adolescent problems, including substance use, maladjustment, and diminished well-being. Moreover, adolescents and parents often disagree in their perceptions of parenting quality, and these discrepancies may confer risk for problem outcomes. The current study applies latent profile analysis to a sample of 687 mother-father-6th grade adolescent triads to identify patterns of adolescent-parent convergence and divergence in perceptions of parental warmth. Five profiles were identified, and associations with adolescent positive well-being, substance use, and maladjustment outcomes in 9th grade were assessed. Patterns of divergence in which adolescents had a pronounced negative perception of parental warmth compared to parents, as well as those wherein pronounced divergence was present in only one adolescent-parent dyad, were associated with diminished positive well-being compared to adolescents who had more positive perceptions of warmth than parents. Having more negative perceptions of warmth compared to parents was also associated with elevated risk for alcohol and marijuana initiation, but only when the divergence was pronounced rather than more moderate. These findings add nuance to findings from previous between-family investigations of informant discrepancies, calling for further family-centered methods for investigating multiple perspectives.

Parenting and Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties in a General Population Sample of Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Emotional Dysregulation

Research has shown that both parenting and emotional dysregulation are associated with mental health outcomes in youth. This cross-sectional research was developed to replicate these noted findings and explore the mediating role of emotional dysregulation to explain the relationship between parenting and emotional and behavioral difficulties (internalizing and externalizing problems) in adolescents. A total of 104 adolescents (61.5% females; M = 15.62 yrs., SD = 1.38) participated in the study. Participants completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (measuring care, promotion of autonomy, and overprotection) referring to both the mother and father, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Youth Self-Report. The results showed that difficulties in emotion regulation fully mediated the relationship between overprotection (in both parents) and low maternal care with internalizing problems, on the one hand, and the relationship between maternal overprotection and low care (in both parents) with externalizing problems, on the other hand. Furthermore, emotional dysregulation partially mediated the effect of paternal care on internalizing problems. These findings help to clarify one of the mechanisms through which parenting can affect mental health in youth. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Adolescents' mental health in the social-media era: The role of offline and online need-based experiences

INTRODUCTION

Debate about the precise role of social media use (SMU) in the mental health of today's adolescents is still ongoing. The present study adds to the literature by focusing on adolescents' experiences during SMU and in their offline activities through the lens of basic psychological needs, which are central to self-determination theory.

METHODS

To examine the joint and supplementary effects of need-experiences in the offline and SMU domain (i.e., SMU satisfaction, offline satisfaction, SMU frustration, offline frustration) on several indicators of adolescents' mental health (i.e., vitality, life satisfaction, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression), polynomial regression analyses were used. Three cross-sectional samples were collected in Belgium, including early to mid-adolescents during the COVID-pandemic (Sample 1; N = 447; Mage = 14.26; 54.4% female) as well as postpandemic (Sample 2; N = 179, Mage = 15.25; 54.2% female), and among college students in postpandemic times (Sample 3; N = 4977; Mage = 20.72; 69.1% female).

RESULTS

The results showed that need-experiences common to both domains were a robust factor associated with mental health. This finding was obtained across all samples and outcomes, with need satisfaction playing a beneficial and need frustration a harmful role. We further found that offline need-experiences serve as a more crucial predictor of adolescents' mental health than need experiences on social media.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents' experiences of need satisfaction and need frustration on social media and in offline activities are central to their mental health. However, only relying on SMU as a single source of need satisfaction may not be recommended, given that offline experiences seem to be more decisive.

Parent-adolescent discrepancies in educational expectations, relationship quality, and study engagement: a multi-informant study using response surface analysis

Whether parental educational expectations for adolescents serve as a source of motivation or stress depends on the extent to which adolescents hold expectations for themselves. Previous research on the discrepancies between parental and adolescent educational expectations and their impact on learning engagement has been limited by traditional statistical tests, and lacking an examination of the internal mediating mechanism of parent-child relational quality from both parental and adolescent perspectives. This cross-sectional study, utilizing a multi-informant design, examined the association between discrepancies in parents' and adolescents' reports of expectations, and adolescents' study engagement, as well as the mediating role of parent-child relational qualities perceived by both parties. The sample for this study consisted of 455 adolescents and their parents from 10 classes in a junior high school in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The adolescents had an average age of 12.8 years, and 51.6% of them were boys. Both parents and adolescents reported on their expectations and perceived relational quality, while adolescents also filled out questionnaires assessing their learning engagement. Data were analyzed using polynomial regressions with response surface analysis. The results revealed that when adolescents reported high expectations, regardless of whether their parents reported high or low expectations, adolescents reported satisfied relationships and high learning engagement. In contrast, parents reported satisfied relationships when both parties reported high expectations, or when parents reported higher expectations than adolescents. Lastly, the association between discrepancies in expectations and learning engagement was significantly mediated by adolescent-reported relationships but not parent-reported ones. These findings highlight the importance of considering multiple perspectives when studying the association between expectations and adolescent study engagement. This research advances our comprehension of the dynamics between parent-adolescent educational expectation discrepancies and adolescent learning engagement, offering insights for more nuanced and effective parenting strategies tailored to foster optimal educational outcomes.

Parent-adolescent discrepancies in positive parenting and adolescent problem behaviors in Chinese families

Based on the discrepancy-maladaptive hypothesis and general strain theory, in this study, we examined two key aspects: first, the mediating role of self-control in the relationship between parent-adolescent discrepancies in positive parenting and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, and second, variations in problem behavior among subgroups with different parent-adolescent dyads reporting patterns. The participants were 349 intact Chinese families, with parents as the primary caregivers and teenagers aged 15-18 years who are attending secondary vocational schools. The results revealed that adolescents generally perceived lower levels of caring and behavioral control than parents. Compared to behavioral control, discrepancies in perceived levels of caring had more significant predicting levels of internalizing and externalizing problems, and the relationship between discrepancies of caring and internalizing and externalizing problems was mediated by self-control. Latent profile analysis revealed three parent-adolescent responding patterns (subgroups); compared to the other subgroups, only the subgroup characterized by adolescents perceiving lower caring and behavioral control than parents exhibited higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. The findings of this study provide insights on how parent-adolescent discrepancies may lead to adolescent problem behaviors and highlight the importance of self-control as a mediating mechanism.

(In)Congruence in Perceived Mother-child Cohesion and Informants' Depressive Symptoms: A Dyadic Response Surface Analysis

Mother-child cohesion, reflecting the emotional connection between mothers and children, is a protective factor for individuals' mental health. The Modified Operations Triad Model suggests that children and mothers hold either congruent or incongruent views of their perceived cohesion, which reflects family functioning and is an indication of future mental health outcomes for family members. Despite increasing research on the impact of (in)congruence in perceived family functioning on children's mental health, few studies concurrently address the mental health of both mothers and children, overlooking their interdependence. This longitudinal study with multi-informant reports explored the long-term and developmental effects of (in)congruence in perceived mother-child cohesion on informants' depressive symptoms. A total of 577 families participated at the first time point, comprising 577 children (52.34% girls, Mage = 10.11 years) and 577 mothers (Mage = 37.32 years). The Dyadic Response Surface Analysis revealed that mother-child congruence at high levels of cohesion (versus low levels) predicted fewer depressive symptoms in mothers and children after three and nine months, as well as decreased depressive symptoms over nine months. Children who reported higher levels of cohesion than their mothers experienced fewer depressive symptoms after three months. Mothers with higher levels of cohesion than their children reported fewer depressive symptoms after three months. The current findings emphasize the importance of identifying and resolving discrepancies in perceived mother-child cohesion between mothers and children to promote a healthy family environment.

Adolescent-Mother Agreements and Discrepancies in Reports of Helicopter Parenting: Associations with Perceived Conflict and Support

Adolescents' and parents' similar and/or divergent perceptions of parental behaviors may be associated with youth-parent relationship quality. This study examined adolescents' and mothers' perceptions of helicopter parenting, and whether (dis)agreements between these views were associated with perceived conflict and support. Participants were 349 late adolescents (MT1age = 18.20; 39.8% male) and their mothers (MT1age = 49.10) in Hong Kong who completed four assessments over one year. Results suggested that youth-mother agreements regarding helicopter parenting were positively associated with both conflict and support. Additionally, discrepancies between their reports were positively related to adolescent-reported conflict. These findings highlight the importance of examining multiple perspectives when studying helicopter parenting dynamics, and suggest both positive and negative aspects of these practices in Chinese families.

Parenting Styles and Adolescents' Problem Behaviors: The Mediating Effect of Adolescents' Self-Control

The study examined the mediating role of adolescents' self-control on the relationship between parenting styles and problem behaviors. A parenting style questionnaire, adolescents' self-control questionnaire, and the Youth Self-Report were administered to 611 adolescents (335 boys, and 276 girls, Mage = 13.17, SD = 0.46) to assess their parenting styles, self-control, and problem behaviors. The results indicated that paternal rejection was positively associated with externalizing problems and maternal rejection was positively associated with internalizing problems. Moreover, adolescents' self-control played a mediating role in the relationship between paternal rejection and externalizing problems and between paternal rejection and internalizing problems. The findings showed that paternal and maternal rearing styles have different influences on adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively, and adolescents' self-control played a mediating role in these different relationships. This study has great significance for revealing the mechanism of parenting styles on adolescents' problem behaviors.

Potential connection between positive frustration in family leisure time and the promotion of adolescent autonomy

Family relationships during leisure time in adolescence have the potential to promote positive development, particularly in terms of autonomy. However, the scientific literature that links specifically positive family leisure to the development of adolescent autonomy is scarce, and lower when analyzing the role of frustration in leisure time. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) this article examines the potential relationship between positive frustration in family leisure time and the promotion of adolescent autonomy. For that purpose, the manuscript addresses four objectives to be discussed consecutively: (1) to delimit the concept of adolescent autonomy and point out the difficulty of parental support; (2) to explore positive frustration, a concept aligned with Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow, as a construct that can promote socio-emotional development in adolescence; (3) to describe the components of family leisure; and (4) to understand how the experience of optimal frustration may be linked to the development of adolescent autonomy during family leisure time. From this central question, several additional inquiries emerge: the interplay of frustration and failure in adolescence, the importance of parents and adolescents spending quality time together, the enjoyment in structured family leisure time, the autonomy-supportive parenting in leisure time activities in relation to daily activities, the need to strengthen adolescent bonds developed in infancy, and the complexity of paternal and maternal autonomy granting.

The association between pregnancy-related anxiety and behavioral development in 18-month-old children: The mediating effects of parenting styles and breastfeeding methods

BACKGROUND

Pregnancy-related anxiety (PRA) is a distinct type of anxiety from general anxiety, affects many pregnant women, and is correlated with poor behavioral development in children. However, the mediation paths were unclear.

METHODS

A total of 2032 mother-infant pairs from the Ma'anshan Birth Cohort were included in the current study. Maternal PRA was assessed in the second and third trimesters. Children's behavioral development was evaluated at the age of 18 months. In addition, information on parenting styles and breastfeeding methods was obtained at postpartum. Multivariate regression and structural equation modeling were used to examine the associations between maternal PRA and children's behavioral development.

RESULTS

Significant intercorrelations were found between maternal PRA, the potential mediators (parenting styles and breastfeeding methods), and 18-month-old children's ASQ scores. Parenting styles played an intermediary role in the relationship between maternal PRA and children's behavioral development (β = 0.030, 95 % confidence interval: 0.017-0.051), and the mediating effect accounted for 29.1 % of the total effect. However, breastfeeding methods did not mediate the link between PRA and children's behavior.

LIMITATIONS

Depression and postpartum anxiety were not controlled for in our analysis, which left us unable to estimate the independent impact of PRA on children's behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Parenting rather than breastfeeding is the mediating factor of behavioral problems in children caused by PRA.

Introduction to the Special Issue. A Dozen Years of Demonstrating That Informant Discrepancies are More Than Measurement Error: Toward Guidelines for Integrating Data from Multi-Informant Assessments of Youth Mental Health

Validly characterizing youth mental health phenomena requires evidence-based approaches to assessment. An evidence-based assessment cannot rely on a "gold standard" instrument but rather, batteries of instruments. These batteries include multiple modalities of instrumentation (e.g., surveys, interviews, performance-based tasks, physiological readings, structured clinical observations). Among these instruments are those that require soliciting reports from multiple informants: People who provide psychometrically sound data about youth mental health (e.g., parents, teachers, youth themselves). The January 2011 issue of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (JCCAP) included a Special Section devoted to the most common outcome of multi-informant assessments of youth mental health, namely discrepancies across informants' reports (i.e., informant discrepancies). The 2011 JCCAP Special Section revolved around a critical question: Might informant discrepancies contain data relevant to understanding youth mental health (i.e., domain-relevant information)? This Special Issue is a "sequel" to the 2011 Special Section. Since 2011, an accumulating body of work indicates that informant discrepancies often contain domain-relevant information. Ultimately, we designed this Special Issue to lay the conceptual, methodological, and empirical foundations of guidelines for integrating multi-informant data when informant discrepancies contain domain-relevant information. In this introduction to the Special Issue, we briefly review the last 12 years of research and theory on informant discrepancies. This review highlights limitations inherent to the most commonly used strategies for integrating multi-informant data in youth mental health. We also describe contributions to the Special Issue, including articles about informant discrepancies that traverse multiple content areas (e.g., autism, implementation science, measurement validation, suicide).

The Relationship of Family Functioning and Suicidal Ideation among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Defeat and the Moderating Role of Meaning in Life

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between family functioning and suicidal ideation among adolescents.

METHOD

A total of 4515 junior and senior high school students were assessed using the Family APGAR, the Depressive Symptom Index-Suicidality Subscale, the Defeat Scale, and the Chinese Meaning in Life Questionnaire.

RESULTS

This study found pairwise correlations between suicidal ideation, family functioning, defeat, and meaning in life. Specifically, family functioning was an influencing factor of adolescent suicidal ideation, and defeat was a mediator of the relationship between family functioning and adolescent suicidal ideation; meaning in life was found to be a moderator of the first half of the mediation process by defeat, that is, it moderated the influence of family functioning on adolescent defeat.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that the relationship between family functioning and adolescent suicidal ideation, as well as the influence of defeat and meaning in life on this relationship, constituted a moderated intermediary model. This finding has both theoretical and practical value for the implementation of a psychosocial model of adolescent suicide prevention and intervention.

Exploring the connection between parental bonding and smartphone addiction in Chinese medical students

BACKGROUND

Smartphone addiction bodes adverse consequences, affecting different populations, including medical students. Parental bonding in childhood had been associated with addiction and recovery in later life. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the associations between parental bonding and smartphone addiction among Chinese medical students.

METHOD

Binary logistic regressions were used to investigate the associations between parental bonding with mothers and fathers, respectively, and smartphone addiction. Interaction terms of care and protection were included in the models.

RESULTS

A total of 517 medical students were included in the study. The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 48.16% (n = 249). The estimated effects of maternal and paternal parenting on smartphone addiction differed. Maternal protection was positively associated with smartphone addiction (OR, 1.046;95% CI, 1.005-1.087), and maternal care enhanced the estimated effect of protection on smartphone addiction. Paternal care was negatively associated with smartphone addiction (OR, 0.954;95% CI, 0.919-0.989).

CONCLUSIONS

Chinese medical students with overprotective mothers or with indifferent fathers tended to exhibit traits of smartphone addiction. Further studies on factors influencing the associations between parental bonding and smartphone addiction may pave the way for potential family-oriented interventions for smartphone addiction.

The impact of parenting styles on undergraduate students' emotion regulation: The mediating role of academic-social student-faculty interaction

Based on the survey data of 4,462 undergraduate students in Zhejiang Province, mainland China, this study investigated the influence of parenting styles on emotion regulation and the mediating role of student-faculty interaction. The study found that: (1) Male students scored significantly higher than female students on emotion regulation, overprotective parenting style and student-faculty interaction. (2) Parenting style has a direct positive effect on emotion regulation, and warm parenting style has a much greater effect on emotion regulation than overprotective parenting style. (3) The mediating effect of student-faculty interaction in the relationship between parenting style and emotion regulation holds true, with the mediating effect of academic student-faculty interaction being much higher than that of social student-faculty interaction. (4) The influence of warm parenting style on emotion regulation relies more on the direct effect, while the influence of overprotective parenting style on emotion regulation relies more on the mediating effect of student-faculty interaction.

Universal ingredients to parenting teens: parental warmth and autonomy support promote adolescent well-being in most families

Even though each adolescent is unique, some ingredients for development may still be universal. According to Self-Determination Theory, every adolescent’s well-being should benefit when parents provide warmth and autonomy. To rigorously test this idea that each family has similar mechanisms, we followed 159 Dutch parent-adolescent dyads (parent: M_age = 45.34, 79% mothers; adolescent: M_age = 13.31, 62% female) for more than three months, and collected 100 consecutive daily reports of parental warmth, autonomy support, positive and negative affect. Positive effects of parental warmth and autonomy support upon well-being were found in 91–98% of the families. Preregistered analysis of 14,546 daily reports confirmed that effects of parenting differed in strength (i.e., some adolescents benefited more than others), but were universal in their direction (i.e., in fewer than 1% of families effects were in an unexpected direction). Albeit stronger with child-reported parenting, similar patterns were found with parent-reports. Adolescents who benefited most from need-supportive parenting in daily life were characterized by higher overall sensitivity to environmental influences. Whereas recent work suggests that each child and each family have unique developmental mechanisms, this study suggests that need-supportive parenting promotes adolescent well-being in most families.

Effects of parental care and overprotection on adolescents' diurnal cortisol profiles

Parental bonding is a strong determinant of children's health. One of the proposed pathways through which parenting impacts children's health is by altering the functioning of stress response systems. The current study aims to investigate the associations between two types of parental bonding (care and overprotection) and functioning of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (i.e., diurnal cortisol secretion) in a sample of 255 healthy adolescents (46.3% girls; aged 11-14 years). Participants completed the Parental Bonding Instrument and provided eight cortisol samples across two consecutive days to assess patterns of diurnal cortisol secretion. Multilevel modeling and multiple linear regression were utilized to test the main effects and interactive effects of parental care and overprotection on adolescents' wakeup cortisol, cortisol awakening response, cortisol slope, and total cortisol secretion. Results showed that parental care was associated with higher cortisol levels at awakening, while parental overprotection was associated with lower cortisol levels at awakening. Parental overprotection, but not parental care, was associated with flatter cortisol slopes. No interactive effects between parental care and overprotection on cortisol parameters emerged. The current findings add to the existing literature on parenting behavior and HPA functioning by showing that parental care and overprotection differently regulated daily cortisol parameters implicated in health.

How Do Adolescents Manage Information in the Relationship with Their Parents? A Latent Class Analysis of Disclosure, Keeping Secrets, and Lying

The use of disclosure and concealment strategies by adolescents in the relationship with their parents may have important implications for their adjustment. Few studies of adolescents' information management have taken a person-centered approach, yet it is a useful way to understand variations in how they regulate information shared with their parents. This study explored adolescents' information management constellations with their mothers and fathers, and how these patterns differ in terms of perceived need-supportive parenting, autonomous reasons for disclosure, and problematic alcohol use. Three hundred thirty-two Swiss adolescents (45% female; M_age = 15.01 years) reported information management strategies used with each parent (disclosure, keeping secrets, lying), perceptions of maternal and paternal need-supportive parenting (involvement, autonomy support, structure), autonomous reasons for disclosure, and problematic alcohol use. Latent class analyses revealed three classes: Reserved (37%), Communicators (36%), and Deceptive (27%). Comparisons across classes showed that adolescents in the Communicators class reported the highest levels of parental involvement and autonomy support, as well as autonomous reasons for disclosure. Adolescents in the Deceptive class reported the lowest levels of parental involvement and autonomy support, as well as autonomous reasons for disclosure. Associations between classes and problematic alcohol use were also found, such that the likelihood of problem drinking was greater for adolescents in the Deceptive class. These findings underscore the importance of continued information sharing with both parents, and underline how a need-supportive parenting context may encourage adolescents to talk voluntarily.

La surprotection parentale dans le contexte du cancer pédiatrique : état de la question

Cet article, bien que non exhaustif, présente un état actuel des connaissances empiriques et théoriques sur la surprotection parentale dans des familles où l’enfant est atteint d’un cancer. Nous abordons les caractéristiques de cette surprotection ainsi que la question de sa fonction adaptative et ses effets potentiellement délétères sur l’enfant dans ce contexte spécifique. Cette revue identifie également certains facteurs familiaux et sociétaux qui peuvent promouvoir la surprotection chez les mères et les pères, soulignant l’importance du contexte familial et sociétal dans l’étude des pratiques parentales en oncologie pédiatrique.

Perceptions of Parenting in Daily Life: Adolescent-Parent Differences and Associations with Adolescent Affect

Adolescents can perceive parenting quite differently than parents themselves and these discrepancies may relate to adolescent well-being. The current study aimed to explore how adolescents and parents perceive daily parental warmth and criticism and whether these perceptions and discrepancies relate to adolescents' daily positive and negative affect. The sample consisted of 80 adolescents (M_age = 15.9; 63.8% girls) and 151 parents (M_age = 49.4; 52.3% women) who completed four ecological momentary assessments per day for 14 consecutive days. In addition to adolescents' perception, not parents' perception by itself, but the extent to which this perception differed or overlapped with adolescents' perception was related to adolescent affect. These findings highlight the importance of including combined adolescents' and parents' perspectives when studying dynamic parenting processes.

The Role of the Family's Emotional Climate in the Links between Parent-Adolescent Communication and Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning

The current study was designed to extend the parenting literature by testing the moderating role of the family's emotional climate, operationalized with parent-adolescent emotional closeness and adolescent feelings of being overly controlled by parents on the longitudinal associations between parent-driven communication efforts (i.e. parental behavioral control and solicitation of information from their adolescent), adolescent-driven communication efforts (i.e. adolescent disclosure and secrecy) and adolescent psychosocial functioning (i.e. emotional problems, conduct problems, delinquency, and wellbeing). We conducted a series of cross-lagged models controlling for adolescent gender and ethnicity using a two-wave Swedish longitudinal set of self-report data (N = 1515, 51% girls, M age = 13.0 and 14.3 years at T1 and T2, respectively). Multi-group analyses revealed that the negative links between T1 parental control and T2 adolescent delinquency, T1 parental solicitation and T2 adolescent conduct problems and delinquency, and T1 emotional problems and T2 adolescent disclosure were moderated by the family's emotional climate. When the family's emotional climate was positive, the parenting strategies had a more positive effect on adolescent psychosocial functioning, and adolescents with emotional problems communicated more openly with their parents. These findings suggest that the relational context in the family is an important protective factor and add specificity to the previously established role of parent-adolescent communication in adolescent psychosocial development. In terms of preventive interventions, strategies to enhance the family's emotional climate should be considered prior to teaching specific parenting strategies.

Exploring the contributing factors that influence the volition of adolescents with cerebral palsy: A directed content analysis

BACKGROUND

Communication, behavioural disturbances and low motivation influence the functional potential and the effectiveness of interventions in adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP). While the model of human occupation (MOHO) is a conceptual model in occupational therapy, no research on the volition of adolescents with CP in daily activities has been undertaken.

AIM

To explore the elements contributing to the volition of adolescents with CP based on their own experience.

METHODS

A qualitative approach using directed content analysis with volition of MOHO as a framework was applied. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with five adolescents with CP and five parents of the same adolescents.

RESULTS

In this study primary codes were categorized into eight categories: family and community-related values, individual values, individual perceptions of ability level, sense of control over conditions, enjoying performing activities, enjoying interpersonal relationships, physical context features and social context features.

CONCLUSIONS

Personal causation in interaction with environmental features is strongly influenced by adolescents' motivation.

SIGNIFICANCE

Occupational therapists could improve the motivation of adolescents with CP in interaction with the individual's volition with focussing on self-efficacy for promoting personal causation. Adapting to the physical environment and changing the attitudes of others to these adolescents is necessary.