Does General Parenting Context Modify Adolescents' Appraisals and Coping with a Situation of Parental Regulation? The Case of Autonomy-Supportive Parenting

Abstract

Theory and research suggest that adolescents differ in their appraisals and coping reactions in response to parental regulation. Less is known, however, about factors that determine these differences in adolescents' responses. In this study, we examined whether adolescents' appraisals and coping reactions depend upon parents' situation-specific autonomy-supportive or controlling communication style (i.e., the situation) in interaction with adolescents' past experiences with general autonomy-supportive parenting (i.e., the parenting context). Whereas in Study 1 (N = 176) adolescents' perceived general autonomy-supportive parenting context was assessed at one point in time, in Study 2 (N = 126) it was assessed multiple times across a 6-year period, allowing for an estimation of trajectories of perceived autonomy-supportive parenting context. In each study, adolescents read a vignette-based scenario depicting a situation of maternal regulation (i.e., a request to study more), which was communicated in either an autonomy-supportive or a controlling way. Following this scenario, they reported upon their appraisals and their anticipated coping reactions. Results of each study indicated that both the autonomy-supportive (relative to the controlling) situation and the perceived autonomy-supportive parenting context generally related to more positive appraisals (i.e., more autonomy need satisfaction, less autonomy need frustration), as well as to more constructive coping responses (i.e., less oppositional defiance and submission, more negotiation and accommodation). In addition, situation × context interactions were found, whereby adolescents growing up in a more autonomysupportive context seemed to derive greater benefits from the exposure to an autonomy-supportive situation and reacted more constructively to a controlling situation.

Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions

“…Illustrative of the ubiquitous outcomes associated with the psychological needs is the finding that need frustration predicts phenotypically diverse forms of dysfunctional behavior and ill-being, including obsessive thinking (Vahlstein et al 2020), engagement in unhealthy muscularity-oriented behaviors (Selvi and Bozo 2020), dishonesty (Kanat-Maymon et al 2015), and both internalizing and externalizing problems (e.g., Vandenkerckhove et al 2019a, b). Similarly, need satisfactions have been found to account for toddlers' curiosity-driven exploration of the environment (Whipple et al 2011), adolescents' negotiation of parental requests (Van Petegem et al 2017), and adults' engagement in volunteering (Huang et al 2019). The observation that the psychological needs are involved in such phenotypically diverse phenomena speaks to the pervasive impact of these psychological needs and underscores the parsimony of BPNT as a theoretical framework.…”

Reflections on self‐determination theory as an organizing framework for personality psychology: Interfaces, integrations, issues, and unfinished business

“…Children, adolescents, and young adults will come upon “hard knocks” on their own, and when they do, those with a backdrop of love and support will, SDT predicts, handle them better. Detailed research in areas such as coping (e.g., Chen, Soenens, Vansteenkiste, Van Petegem, & Beyers, ; Pitzer & Skinner, ; Van Petegem et al, ; Weinstein, Brown, & Ryan, ), developmental psychopathology (e.g., Ryan, Deci, & Vansteenkiste, ), and psychotherapy (e.g., Zuroff et al, ; Van der Kaap‐Deeder et al, ) indicates that inner individual resources and contextual need supports are both critical in understanding human growth and resilience.…”

“…SDT research has addressed such topics as suicidal risk (Britton, Van Orden, Hirsch, & Williams, ), depression (e.g., Quitasol, Fournier, Di Domenico, Bagby, & Quilty, ), eating disorders (Vansteenkiste, Soenens, & Vandereycken, ), addictions (Zeldman, Ryan, & Fiscella, ), and severe mental illness (Jochems, van der Feltz‐Cornelis, van Dam, Duivenvoorden, & Mulder, ). Relevant too to people’s “road blocks and tragedies” would be SDT studies on: mindfulness and coping with stress (e.g., Donald, Atkins, Parker, Christie, & Ryan, ; Weinstein et al, ); on coping with need thwarting (Chen et al, ; Van Petegem et al, ); on emotional reliance in times of distress (Ryan, Guardia, Solky‐Butzel, Chirkov, & Kim, ); or when facing daily stigma (Legate, Ryan, & Rogge, ). Further, SDT‐based research has addressed individuals’ integration of identities that may be discrepant with personal or social norms.…”

“…Assessing exposure to need‐supportive and thwarting contexts over longer periods of time may be useful in predicting reactions to new need‐related experiences, and provide new avenues to examine (de)sensitization hypotheses. Illustrative of such dynamics, Van Petegem et al () followed adolescents’ trajectories of exposure to autonomy‐supportive and controlling parenting over a four‐year period. They found that those exposed to more controlling parents reacted in a more defiant way to a new, hypothetical controlling interaction with parents.…”

Are the benefits of autonomy satisfaction and the costs of autonomy frustration dependent on individuals' autonomy strength?

“…Additionally, among individuals high in relatedness satisfaction, a new relatedness‐conducive encounter yielded greater well‐being benefits (Moller et al, ). Finally, adolescents whose home environment became increasingly autonomy‐supportive over a 6‐year period extracted greater autonomy satisfaction from a new autonomy‐supportive interaction with their parents (Van Petegem et al, ).…”