Feeling loved by one's caregiver is essential for individual flourishing (i.e., high levels of psychological well-being in multiple dimensions). Although similar constructs are found to benefit adolescent well-being, research that directly tests parental love as a feeling from the recipient's perspective is rare. Historically, parental love has…

This longitudinal study compared immigrant and native adolescents' expectations concerning the timing of conventional socially acceptable and oppositional less socially acceptable forms of autonomy. Based on normative development and a collectivist background among immigrants, both developmental and acculturative change was expected. The sample…

Two studies examined adolescents' personal autonomy beliefs and their perceptions of peer autonomy. Study 1 sampled 527 adolescents (M = 15.40 years) and found that adolescents desired increased autonomy most over personal and multifaceted issues and least over moral and conventional issues. Younger adolescents and girls desired increased autonomy…

In proposing connections among the paradigms represented by domain theory, parental control theory, and Baumrind's configural approach to parental authority, the worldview of each paradigm must be respected and ambiguities in core concepts must be resolved.

Examined relations among maternal depression, family dysfunction, emotional autonomy, and early adolescent adjustment. Found that among offspring of depressed mothers, higher emotional autonomy predicted increased internalizing and externalizing problems; among offspring of nondepressed mothers, higher emotional autonomy predicted decreases in…

Before working, adolescents who later worked more than 20 hours per week were less engaged in school and granted more autonomy by their parents than other adolescents. Working more than 20 hours per week further disengaged adolescents from school, increased delinquency and drug use, furthered autonomy, and diminished self-reliance. (BC)

Examined the possibility that the degree of synchronization between parent and adolescent ratings of pubertal maturity is related to faulty beliefs about interpersonal relationships in the family. Results indicated that adolescent-parent synchrony affected adolescents' faulty beliefs. Mothers' endorsement of faulty beliefs was related to…

Analysis of 5 waves of panel data on over 2,000 males from 10th grade to 5 years after high school found that self-esteem was quite stable over time and was related to shared decision making in the family and intrinsic motivation in school. Findings were mixed with respect to the work sphere. Contains 131 references. (SV)

Examined discrepancies in mothers' and adolescents' perceptions of decision making and behavioral autonomy. Discrepancies in decision-making judgments led to a high level of conflict. Discrepancies between adolescents' desire for and mothers' granting of autonomy led to a high conflict level and adolescent adjustment difficulties. (BC)

Seventy-seven adolescents in 2-parent families and their parents were observed in a revealed-differences interaction task when the adolescents were age 14, and the adolescents' ego development and self-esteem were assessed at both age 14 and 16. Adolescents' displays of autonomy and relatedness were strongly related to concurrent measures of ego…

Data from a longitudinal study of adolescent development of approximately 2,300 sixth and seventh graders (the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions) provide a basis for the hypothesis that optimal developmental outcomes should result from an environment that gradually reduces adult control as the child's desire for autonomy increases.…

This study examined the reciprocal influence between parenting style and parental involvement in schooling practices and adolescent autonomy over a 2-year period. Participating in the study were 872 adolescents with a mean age of 14.5 years at Time 1 and attending 5 French-speaking public high schools in Quebec, Canada. From the initial cohort,…

Students of religious development in youth tend to focus on characteristics of the child or adolescent and perhaps those of their parents. Although often reflecting standard disciplinary practices, this approach is also often the result of data limitations. This study used longitudinal data from adolescents, parents, friends, schools, and…

Individuation theory is rooted in the belief that it is a major developmental task for adolescents to establish their identity while simultaneously maintaining a relationship with their parents. Building on the individuation paradigm, the researchers contributing to this edited volume zeroed in on discourse as a critical mechanism through which…