Parental Psychological Control: Maternal, Adolescent, and Contextual Predictors
Date
2021
Type:
Article
item.page.extent
item.page.accessRights
item.contributor.advisor
ORCID:
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
item.page.isbn
item.page.issn
item.page.issne
item.page.doiurl
item.page.other
item.page.references
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 adolescentmother 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 selfregulatory 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.
Description
item.page.coverage.spatial
item.page.sponsorship
Citation
Pérez JC, Huerta P, Rubio B and Fernández O (2021) Parental Psychological Control: Maternal, Adolescent, and Contextual Predictors. Front. Psychol. 12:712087. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712087
Keywords
Maternal psychological control, Adolescent irritability, Adolescent effortful control, Maternal separation anxiety, Inter-parental conflict