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

Raising Adolescent Children as a Developmental Task of Iranian Middle-aged Mothers: A Qualitative Study

Background

Most parents consider adolescence to be the most difficult stage of parenting. Parental practice is a determining factor in adolescents' outcomes. Mothers play the main role of parenting in Iran. Coinciding the transition of adolescence with the transition of middle-aged mothers can affect the mothers' parenting practice. The present study aimed at explaining the Iranian mothers' practice in parenting an adolescent child.

Methods

This qualitative conventional content analysis was conducted from July 2018 to November 2019 in Kashan. 21 in-depth semi-structured interviews with mothers of adolescent children were performed using a purposive sampling method. The data were analyzed through conventional content analysis. Data collection and analysis were performed simultaneously using MAXQDAv10 software.

Results

Regarding the study objectives, two themes and six main categories were identified. The theme of 'laying the groundwork for upbringing' was detected by two main categories: 'meeting the needs and 'effective interaction with the adolescent'; also, the theme of 'individual-social capacity building' was explained by four main categories: 'helping to gain independence', 'modeling individual-social behavior', 'socializing the adolescent', and 'preparing to accept future roles'.

Conclusion

Mothers' practice was mainly focused on adolescents' independence, college education, career prospects, and marriage preparation and respect for older adults. Consistent with this transition to modernity, and contrary to the collectivist values of Iranian society, mothers' practice was in line with developing adolescents' independence and building their self-confidence, which is close to the authoritative parenting style.

Parental Support, Children's Physical Activity, Dietary Behaviors and Health-Related Quality of Life: Evidence From Three Asian Cities

BACKGROUND

Parental support is crucial for children's healthy lifestyle formation. The present study examined the relations between parental support (i.e., encouragement and praise), children's perceived autonomy support and behaviors in the domains of physical activity (PA) and diet, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) simultaneously in Asia.

METHOD

Children aged 9 to 12 years and their parents (2065 dyads) in three Asian cities completed the respective questionnaires. Children reported perceived PA and dietary autonomy support, PA frequency, dietary behaviors, and HRQoL. Parents reported their PA and dietary support. The relations between parental support, children's perceived autonomy support an behaviors in the PA, and dietary domains as well as HRQoL were examined using multigroup path analyses.

RESULTS

Among three cities, the indirect effects of parental support on children's self-report PA or HRQoL via children's perceived PA autonomy support were significant. A hypothetical sequential indirect effect from parental PA support to children's HRQoL via children's perceived PA autonomy support and self-report PA was observed in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong and Taipei samples, the indirect effect of parental PA support on children's HRQoL via children's self-report PA and the indirect effect of children's perceived PA autonomy support on HRQoL via children's self-report PA were significant. In Hong Kong and Shanghai samples, children's perceived dietary autonomy support showed positive effect on HRQoL via healthy food consumption.

CONCLUSIONS

Congruent findings across three cities suggest that parents should provide support via encouragement and praise to facilitate children's perceived autonomy support and further increase PA and HRQoL. Our study adds to the literature by examining relations of parental support and children's healthy lifestyle in Asia and provides insights to parents and researchers.

The type of motivation does matter for university preparation

Abstract Using Self-Determination Theory, the relationship between motivation (autonomous and controlled), academic self-efficacy, test anxiety, life satisfaction and academic achievement was studied in a group of pre-university students from Lima-Peru. A total of 252 students of both sexes with ages between 16 and 30 years (Mage = 17.69) were assessed. Correlational analyses showed the expected relationships among the studied variables. The path analysis performed gave evidence of the fulfillment of the hypotheses proposed for this study since academic self-efficacy mediated the relationship between autonomous motivation and academic achievement and life satisfaction; also test anxiety mediated the relationship between controlled motivation and academic achievement and life satisfaction. The implications of these empirical findings are discussed in relation to pre-university education in Peru.

Examining Reciprocal Links between Parental Autonomy-Support and Children's Peer Preference in Mainland China

The present study examined the longitudinal relations between child perceptions of parental autonomy-support and peer preference in mainland China. Participants were N = 758 children (50.8% boys; Mage = 10.78 years, SD = 1.03 at Wave 1; Mage = 11.72 years, SD = 1.11 at Wave 2; Mage = 12.65 years, SD = 0.95 at Wave 3) from elementary and middle schools in Shanghai, P.R. China. Children were followed over three years from Grades 4-6 to Grades 6-8. Each year, children reported their perceived maternal/paternal autonomy-support and peer preference (being well-liked among peers) was measured via peer nominations. Among the results, peer preference positively predicted later perceptions of maternal and paternal autonomy-supportive parenting, whereas autonomy-supportive parenting did not significantly predict later peer preference. Results are discussed in terms of the interactions between parental autonomy-supportive parenting and children's peer relationships in Chinese culture.

Culture Related Factors May Shape Coping During Pandemics

This study aimed to examine how anxiety related to different styles of coping during the COVID-19 pandemic and how these relationships were moderated by the cultural orientations of individualism/collectivism and a person’s sense of meaning in life. A sample of 849 participants from Georgia completed an online survey during the final stage of lockdown. To measure the main variables, we used the State Anxiety Inventory, the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale, the Meaning of Life Questionnaire, the COVID-19 Worry Scale, and the Ways of Coping Scale tailored to COVID-19 pandemic. The latter measured rational coping via the subscales of information accessing/processing and action-planning coping, and affective coping – via the subscales of passive-submissive and avoidant coping. Results suggested that anxiety positively predicted both affective coping styles and negatively predicted the action-planning coping style, while COVID-19 worry predicted all coping styles; presence of meaning in life positively predicted both rational coping styles and negatively predicted the avoidant coping style, while search for meaning positively predicted all coping styles; individualism negatively predicted the passive-submissive style and positively predicted the action-planning style, whereas collectivism predicted all coping styles; furthermore, individualism and collectivism moderated the link between anxiety and the passive-submissive coping style, presence of meaning in life moderated the link between anxiety and avoidant coping style, while search for meaning in life moderated the link between anxiety and the action-planning coping style. Overall, the findings enrich the cultural transactional theory of stress and coping, and generate insights for the culture-sensitive approach to the meaning in life. The results were conceptualized vis-a-vis Georgia’s intermediate position between clear-cut individualism and clear-cut collectivism.

Taking adolescents' agency in socialization seriously: The role of appraisals and cognitive-behavioral responses in autonomy-relevant parenting

Parent-adolescent relationships are highly bidirectional in nature, with parental behaviors affecting adolescents' adjustment and with adolescents' behaviors, in turn, eliciting parental practices. However, there is more to adolescents' agency in the socialization process than simple reciprocity. Adolescents contribute actively to the quality and nature of the parent-adolescent relationship by giving meaning to parental behaviors and by engaging in cognitive-behavioral responses to parenting. These processes are discussed in the context of autonomy-relevant parenting, a dimension of parenting with pivotal importance for adolescents' psychosocial adjustment. We call for more research on the micro-processes involved in adolescents' agency because such research can yield a deeper insight in adolescents' differential susceptibility to parenting (depending on factors such as age, culture, and personality). It can also help to explain the multifinality involved in parenting, with, for instance, controlling parenting relating to distinct developmental problems in different adolescents. Finally, such research has applied value because it can help identify adolescents most at risk for the consequences of adverse parenting, and because it can help inform prevention programs aimed at strengthening constructive parent-adolescent communication.

Jealousy Incarnate: Quiet Ego, Competitive Desire, and the Fictional Intelligence of Long-Term Mating in a Romantic K-Drama

In this paper, we analyze a K-drama aired by the Korean TV network SBS in 2016, Jealousy Incarnate, as a case study of the application of the Tie-Up Theory to a romantic narrative as a form of simulation of human mating processes with social cognition valence. We find that this case provides us with an example of a mating process where the choice of the male partner by the female lead character does not privilege the one that should be preferable on the basis of the standard prediction of the experimental research on human mating. This discrepancy is a signal of a basic limitation of experimental research, that highlights the subjects’ preferences for abstract potential partners but is not able to fully account for the mechanisms that lead to the choice of a specific partner in a specific mating interaction. We argue that the narrative simulation viewpoint provides insights that are complementary to those of experimental research, and that a more comprehensive theoretical approach, such as the one offered by the Tie-Up Theory, may be helpful to account for both perspectives.

Parenting and Healthy Teenage Lifestyles

How can one promote adolescent adjustment toward a healthy lifestyle? The first step is to locate the healthy habit configuration within the family environment. The hypothesis is that, if adolescent lifestyles are assumed autonomously during adolescence, then it is very likely that they will last throughout life. How does this relate to parenting styles? After reviewing the literature of the last four decades on adolescent behavioral autonomy and scientific articles that link healthy lifestyles with parenting, several conclusions have been reached, such as the relevance of recovering the biopsychosocial richness of healthy lifestyles, the need to use a dialogue strategy to resolve discrepancies between adolescents and their parents, and the adequacy of the personalistic parenting style to promote adjusted adolescent behavioral autonomy, and with it maintain healthy lifestyles in the long term.

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.

Maternal prompting types and child vegetable intake: Exploring the moderating role of picky eating

BACKGROUND

It is unknown if using different maternal prompting types is associated with vegetable intake in children perceived to be picky versus non-picky.

OBJECTIVES

1) To test the correlation of counts of maternal prompting types with child vegetable intake, and picky eating, 2) to examine the interaction of prompting types and picky eating status on vegetable intake.

DESIGN/METHODS

Low-income mother-child dyads (N = 199, mean child age 6.0 years) participated in a videotaped laboratory eating protocol with green beans, a familiar vegetable. A coding scheme was developed and reliably applied to categorize mothers' prompting types. The prompting types were: Coercive Control (Sub-Categories: Reward and Pressure-to-Eat), Autonomy Promotion (Sub-Categories: Modeling, Reasoning, Praise, and Question), and Total Prompts (sum of all prompts). Mothers completed questionnaires. Bivariate analyses tested the association between counts of maternal prompting types with amount of green beans eaten, and picky eating. Regression analyses examined the interaction of picky eating status with counts of maternal prompting type on amount of green beans eaten.

RESULTS

Mothers used on average 1.66 prompts. Greater use of Coercive Control, Autonomy Promotion-Modeling, and Total Prompts were all inversely correlated with amount of green beans eaten. Greater use of Autonomy Promotion-Praise was directly correlated with amount of green beans eaten. In stratified models, greater use of Coercive Control prompts was negatively associated with amount of green beans eaten by the child in non-picky eaters, but not in picky eaters. There was no interaction between other prompting types and child picky eating status in predicting amount eaten. All p-values <0.05.

CONCLUSIONS

Mothers use different prompting types to encourage their children to eat vegetables depending on their picky eating status, most of which may be correlated with reduced intake.

Children's cognitive appraisal moderates associations between psychologically controlling parenting and children's depressive symptoms

INTRODUCTION

This study examined three different types of Chinese children and adolescents' perceptions of psychologically controlling parenting (love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming), their cognitive appraisals of such parenting, and their depressive symptoms. Specifically, the moderating role of children's cognitive appraisal on the association between each type of psychologically controlling parenting and children's depressive symptoms was assessed. Child age and gender effects were also explored.

METHODS

Children (n = 992, M_age = 10.23 years) and adolescents (n = 427, M_age = 13.56 years) in Shanghai, China, reported on their parents' engagement in love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming practices, their appraisals of how much they thought their parents engaged in each of these parenting practices for their (the children's) own good, and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

Moderated multiple regressions revealed that parental love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming were associated with more depressive symptoms, which were buffered by children's positive interpretations. Moreover, the moderating effects of positive parenting interpretations were stronger for adolescents than for younger children, but no gender differences in the moderation effects were found.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, our findings revealed the critical role of child cognitive appraisals in the effects of parenting practices on child outcomes and highlighted the importance of examining the meaning and function of different dimensions of psychological control within a specific cultural context. Important developmental differences in the role of these cognitive appraisals and the effects of specific parenting practices were also identified.