Parenting, Identity Formation, and College Adjustment: A Mediation Model with Longitudinal Data

Testing Reciprocal Associations between Parenting and Youth's Motivational Resources of Career Decision-Making Agency during the Postsecondary Transition

Parents are central figures in youth's career decision-making processes. One of their key roles is to foster youth's career decision-making agency by supporting their motivational resources-of autonomy and competence. While the findings on parent-driven effects (how parenting behaviors predict youth's agency) are well documented, little is known about the opposite direction-child-driven effects (how youth's agency predicts parenting behaviors)-and the bidirectionality, particularly during postsecondary transitions. To address this gap, the current study examined (1) reciprocal linkages between mothers' and fathers' parenting behaviors (i.e., need support and control) and youth's agency (i.e., autonomy and competence) and (2) whether such linkages are moderated by the parent's gender and timing. Participants were 642 French-Canadian youths (54% girls; M_age = 14.2) who annually reported on parenting behaviors and career decision-making agency for 5 years, from Secondary 3 to 2 years postsecondary. For analysis, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were estimated to disentangle the between- and within-family processes. The results showed that youth's career decision-making competence develops in reciprocal transactions with parental need support in an upward spiral, while autonomy development is primarily driven by need support. Limited evidence was found for the moderating effects of parents' gender and youth's transition periods. Preregistration: the present study was preregistered (the study design, hypotheses, and target analyses). The preregistration can be found in https://osf.io/c5hak . Any deviations from the preregistration can be found in the Online Supplemental Materials.

A Longitudinal Examination of Perceived Parent Behavior and Positive Youth Development: Child-Driven Effects

The advent of the 21st Century brought a new interest in promoting Positive Youth Development and a renewed emphasis on understanding transactional relations between parenting and adolescent development. The present study examined conventional parent-driven pathways, which describe the putative role of parents in the formation of positive characteristics in children, as well as the prospect of child-driven effects, which describe how parents respond to evidence of Positive Youth Development by potentially increasing support and reducing psychological control. We tested these pathways in a sample of 458 Lithuanian adolescents (52.2% girls; M = 15.14 years old at the outset) who completed surveys assaying perceptions of parent behaviors and self-reports of positive development (character, competence, connection, caring, and confidence) at annual intervals from ages 15–18. Across most lags, children’s perceptions of parenting changed in response to their own positive development with increased support and decreased psychological control. In contrast, there were no longitudinal associations from perceptions of parenting to subsequent Positive Youth Development. The results offer insight into parenting in the 21st Century, a time when youth are increasingly encouraged/required to acquire volunteer experiences designed to promote positive development. To the extent that these experiences are successful, one unexpected offshoot may be better relationships with parents.

Testing the Associations among Social Axioms, School Belonging, and Flourishing in University Students: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND

This longitudinal study investigated the temporal stability of social axioms, which are generalised social beliefs, and tested their prospective effects on individuals' flourishing, among students, as well as the extent to which they can be potentially mediated by perceived sense of belonging at school.

METHODS

Participants were 195 Chinese university students, who voluntarily completed a questionnaire measuring social axioms (at baseline, 1-year follow-up, and 2-year follow-up studies), school belonging (at 1-year follow-up study), and flourishing (at baseline and 2-year follow-up studies).

RESULTS

Results showed supportive evidence for five types of social axioms being generally stable across these time intervals. After controlling for baseline flourishing, high baseline social cynicism significantly predicted a lower level of follow-up flourishing, whereas high baseline reward for application predicted a higher level of follow-up flourishing. Furthermore, higher levels of social cynicism predicted lower levels of school belonging, and the latter partially mediated the effect of social cynicism on follow-up flourishing.

CONCLUSIONS

All social axioms are relatively stable across time. Social cynicism, reward for applications, and school belonging are the most salient predictors for flourishing among Chinese university students.

Further insight into adolescent personal identity statuses: Differences based on self-esteem, family climate, and family communication

INTRODUCTION

During adolescence, youngsters are faced with the challenging task of forming an identity. This process can be either supported or hindered by adolescents' family context. The present study used a six-process model of personal identity including the five identity processes described by the dual-cycle model of identity (exploration in breadth, commitment making, exploration in depth, identification with commitment, and ruminative exploration) as well as a sixth identity process of reconsideration of commitment, commonly described in the three-factor model of identity. In the current investigation, we sought to evaluate how adolescents in identity statuses derived from this six-process model differed based on psychological adjustment, perceived family climate, and family communication.

METHOD

A total of 1105 Swiss adolescents (Mage = 15.08; 51% female) completed self-report questionnaires at one time point. Using a person-centered approach, identity statuses were empirically derived and unique profiles for each identity status were identified.

RESULTS

We identified six identity statuses: Achievement, Foreclosure, Ruminative Moratorium, Reconsidering Achievement, Troubled Diffusion, and Carefree Diffusion. Statuses with the highest degree of commitment showed the most optimal profiles of psychological adjustment and perceived family climate, whereas those with the lowest levels of commitment demonstrated the least optimal profiles. Adolescents in the Reconsidering Achievement status, however, reported high levels of both parental support and psychological control.

CONCLUSION

The use of the six-process model of identity allowed for the derivation of six identity statuses and provided further insight into how adolescents in different identity statuses confront identity-related issues in the context of their family.

Parental Identity and Its Relation to Parenting and Psychological Functioning in Middle Age

Objective. This article focuses on identity as a parent in relation to parenting and psychological functioning in middle age. Design. Drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, 162 participants (53% females) with children (age 36), represented the Finnish age-cohort born in 1959. Parental identity was assessed at ages 36, 42, and 50. Results. In both women and men, parental identity achievement increased from age 36 to 42 and remained stable to 50. The level of parental identity achievement was higher in women than in men. Achievement was typical for women and foreclosure for men. Participants' education, occupational status, and number of offspring were not related to parental identity status. As expected, parental identity achievement was associated with authoritative (indicated by higher nurturance and parental knowledge about the child's activities) parenting style. No significant associations emerged between parental identity foreclosure and restrictiveness as an indicator of authoritarian parenting style. The diffused men outscored others in parental stress. Achieved parental identity was related to generativity in both genders and to higher psychological and social well-being in men. Conclusions. At present, many parenting programs are targeted to young parents. This study highlighted the importance of a later parenting phase at around age 40, when for many, the children are approaching puberty. Therefore, parenting programs and support should also be designed for middle-aged parents. Specifically men may need additional support for their active consideration and engagement in the fathering role.