Emotional Autonomy and Adolescent Adjustment

Abstract

This study examined the relations among maternal depression, family dysfunction, emotional autonomy, and adolescent adjustment. Participants were 145 mothers and children who were assessed in eighth grade (mean age = 13.51, SD = .57) and again in ninth grade. Results indicated that maternal depression significantly moderated the relation between emotional autonomy and adolescent adjustment. Among offspring of depressed mothers, higher levels of emotional autonomy (detachment) significantly predicted increases in internalizing and externalizing problems, whereas among offspring of nondepressed mothers, higher levels of emotional autonomy significantly predicted decreases in adolescents' symptoms. Within families of depressed mothers, family dysfunction significantly predicted adolescent symptoms, and this relation was partially mediated through emotional autonomy. These results further highlight the importance of considering the family context in studies of adolescent autonomy.

Development of emotional autonomy from adolescence to young adulthood in Spain

“…Furthermore, EAS, continues to be a tool widely used by investigators as a measure of Emotional Autonomy from parents (e.g. Garber & Little, 2001;Kenyon & Koerner, 2008;Mullis, Graf, & Mullis, 2009;Sandhu & Tung, 2006), using the global factor Emotional Autonomy or analysing separately the four components: Perceives Parents as People, Parental Deidealization, Non-Dependency on Parents and Individuation. For future work, we are aware of the need to include additional measures that take account of various aspects concerning the autonomy of adolescents and young adults.…”

Attachment and Autonomy During Adolescence

“…The correlates of emotional autonomy, when conceptualized as increased deidealization and decreased reliance on parents, are complex, and thus we review them separately here. The bulk of studies using Steinberg & Silverberg ' s ( 1986 ) EAS have indicated that higher scores are linked with poorer quality parent -teen relationships (e.g., Beyers & Goossens, 1999 ;Delaney, 1996 ;Garber & Little, 2001 ;Ryan & Lynch, 1989 ;Power, Francis, & Hughes, 1992 ). In addition, particularly during early and middle adolescence, high scores on the EAS tend to be inversely linked with aspects of adolescents ' functioning that should co -occur with healthy autonomy development, such as self -reliance and susceptibility to peer pressure (Steinberg & Silverberg).…”

An Alternative Substantive Factor Structure of the Emotional Autonomy Scale

“…Although emotional autonomy, as indicated by high total EAS scores, was supposed to be related to better adjustment (Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986), it turns out to be related to indicators of adolescent maladjustment, including susceptibility to peer pressure (Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986), feelings of insecurity with parents and of not being lovable (Ryan & Lynch, 1989), substance use and aggressive behavior (Turner, Irwin, Tschann, & Millstein, 1993), feelings of depression and anxiety (Papini & Roggman, 1992), and distress and internalizing problems (Beyers & Goossens, 1999;Garber & Little, 2001). Because of these negative correlates, some authors (e.g., Ryan & Lynch, 1989) have claimed that the EAS measures detachment (i.e., an extreme form of separation) rather than emotional autonomy.…”