Roles of Parental Autonomy Support and Emotion Regulation on Behavior Problems in Chinese American Adolescents

• In Event: 2-058 - Emotion Socialization: Past, Present, and Future

Integrative Statement

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are periods that consist of major life transitions, and emotion regulation has been proposed to play a central role in helping adolescents manage developmental transitions and challenges (Riediger & Klipker, 2013). Emotion regulation skills also serve to protect adolescents against internalizing and externalizing problems (e.g., Silk et al., 2003). A large body of research shows that parents can shape the development of their children’s emotion regulation skills (e.g. Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998; Morris et al., 2017). The majority of studies show that parents’ use of psychological control over their children has negative effects on development, while parents’ expressions of warmth and autonomy support promote children’s development of emotion regulation skills and adolescent adjustment (for a review, see Thompson, 2013). However, limited studies have examined whether parents and adolescent emotion regulation continue to be associated with adjustment in emerging adulthood, particularly when many children begin to live independently from their parents for the first time in their lives. Thus, the present study examines whether parental autonomy support/low psychological control during adolescence is associated with internalizing and externalizing problems during emerging adulthood through adolescent emotion-related self-regulation.
Participants were 107 Chinese American adolescents (64 females, 43 males; mean age = 16 years, SD = 1.4) and their parents. The majority of adolescents (80%) were born in the United States, and all parents were first generation Chinese immigrants. A wide diversity of parental education and family incomes were represented. At Time 1, parents and adolescents provided information on parental autonomy support/low psychological control (PCS; Barber, 1996; αs=.81 and .86, respectively) and parents also provided information on adolescents’ emotion-related regulation (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004; split-half estimates=.90-96). At Time 2 (3 years later), data on internalizing and externalizing problems (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004; split-half estimates=.90-96) were collected from 57 adolescents (37 females, 20 males; mean age = 19.44 years, SD = 1.00).
The main research questions were addressed using structural equation modeling (SEM), with parental autonomy support as a composite variable and with emotion-related self-regulation, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems as latent constructs with multiple indicators (see Figure 1). Amongst the socio-demographic variables, descriptive statistics showed adolescent gender differences on externalizing problems with males higher on three of the four indicators of externalizing problems (alcohol use, hyperactivity, and sensation seeking) than females. Indirect effects of parental autonomy support/low psychological control on adolescent internalizing or externalizing problems through emotion-related self-regulation were tested with SEM and the model fit the data adequately after controlling for adolescent gender (x2=67.22, df=56, p > .05, RMSEA=.045, CFI=.97, SRMR=.09). Direct effects were found between parental autonomy support and adolescent emotion-related self-regulation and between emotion-related self-regulation and externalizing (but not internalizing) problems. In addition, parental autonomy support had an indirect effect on externalizing problems through emotion-related self-regulation. Results are consistent with Eisenberg, Hofer, Sulik, and Spinrad (2013)’s conceptualization of emotion-related self-regulation as important for children’s socialization and internalization of emotion-related parenting practices as well as for their long-run adjustment outcomes (see Eisenberg, et al., 1998).

Authors

• Jeffrey Liew, Texas A&M University
  Presenting Author

• Zhiqing Zhou, Texas A&M University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dorothy Pang, Texas A&M University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yu-Chen Yeh, Texas A&M University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Oiman Kwok, Texas A&M University
  Non-Presenting Author