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Should parental prohibition of adolescents' peer relationships be prohibited?
Author(s) -
SOENENS BART,
VANSTEENKISTE MAARTEN,
NIEMIEC CHRISTOPHER P.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2009.01237.x
Subject(s) - psychology , autonomy , peer relations , style (visual arts) , social psychology , peer influence , developmental psychology , internalization , test (biology) , peer group , differential association , differential (mechanical device) , political science , paleontology , genetics , archaeology , engineering , biology , cell , law , history , aerospace engineering
Research has revealed inconsistent associations between parents' prohibition of peer relationships and adolescents' deviant peer affiliation. This cross‐sectional study examined parents' styles of prohibition to test the hypothesis that an autonomy‐supportive style would relate negatively, whereas a controlling style would relate positively, to deviant peer affiliation. Such relations were expected because of the differential relations of styles of prohibition to adolescents' internalization of parental rules for friendships. Structural equation modeling provided support for the hypotheses in a sample of 234 Belgian midadolescents ( M age = 16.45 years; 65% female), as the differential relations of autonomy‐supportive and controlling styles of prohibition to deviant peer affiliation were mediated by their differential relations to internalization. Implications for research on parental peer management are discussed.