Poster #157 - Autonomous Abstinence Motivations Mediate Relations between Parental Autonomy Support and Adolescent Sex and Alcohol Use

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Adolescence is a time of increased risk behaviors such as sex and substance use (Mahalik et al., 2013). Given that abstinence from health risk behaviors is adaptive for teens, research is needed regarding motivations to abstain from such behaviors. Unfortunately, few studies have addressed the subject of abstinence motivations in teens, and most have been atheoretical. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a theoretical framework (Deci & Ryan, 2012). From a SDT perspective, sometimes people have controlled motivations, where they behave because they feel they have to, while other times people have autonomous motivations, where they behave because they want to. When social contexts such as families nurture the human psychological need for autonomy, people are more likely to be autonomously motivated, and autonomous motivation is a more powerful form of motivation. The purpose of the present study was to test this model regarding abstinence motivations. Specifically, we hypothesized that parental autonomy support would positively predict autonomous motivations to abstain from sex and alcohol, and such motivations would in turn negatively predict teens’ sex and alcohol use behaviors. In other words, we hypothesized that autonomous abstinence motivations would mediate relations between parental autonomy support and youth risk behaviors.
The sample included 178 adolescents recruited from across the U.S. using a survey panel (M age = 15.15, SD =1.48). Participants completed an online survey. Parental autonomy support was measured using a 12-item scale (Marbell & Grolnick, 2013). Controlled and autonomous motivations to abstain from sex and alcohol were assessed using new scales (6 items for each motivation for each target behavior) developed for this research, based on existing self-determination theory measures. Sex and alcohol use were measured using single items asking how often in the past year youth had done those behaviors, on an 8-point scale from “Not in the past year” to “Once or more a day.”
We tested the hypothesized mediation model using path analysis in Mplus (see Figures 1 and 2). We estimated models separately for sex and alcohol. We compared partial mediation models (which included direct paths from parental autonomy support to the behaviors) to full mediation models using chi-square difference tests. The full mediation model did not fit significantly worse, but was more parsimonious, and thus was retained. The final models had excellent model fit, 2(1)=.29, ns, RMSEA=.00, CFI=1 for sexual behavior and 2(1)=.58, ns, RMSEA=.00, CFI=1 for the alcohol use. Parental autonomy support positively predicted both controlled and autonomous motivations for abstaining from sex and alcohol, though relations were stronger for autonomous motivations. However, only autonomous motivation significantly predicted less sex and alcohol use. Indirect effects through autonomous motivation were significant for sex (β = -.10, p = .006) and alcohol (β = -.15, p = .001).
In conclusion, parental autonomy support may nurture more autonomous motivations for youth to abstain from sex and alcohol, and such autonomous motivations could protect youth from engaging in those health risk behaviors.

Authors

• Jeffrey Hurst, Brigham Young University
  Presenting Author

• Jenae Nelson, Brigham Young University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sam Hardy, Brigham Young University
  Non-Presenting Author