Parental Autonomy-Support, Intrinsic Life Goals, and Well-Being Among Adolescents in China and North America

Abstract

Self-determination theory proposes that prioritizing intrinsic life goals, such as community involvement, is related to well-being, whereas focusing on extrinsic life goals, such as financial success, is associated with lower well-being and that parenting influences the type of life goals that youth adopt. In a sample of 515 Chinese (56% female, mean age = 15.50) and 567 North American (52% male, mean age = 14.17) adolescents, a model of the relationships between parenting, life goals, and well-being was investigated and confirmed for intrinsic life goals. Across societies, autonomy-supportive parenting was associated with the endorsement of intrinsic life goals, which in turn was associated with well-being. Intrinsic life goals partially mediated the relationship between parental autonomy-support and well-being. These findings suggest that, cross-culturally, prioritizing intrinsic life goals is related to increased well-being among adolescents and that parents could encourage intrinsic life goals by being supportive of their children's autonomy.

Autonomy and Autonomy Disturbances in Self‐Development and Psychopathology: Research on Motivation, Attachment, and Clinical Process

“…In contrast, being controlling involves parents pressuring the children to do what they want or value, emphasizing obedience and compliance (Grolnick, 2002; and, in more extreme contexts, using punishments and physical threats. Dozens of studies have convincingly shown that autonomy-supportive parenting yields various benefits, including greater teacher-rated competence and grades (e.g., Grolnick & Ryan, 1989), more personal well-being (e.g., Chirkov & Ryan, 2001;Lekes, Gingras, Philippe, Koestner, & Fang, 2010), and better social adjustment (e.g., .…”

Como se define a autonomia?: O perfil discriminante em adolescentes gaúchos

“…Mesmo que a autonomia também venha acompanhada de medos, responsabilidades e riscos. Pesquisas têm demonstrado que a autonomia se associa com uma série de indicadores de um desenvolvimento saudável, como melhor desempenho acadêmico (Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Daddis, 2004), maiores níveis de autoestima (Yeh & Yang, 2006) e bem estar (Lekes, Gingras, Philippe, Koestner, & Fang, 2010), maior legitimidade da autoridade parental e maior obediência às regras parentais (Cumsille, Darling, & Martínez, 2010;Daddis, 2011).…”

La influencia de las diferencias entre el padre y la madre sobre el ajuste adolescente

“…Y la promoción parental de la autonomía resultó relevante para la calidad de vida; los progenitores que son sensibles a las necesidades de individualidad de sus hijos e hijas y les otorgan mayor autonomía, contribuyen a mejorar el bienestar general adolescente (Gillison et al, 2008;Jiménez-Iglesias et al, 2014;Lekes et al, 2010;Smetana et al, 2004).…”

“…Así, el afecto parental es una dimensión clave del estilo democrático y decisiva para el bienestar psicológico adolescente (Kagitçibasi, 1996), así como favorece un menor consumo de sustancias (Parra y Oliva, 2006;Rodrigo et al, 2004). Por otro lado, la promoción parental de la autonomía adquiere especial relevancia en la adolescencia; los padres y las madres que son sensibles a las nuevas necesidades de autonomía de sus adolescentes y la promueven de una forma adecuada mejoran su bienestar (Gillison, Standage y Skevington, 2008;Lekes, Gingras, Philippe, Koestner y Fang, 2010;Smetana, Campione-Barr y Daddis, 2004) y reducen su consumo de sustancias (Goldstein, Davis-Kean y Eccles, 2005). De igual manera, la revelación adolescente y el interés parental implican la existencia de una positiva comunicación parento-filial (Keijsers, Branje, VanderValk y Meeus, 2010), que es protectora del consumo de sustancias y del bienestar psicológico (Jiménez-Iglesias, Moreno, Granado-Alcón y López, 2012).…”