Abstract
Psychological Control (PC) interferes with autonomy-related processes in adolescence and has a negative impact on adolescents’ development related to internalizing and externalizing problems. Several scholars suggested that PC can be used differently by mothers and fathers. However, these differences are still understudied and mainly grounded on maternal and/or adolescents’ perspectives, leading to potentially incomplete inferences on the effects of PC. The present study extends previous research on PC in two directions. First, we tested the dyadic and cumulative effects of maternal and paternal PC on adolescents’ antisocial behaviors and anxious-depressive symptoms. Secondly, we explored the cross-cultural generalizability of these associations in three countries: Italy, Colombia, and USA. Participants included 376 families with data from three consecutive years (T1, adolescents’ age = 13.70). Mothers’ and fathers’ reports of PC and youth’s reports of antisocial and internalizing behaviors were assessed. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) we found that maternal PC predicted adolescents’ reported antisocial behaviors whereas paternal PC predicted lower anxious-depressed symptoms. Comparisons across countries evidenced the cross-cultural invariance of the longitudinal APIM across Italy, Colombia, and USA. The practical implications of these results are discussed.
Highlights
Psychological Control (PC) is defined as a pattern of behaviors through which parents try to intrude in the psychological world of the adolescent by using manipulative strategies such as guilt induction, verbal constraint, and love withdrawal [1]
Psychological control and adolescents’ adjustment: A dyadic longitudinal study in three countries correlations were marginally significant for Colombian parents
To address the first aim, we fit a model with no covariates and with stability coefficients from T1 to T3 youth-reported anxiety/depression and antisocial behavior and paths from T1 maternal and paternal PC to maternal and paternal PC at T2 and youth-reported anxiety/depression and antisocial behavior at T3 (Fig 2)
Summary
Psychological Control (PC) is defined as a pattern of behaviors through which parents try to intrude in the psychological world of the adolescent by using manipulative strategies such as guilt induction, verbal constraint, and love withdrawal [1]. PC is distinct from behavioral control, which involves the communication of clear rules and consistent expectations for appropriate behavior and efforts to monitor the child’s behaviors and activities Psychological control and adolescents’ adjustment: A dyadic longitudinal study in three countries PC is distinct from behavioral control, which involves the communication of clear rules and consistent expectations for appropriate behavior and efforts to monitor the child’s behaviors and activities (e.g. [2, 3]).
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