Dependent and self-critical mothers' responses to adolescent autonomy and competence

Abstract

Although there has been some investigation of how dependent and self-critical people recall their parents, there has been little investigation of the influence of dependency and self-criticism on parental attitudes and behavior. The present study examined relations between personality and parenting styles in 49 mothers of adolescent girls. Mothers completed measures of dependency and self-criticism and of baseline affect, then were given experimentally manipulated results of the daughter's ‘initial assessment of problem-solving ability’ and choice of discussion partner. Affect was assessed again. Mothers ‘coached’ daughters on computer problem-solving puzzles. When mothers were told that their daughters had chosen a discussion partner other than themselves, dependency was associated with explicit commands and negative feedback. When mothers were told daughters had performed at a mediocre level, dependency was associated with positive feedback. Self-criticism was associated with explicit commands and with negative feedback, but did not interact with experimental variables to predict coaching behavior. It was concluded that mothers high in dependency and self-criticism relate to their daughters in ways that may foster dependency and self-criticism by thwarting their children's attempts at autonomy or by being punitive and controlling.