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Psychological Control and Autonomy Granting: Opposite Ends of a Continuum or Distinct Constructs?
Author(s) -
Silk Jennifer S.,
Morris Amanda S.,
Kanaya Tomoe,
Steinberg Laurence
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/1532-7795.1301004
Subject(s) - psychology , autonomy , conceptualization , psychological control , psychosocial , structural equation modeling , confirmatory factor analysis , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology , psychotherapist , statistics , mathematics , artificial intelligence , political science , computer science , law
This article explores the relationship between parental psychological control and parental autonomy granting, and the relations between these constructs and indicators of adolescent psychosocial functioning, in a sample of 9,564 adolescents from grades 9 to 12. Participants completed a comprehensive parenting questionnaire as well as several measures of psychosocial adjustment. Confirmatory factor analyses of the parenting items revealed discrete factors for psychological control and autonomy granting, suggesting that these are distinct parenting constructs rather than opposite ends of a parental control continuum. Moreover, structural equation modeling showed that these factors were weakly correlated and differentially related to adolescent internalizing symptoms. Findings have implications for future conceptualization and measurement of psychological control and autonomy granting, and for research examining their effects on adolescent development.