SYNOPSISObjective. The present study examined dynamics involved in parents' tendency to hinge their self-esteem on their children's achievements (i.e., child-invested contingent self-esteem). In two studies, a model was tested in which perceived social pressure to be an achievement-promoting parent, and parents' own controlled causality orientation, served as antecedents of parental child-invested contingent self-esteem which, in turn, was related to achievement-oriented psychologically controlling parenting. Design. Study 1 was a cross-sectional study in which 254 mothers, 248 fathers, and their 12-year-old children completed a self-report survey. Study 2 was a short-term longitudinal study of 186 parents of 10-year-old children. Results. Both studies provided support for the hypothesized model. Study 1 showed that the model held even when controlling for parents' level of self-esteem. Study 2 showed that increases in parental child-invested contingent self-esteem were related to increases in achievement-oriented psychologically controlling parenting even when controlling for child performance. Conclusions. Parents' tendency to invest their self-worth in their child's performance is related to a psychologically controlling parenting style and is influenced by parents' personality as well as their perception of the social environment.
Although research increasingly addresses the role of parenting in fostering adolescent disclosure, most research relied on self-report measures of parenting and did not address the role of autonomy support. In the present observational study (conducted in Belgium), with 62 motheradolescent dyads (mean age mothers = 44 years; mean age adolescents = 14 years; 77% of adolescents female), we rated mothers' provision of autonomy support during a 10-minute conversation about friendships. We found that observed maternal autonomy support was related positively to adolescents' degree of and volitional reasons for disclosure about friends. These associations were mediated by observed non-verbal reciprocity during the conversation and by adolescent satisfaction of their needs for autonomy and relatedness. Mothers' autonomy-support and mother-adolescent reciprocity also predicted mothers' own psychological need satisfaction and conversation pleasure. The relevance of the findings for adolescent autonomy and disclosure are discussed.'My child tells me so little!' At least some parents of adolescents express this complaint. Indeed, during adolescence children tend to keep more information for themselves (Keijsers, Frijns, Branje, & Meeus, 2009) and they use a variety of strategies to manage information to parents, including not only disclosure but also secrecy and lying (Smetana, 2008). Parents may differ in their approach towards fostering disclosure (Grolnick, Ryan, & Deci, 1991). Some parents may act "pushy" in their attempts to find out what is happening in their children's life. Yet, such a controlling approach might backfire, leading adolescents to share less parent-desired information. Other parents may behave more empathically, patiently respecting the adolescent's pace to talk about private issues. They may be sincerely interested in the few things their adolescents share, thereby creating a warm and reciprocal parent-child environment. In such an environment adolescents might feel understood and accepted, which may make them more willing to share information, even when parents dislike the information.Disclosure is defined herein as disclosure of activities and whereabouts, which has been referred to as 'routine disclosure'. Such disclosure is distinct from disclosure of private thoughts and feelings, which has been referred to as 'self-disclosure' (Tilton-Weaver, Marshall, & Darling, 2014). Given that adolescent routine disclosure is a main source of parental knowledge about the child's whereabouts and is a consistent predictor of psychosocial adjustment Kerr, Stattin, & Ozdemir, 2012), it is important to examine which factors promote or hinder adolescents in disclosing information to their parents. One line of research addressing the role of parents in adolescent routine disclosure has focused on the role of parenting practices such as parental solicitation and parental rule setting regarding adolescents' whereabouts. These practices appear to be rather weakly related to adolescents' general routine disclosure (e.g....
This study examined the role of mothers' child-invested contingent self-esteem, that is, their tendency to hinge their self-worth on their child's achievements, in maternal promotion of extrinsic goals, as perceived by adolescents. It was also examined whether maternal promotion of extrinsic goals would, in turn, relate to adolescents' Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). Participants were 184 mothers and their adolescent children (66% female). Maternal child-invested contingent self-esteem predicted adolescentperceived maternal promotion of extrinsic goals, even when taking into account the variance shared between the promotion of extrinsic goals and mothers' use of a controlling parenting style. Maternal child-invested contingent self-esteem also moderated associations between mothers' personal pursuit of extrinsic goals and their promotion of those goals, such that the association between mothers' own extrinsic goals and their promotion of those goals was significant only among mothers high on child-invested contingent selfesteem. Maternal promotion of extrinsic goals was, in turn, related to adolescent SDO, suggesting that the dynamics examined in this study ultimately relate to adolescents' social and ideological development.
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