The Jingle–Jangle Fallacy in Adolescent Autonomy in the Family: In Search of an Underlying Structure

The construct of autonomy has a rich, though quite controversial, history in adolescent psychology. The present investigation aimed to clarify the meaning and measurement of adolescent autonomy in the family. Based on theory and previous research, we examined whether two dimensions would underlie a wide range of autonomy-related measures, using data from two adolescent samples (N = 707, 51 % girls, and N = 783, 59 % girls, age range = 14–21 years). Clear evidence was found for a two-dimensional structure, with the first dimension reflecting “volition versus pressure”, that is, the degree to which adolescents experience a sense of volition and choice as opposed to feelings of pressure and coercion in the parent–adolescent relationship. The second dimension reflected “distance versus proximity”, which involves the degree of interpersonal distance in the parent-adolescent relationship. Whereas volition related to higher well-being, less problem behavior and a secure attachment style, distance was associated mainly with more problem behavior and an avoidant attachment style. These associations were not moderated by age. The discussion focuses on the meaning of adolescent autonomy and on the broader implications of the current findings.     

Antecedents of Chinese Parents’ Autonomy Support and Psychological Control: The Interplay Between Parents’ Self-Development Socialization Goals and Adolescents’ School Performance

Despite ample evidence for the benefits of parental autonomy support and the harms of parental psychological control to Chinese adolescents’ well-being, little is known about what foreshadows these parenting behaviors among Chinese parents. The current research addressed this gap in the literature. It tested the hypothesis that parents’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals (i.e., regarding a positive sense of self in terms of holding optimistic attitudes toward oneself, feeling autonomous in one’s actions, and establishing one’s independence from others, as important for adolescents to develop) and adolescents’ school performance may interact to predict parental autonomy support and psychological control in urban China. Three hundred and forty-one Chinese seventh graders (mean age?=?13.30?years, 58?% female) and their parents (186 mothers and 155 fathers) participated. Parents reported on their own and their spouses’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals; adolescents reported on parental autonomy support and psychological control; and adolescents’ grades were obtained from school records. Significant interactions were found between parents’ socialization goals and adolescents’ grades in predicting parenting behaviors. When adolescents were doing well at school, the stronger parents’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals, the greater their autonomy support and the lesser their psychological control; when adolescents were doing poorly at school, regardless of parents’ socialization goals, their autonomy support was relatively low and their psychological control was relatively high. These findings highlight a tension between parental concerns over adolescents’ self-development and academic success, which needs to be resolved to promote autonomy support and prevent psychological control among urban Chinese parents.     

The Relationship Between Individualistic,Collectivistic, and Transitional Cultural Value Orientations and Adolescents’ Autonomy and Identity Status

In an effort to validate the use of a Western model of adolescent development with Asian youth, 781 urban and rural Taiwanese high school students (56% female) completed questionnaires about their development. Adolescents were first divided into cultural value orientations (i.e. collectivistic, individualistic, or transitional) and compared geographically. There were statistically significant differences in cultural value orientations only for rural youth. Identity statuses and levels of cognitive autonomy were then compared according to cultural value orientations and gender. Adolescents who self-identified as collectivistic were significantly more likely to self-identify as achieved rather than diffused compared to transitional adolescents. Gender, more than cultural value identifications, significantly differentiated these youth in regard to issues of cognitive autonomy measured in this study (i.e. evaluative thinking, voicing opinions, making decisions, self-assessing, and comparative validation). Taken in whole, these findings support the use of a Western model of adolescent development for Taiwanese youth.     

Parental Autonomy-Support,Intrinsic Life Goals,and Well-Being Among Adolescents in China and North America

Self-determination theory proposes that prioritizing intrinsic life goals, such as community involvement, is related to well-being, whereas focusing on extrinsic life goals, such as financial success, is associated with lower well-being and that parenting influences the type of life goals that youth adopt. In a sample of 515 Chinese (56% female, mean age = 15.50) and 567 North American (52% male, mean age = 14.17) adolescents, a model of the relationships between parenting, life goals, and well-being was investigated and confirmed for intrinsic life goals. Across societies, autonomy-supportive parenting was associated with the endorsement of intrinsic life goals, which in turn was associated with well-being. Intrinsic life goals partially mediated the relationship between parental autonomy-support and well-being. These findings suggest that, cross-culturally, prioritizing intrinsic life goals is related to increased well-being among adolescents and that parents could encourage intrinsic life goals by being supportive of their children’s autonomy.     

Late adolescents' perceptions of their relationships with their parents: Relationships among deidealization,autonomy, relatedness,and insecurity and implications for adolescent adjustment and ego identity status

Questionnaire data from 376 undergraduates (mean age=19.3 years) were used to test a model describing interrelationships among deidealization, relatedness, autonomy, and insecurity in late adolescents' relationships with their parents. As expected, deidealization predicted greater autonomy and less relatedness (i.e., more disengagement), greater disengagement predicted greater insecurity, and greater insecurity predicted less autonomy. However, disengagement from parents proved to be a double-edged sword in that it was linked not only to insecurity, but also to feelings of greater separateness and self-directedness in relation, to parents. Additional analyses identified significant associations between the adolescent/parent relationship variables and the adolescents' psychological health and ego identity status.Received her Ph.D. from Yale University. Major interests are in parent/child relationships during late adolescence and young adulthood.Received her B.A. from University of Virginia and M.A. from Michigan State University. Major interests are in adolescent development and pediatric psychology.Received her B.A. from Duke University and M.A. from Michigan State University. Major interests are in adult children of alcoholics and adolescent separation/individuation.     

A Structural Model of Autonomy in Middle and Late Adolescence: Connectedness,Separation, Detachment,and Agency

This study presents a comprehensive 4-factor model of autonomy in middle and late adolescence. Partially overlapping sets of scales on adolescent individuation and family functioning were correlated with each other in 2 independent studies. Data for the first study were taken from a sample of high school students in Grades 9–12 (N = 601), whereas the data for the second study were derived from a sample of 1st-year university students (N = 374). Confirmatory factor analysis on all of the scales and derivative subscales in both studies revealed a model that comprised 4 different but related factors, that is, Connectedness, Separation, Detachment, and Agency, all of which occupy a central place in different theories of adolescent autonomy. Connectedness and Detachment, and to a lesser extent Connectedness and Separation, were inversely related to one another. Correlations between Agency and the 3 other factors were much lower. Results are discussed with respect to the different views on autonomy that exist in the literature, and with respect to the term autonomy, which should be used as an umbrella term only. Implications for the conceptual basis of the Emotional Autonomy Scale are also outlined.     

Phenomenological aspects of psychosocial maturity in adolescence. Part I. Boys

This paper explores the phenomenological and psychodynamic differences between adolescent boys who score at the high and low extremes of the Psychosocial Maturity Inventory. The development of psychosocial maturity is viewed against the background of adolescent ego development. The freedom from impulse, the gains in self-esteem, the resolution of sexual identity, and the growth of autonomy that are the outcomes of the adolescent process all contribute to a higher degree of individual and social adequacy. The growth of heterosexuality, however, is shown to have a complex and nonlinear relationship to psychosocial maturity.Preparation of this paper was supported by funds from the National Institute of Education, Contract No. NE-C-00-3-0013.Received Ph. D. in psychology from the University of Michigan. Main research interests: psychology of adolescence and psychology of women.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Radcliffe College. Main interest: personality development from childhood through adolescence.Main interest: Evaluation methodology.For a complete discussion, see Greenberger and Sørensen (1974).     

Teachers’ Conditional Regard and Students’ Need Satisfaction and Agentic Engagement: A Multilevel Motivation Mediation Model

Teachers’ conditional positive regard and conditional negative regard are common motivational techniques in the classroom. This study investigated their respective effects on adolescent students’ agentic engagement, while considering students’ basic psychological needs for autonomy and relatedness as potential mediators. Data collected from 30 teachers and 651 7th to 10th graders (52% female) were used to test a multilevel mediation model. The results indicated that teachers’ conditional negative regard undermined students’ agentic engagement by frustrating both of their autonomy and relatedness needs. Teachers’ conditional positive regard thwarted students’ sense of autonomy, which consequently undermined their agentic engagement. The findings are discussed in terms of conditional positive and negative regard as undesirable classroom motivational practices and the mechanisms through which they operate. The discussion also notes the importance of investigating contextual factors at the classroom level.

     

Antecedents and Outcomes of Self-Determination in 3 Life Domains: The Role of Parents' and Teachers' Autonomy Support

Due to conceptualizations of autonomy as detachment and independence, research on the parenting–autonomy relationship in adolescence has yielded inconsistent results. In the present study, self-determination is proposed as an alternative way of tapping into the construct of autonomy. An integrated model of the relationships between perceived parenting and teaching styles, self-determination in 3 life-domains (school, social competence, and job-seeking behaviors), and specific adolescent outcomes, was investigated and confirmed. In 2 samples of mid-adolescents (N = 328 and N = 285), autonomy-supportive parenting was significantly related to self-determination in all life-domains. Autonomy-supportive teaching added significantly to the prediction of self-determination in the domains of school and job-seeking behaviors. Self-determination, in turn, was positively and specifically associated with measures of adjustment in the specific life-domains under investigation. Finally, in both studies, indications were found that self-determination acts as an intervening variable in the relation between the perceived interpersonal environment and adolescent adjustment. Doctoral student at the Center for Developmental Psychology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. His major research interests are parenting, psychological control, and identity development. Postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Motivation Psychology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. His major research interests are self-determination theory, motivation, and parenting.     

Parental influences on the development of adolescent autonomy and identity

Two studies were undertaken to examine parental influences on autonomy and identity development. In Study 1, 262 adolescents in seventh and eleventh grades were given Kurtines's autonomy measure, Simmons's identity measure, and Elder's questions regarding the adolescents' perceptions of their parents' autocratic, democratic, or permissive parenting styles. Study 2 was a replication with 168 subjects. Across both studies it was found that sex-role socialization is more influential for automony development than is either level of parental power or age. Both age and father's use of democracy were the most influential variables on identity development.Received Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Major interests are adolescent social cognition and social development.Major interests are adolescent social cognition and social development.Major interests are adolescent social cognition and social development.Received Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati. Major interests are cognitive development and theories of personality.     

Who Shapes Whom in the Family: Reciprocal Links Between Autonomy Support in the Family and Parents’ and Adolescents’ Coping Behaviors

Coping research has neglected the study of the reciprocal links between parents’ and adolescents’ coping behaviors and the potential influence of parental support for the development of adolescent autonomy. This study, therefore, analyzed the coping behaviors of fathers, mothers, and children (53% females) in 196 families who participated in a four-year longitudinal study that started when the child was an early adolescent. The results of cross-lagged panel design models examining direct links between parents’ and their children’s coping styles suggested that parents and children do not affect each others’ abilities to cope with family stress over time. However, indirect relationships between parents’ and children’s coping styles via autonomy support in the family were found. Both the parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of autonomy support in the family were important in shaping their respective coping styles. The child’s individual characteristics (e.g., gender and physical maturity) had a greater influence on the fine-tuning of mothers’ coping behaviors than on the fathers’. The findings underscore the significance of autonomy-enhancing parent–child interactions for the development of adolescent coping.     

Dating,Parent–Adolescent Conflict,and Behavioral Autonomy

Although dating is thought to contribute to adolescent development, little is known about how it affects autonomy development and relationships with parents. The contributions of dating status, grade, gender, and family structure to the frequency and intensity of normative conflict and to behavioral autonomy were studied. Tenth- and twelfth-grade public high school students (N = 859) completed measures of dating history, frequency, and intensity of parent–adolescent conflict, and of behavioral autonomy. Current daters (n = 325) had more frequent conflict and reported higher levels of behavioral autonomy than nondaters (n = 170). Additionally, males and twelfth graders reported more autonomy than females and tenth graders, respectively. Sophomores who were dating reported the most frequent conflict with parents, females who were dating reported the most intense conflict with parents, and seniors who were dating reported the highest levels of autonomy. Short-term daters had more frequent and more intense conflicts with parents relative to long-term daters and nondaters. These data highlight the utility of focusing on developmental tasks in addition to age when assessing conflict patterns and processes.     

Family Functioning and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: Disentangling between-, and Within-Family Associations

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Adolescence is often a period of onset for internalizing and externalizing problems. At the same time, adolescent maturation and increasing autonomy from parents...     

Gifted adolescents: An analysis of their psychosocial development

A model for viewing adolescent psychosocial development is outlined. The model assumes that basic changes in adolescents' biological, cognitive, and social capacities reciprocally interact with the social settings of the family, peer group, and school/work to influence transformations in six areas of psychosocial development (attachment, friendship, sexuality, achievement, autonomy, and identity). The model is then used as a framework for reviewing literature regarding gifted adolescents' psychosocial adjustment. On the whole, the literature provides a positive view of the psychosocial adjustment of gifted adolescents. While adjustment problems seem to exist in certain areas (e.g., friendship), unequivocal conclusions cannot be drawn because of methodological limitations and the narrow scope of existing research.     

Depressive symptoms in adolescents as a function of personality factors

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between the personality factors of sociotropy and autonomy and depressive symptomatology in a nonclinical sample of adolescents. One hundred and thirty-six adolescents (60 males, 76 females), ranging in age from 15 to 17 years and enrolled in a high school of the Western Quebec Regional School Board, completed the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. Subjects with high sociotropy showed significantly more depressive symptoms than subjects with low sociotropy. With regard to autonomy, high autonomous females scored higher on the Beck Depression Inventory than high autonomous males. Results are discussed in light of the literature on adolescent depression.This is an extended version of a poster presented at the 12th annual convention of the Quebec Society for Research in Psychology (SQRP), Ottawa, October 1989. The authors wish to thank Mr. Michael Donlan for his cooperation.Received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from University of Ottawa. Major research interest is adolescent depression. To whom reprint requests should be addressed.     

Models of adulthood: An ethnographic study of an adolescent peer group

In this article a middle class adolescent peer group is studied in a community setting using ethnographic techniques. The purpose of the study is to describe the group's relationship to adults and to uncover the adult reference group after which the group modeled itself. Although this group was organized to help poor people in the United States and abroad and had extensive contact with adults who could be described as change agents working to close the economic gap between rich and poor, this group modeled itself after middle class adult managers. The youths were attracted to the change agent adults only in so far as they satisfied their desire for equal status interaction with adults. Attempts by the group to establish closer contact with their adult models were in conflict with their desire to maintain autonomy from adult domination. The concluding section compares the findings of this study to two ethnographic studies of adolescent groups that used secondary school sites.Received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Main research interest is applying ethnographic techniques to the study of educational process. Currently studying the urban principalship with a grant from the Spencer Foundation.     

Keeping Secrets from Parents: Advantages and Disadvantages of Secrecy in Adolescence

Traditional views regard secrecy as problematic, and associated research among adults almost exclusively focuses on its physical and psychological disadvantages for the secret-keeper. Contrary to this negative view on secrecy, this paper proposes that secrecy may have developmental functions that bear particular importance in the period of adolescence. Specifically, it should be associated with adolescents' feeling of emotional autonomy. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the links between secrecy and psychosocial well-being and emotional autonomy among 227 younger (12–13 years) and older (16–18 years) adolescents. Results showed that keeping secrets from parents is associated with physical and psychological disadvantages in adolescence. Confirming the prediction, however, secrecy was also related to adolescents' emotional autonomy. The theoretical and empirical implications of our findings are discussed in the context of adolescent development.     

Adolescent autonomy and parental stress

The present investigation explores the relationship between adolescent autonomy and parental stress among families with children aged 10–17. Independent measures were obtained from parents and children. Parents of early adolescent children reported significantly more stress than parents of preadolescents or middle adolescents. Parents of first-born children reported significantly more stress than did more experienced parents. Although mothers and fathers reported comparable levels of overall parental stress, their stress was, in part, the result of different factors. Fathers reported higher levels of stress if their children reported not following their advice and being involved in deviant activities. For mothers, stress was significantly related to their children's desire for greater autonomy. Emotional detachment was not a significant predictor of parental stress for either mothers or fathers. Implications of the findings for the parent-child relationship during adolescence are discussed.Received Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1984. Research interests include parent-adolescent relations and the work-family interface.Research interests include home-school relations and parenting.Received Ph.D. in 1978 from the Pennsylvania State University. Research interests are in adult development and aging.     

Identity Statuses Based on 4 Rather Than 2 Identity Dimensions: Extending and Refining Marcia's Paradigm

Four identity dimensions (Commitment Making, Identification with Commitment, Exploration in Depth, and Exploration in Breadth) were used to derive identity statuses by means of cluster analysis in a sample of late adolescents. This strategy resulted in both a qualitative refinement and a quantitative extension of Marcia's (1966) model. Five clusters were retained. Four of those (the Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, and Diffused Diffusion Cluster) bore a striking resemblance to Marcia's original identity statuses in terms of their definition and their associations with criterion variables. Adolescents in the fifth cluster, the Carefree Diffusion Cluster (low to moderate on both commitment dimensions and low on both exploration dimensions), scored as high as the 2 high Commitment Making clusters (i.e., the Achievement and Foreclosure Cluster) on several indicators of adjustment. Personality characteristics further differentiated these clusters in accordance with theory. The advantages of expanding the identity status paradigm, through additional distinctions that pertain to both commitment and exploration, are discussed and practical implications are outlined. Doctoral Researcher for the Special Research Fund (B.O.F.)—Flanders (Belgium). Current research focuses on adolescent identity formation and development. Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. Received PhD in developmental psychology from the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium, 1988. Current research interests include adolescent identity, autonomy, and loneliness. Doctoral Researcher for the Fund of Scientific Research (F.W.O.)—Flanders (Belgium) at the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. Research interests include parent–adolescent relationships, identity processes, and acculturation orientations of ethnic minority members. Postdoctoral Researcher for the Fund of Scientific Research (F.W.O.)—Flanders (Belgium). Received PhD in developmental psychology from the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium, 2001. Current research focuses on adolescent autonomy, parenting and mediators of parenting effects on individuation and identity. Doctoral Researcher for the Fund of Scientific Research (F.W.O.)—Flanders (Belgium) at the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. Research interests include motivational processes, self-determination theory, parent–adolescent relationships, and identity processes.     

Examining the Influence of Family Environments on Youth Violence: A Comparison of Mexican,Puerto Rican,Cuban, Non-Latino Black,and Non-Latino White Adolescents

Existing research rarely considers important ethnic subgroup variations in violent behaviors among Latino youth. Thus, their risk for severe violent behaviors is not well understood in light of the immense ethnic and generational diversity of the Latino population in the United States. Grounded in social control theory and cultural analyses of familism, we examine differences in the risk for severe youth violence, as well its associations with family cohesion, parental engagement, adolescent autonomy, household composition, and immigrant generation among Mexican (n = 1,594), Puerto Rican (n = 586), Cuban (n = 488), and non-Latino Black (n = 4,053), and White (n = 9,921) adolescents with data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Results indicate a gradient of risk; White youth had the lowest risk for severe violence and Puerto Rican youth had the highest risk compared to all other racial/ethnic subgroups. Within-group analysis indicates that family factors are not universally protective or risk-inducing. While family cohesion decreased the risk of severe violence among all groups, parental engagement was associated with increased risk among Blacks and Whites, and adolescent autonomy was associated with increased risk among Puerto Ricans and Cubans. In addition, Cuban and White adolescents who lived in single parent households or who did not live with their parents, had higher risk for severe violent behaviors than their counterparts who lived in two parent households. Among Latinos, the association of immigrant generation was in opposite directions among Mexicans and Cubans. We conclude that family and immigration factors differentially influence risk for violence among Latino subgroups and highlight the significance of examining subgroup differences and developing intervention strategies that are tailored to the needs of each ethnic subgroup.