Links between shared and unique perspectives of parental psychological control and adolescent emotional problems: A dyadic daily diary study.

Abstract

Using month-long daily diary data collected between 2019 and 2020 among 99 dyads of Canadian parents (58.6% White, Mage =43.5, 69.7% female) and adolescents (51.5% White, Mage =14.6, 53.5% female) from middle to high socioeconomic status families, this study investigated parents' and adolescents' daily shared and unique perceptions of parental psychological control and adolescent emotional problems at within- and between-family level, and examined their cross-day associations. Multilevel multi-trait multi-method confirmatory factor analysis revealed both convergence and divergence across parent-adolescent perceptions at the within level, but no convergence at the between level. Dynamic structural equation modeling revealed cross-day associations across different perspectives of parenting and adolescent behaviors. Findings contribute novel knowledge to understanding parent-child daily interactions with a multi-informant approach.