Abstract
Parental psychological control (PC) hinders the development of autonomy, identity formation, and the attainment of self-determination and individuation of adolescents. The aim of this study was to deepen the understanding of which conditions increase the risk of the use of maternal PC by simultaneously considering the contribution of adolescent temperament, maternal separation anxiety, and adolescents’ perception of interparental conflict. A correlational study involving a sample of 106 Chilean adolescent-mother dyads was done. Adolescents were, on average, 15.42 years old (SD = 1.09) and 77% male. Mothers were, on average, 45.46 years old (SD = 6.39). We administered self-report questionnaires to the adolescent measuring effortful control and frustration as temperamental dimensions, along with the perception of interparental conflict. Mothers reported on their separation anxiety. Both the adolescents and their mothers reported on the use of maternal PC. Adolescents reported higher levels of maternal PC than their mothers did. All predictors were associated with PC reports. Higher levels of maternal anxiety about adolescent distancing, inter-parental conflict, and adolescent frustration were associated with higher reported levels of PC. In contrast, higher levels of adolescent effortful control were associated with lower levels of maternal PC. Finally, when maternal separation anxiety and inter-parental conflict were high there was a higher use of maternal PC. The present findings inform on how adolescent’s self-regulatory skills could reduce the risk of being exposed to maternal PC. And highlight the importance of using a systemic and interactional conceptualization when trying to understand their use.
Highlights
Psychology research has focused on parental practices for many decades, due to the impact these have on children’s emotional, cognitive, and social development (Schaefer, 1965; Maccoby and Martin, 1983; Barber, 1996; Barber and Harmon, 2002; Aunola and Nurmi, 2005)
We focus on maternal separation anxiety, which refers to feelings or unpleasant emotional states associated with the adolescents’ independence and autonomy, such as, adolescents’ affective distancing of their families and decreased involvement with them, and their progressive involvement with people outside of the family (Hock et al, 2001)
We focus on inter-parental conflict, because it has been associated to elevated levels of stress in parents (Buehler et al, 2006; Huth-Bocks and Hughes, 2008; Neff and Karney, 2009), and both, a stressful environment and inter-parental conflict are variables associated to high levels of maternal Psychological control (PC) (Stone et al, 2002; Krishnakumar et al, 2003; Cabrera et al, 2006; Koçak et al, 2017)
Summary
Psychology research has focused on parental practices for many decades, due to the impact these have on children’s emotional, cognitive, and social development (Schaefer, 1965; Maccoby and Martin, 1983; Barber, 1996; Barber and Harmon, 2002; Aunola and Nurmi, 2005). Psychological control (PC) is a parental practice characterized by intrusive and manipulative behaviors aimed at children or adolescents’ thoughts and feelings, through which adults exert power by controlling their children’s psychological world. These behaviors include guilt induction, affection withdrawal, and/or the manipulation of the parent–child relationship (Barber, 2002; Barber and Harmon, 2002). Regarding the effects of parental PC on adolescent wellbeing and adjustment, authors such as Barber and Harmon (2002), Soenens and Vansteenkiste (2010), and Scharf and Goldner (2018) provide extensive evidence on how this type of parental control hinders the development of autonomy, identity formation, and the attainment of self-determination and individuation. In Chile, parental PC has been scarcely studied, but the existing research results are consistent with the notion that PC has a negative effect on adolescent wellbeing (Casassus Rodino et al, 2011; Pérez and Cumsille, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
