Examining Temporal Associations between Perceived Maternal Psychological Control and Early Adolescent Internalizing Problems

Abstract

The present study examined a) the associations between adolescent-reported maternal psychological control and self-reported internalizing problems one year later, while simultaneously examining the opposite direction of effects and b) the equivalence of these associations across gender. Participants were 479 10-to-14-year old adolescents (55% female) participating in two waves of a study. Results from multi-group, cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that although early adolescents' depressive symptoms and social anxiety predicted change in perceived maternal psychological control one year later, perceived maternal psychological control did not predict change in early adolescents' internalizing problems. Elevated levels of depressive symptoms were associated with increased levels of perceived maternal psychological control one year later, whereas elevated levels of social anxiety were associated with decreased levels. Aforementioned findings were consistent across boys' and girls' data. Study findings extend limited research on adolescent effects, demonstrating that early adolescents' internalizing problems play a role in perceived maternal psychological control.

Shy Adolescents' Perceptions of Parents' Psychological Control and Emotional Warmth: Examining Bidirectional Links

“…Although the current findings are consistent with our theoretical reasoning and findings from research on younger children (Dadds & Barrett, 2001;Hastings et al, 2010;Masia & Morris, 1998;Wood et al, 2003), they are contrary to findings from a recent study looking at directions of effects between maternal psychological control and social anxiety (Loukas, 2009). Counter to predictions, Loukas (2009) found that social anxiety was associated with decreasing levels of psychological control over time rather than increasing levels.…”

“…Counter to predictions, Loukas (2009) found that social anxiety was associated with decreasing levels of psychological control over time rather than increasing levels. As described in this article's introduction and as discussed by the author, there is much to suggest that this was a suppressor effect.…”

“…It is difficult to know how to interpret these results, however, because the zero-order correlations showed positive associations between psychological control and social anxiety, as did the within-time associations in the structural equation model. In addition, all associations between depression and psychological control were positive, as were the links between social anxiety and depression (Loukas, 2009). All this suggests that the negative across-time link from social anxiety to psychological control might be a suppressor effect.…”

“…In another study, socially withdrawn 11-year-olds reported being more insecure and disconnected from their parents 3 years later (Rubin, Chen, McDougall, & Bowker, 1995). To our knowledge, only two longitudinal studies involve adolescents (Loukas, 2009;Papini & Roggman, 1992). In one, the issue of interest was how the links between social anxiety and parenting changed over the transition to adolescence, so the data were analyzed within time points, and prediction of change across time was not addressed (Papini & Roggman, 1992).…”

“…In one, the issue of interest was how the links between social anxiety and parenting changed over the transition to adolescence, so the data were analyzed within time points, and prediction of change across time was not addressed (Papini & Roggman, 1992). In the other, directions of effects between social anxiety and maternal psychological control were in focus (Loukas, 2009). In a model controlling for adolescent depression, early adolescents' social anxiety predicted less perceived maternal psychological control over the course of one 1 year, which is contrary to expectations based on the literature reviewed above and to the author's predictions.…”