Week 11 - Parenting & Adolescence

Question 1

What is behavioral control?

Answer 1

Managing behaviors by creating a structure through actions like supervision, setting limits, establishing and enforcing rules.

Question 2

What is psychological control?

Answer 2

Attempts to control behavior by manipulating adolescents’ feelings, emotions, and thoughts through the parental-child relationship. Through actions like guilt induction, love withdrawal, and excessive shaming.

Question 3

What is Barber’s argument pertaining to behavioral and psychological control?

Answer 3

low behavioral control -> increase externalizing problems
high psychological control -> increase internalizing problems
Therefore should increase behavioral control and decrease psychological control.

Question 4

What is the common operationalsiation of behavioral control? and What is used to measure this operationalisation?

Answer 4

parental monitoring. parental knowledge.

Question 5

Why is parental knowledge criticised for being a measure of parental monitoring?

Answer 5

Because parental knowledge is obtained mostly from adolescents’ disclosure, not from parents’ monitoring behaviors or rules.

Question 6

Explain the overlap in measures between behavioral and psychological control.

Answer 6

Items measuring ‘psychological control’ are actually aimed at redirecting children’s behavior, just at HIGH levels. Implies that at high levels, behavioral control is not conceptually distinct from psychological control.

Question 7

What is the key argument of this paper in relation to behavioral control?

Answer 7

Argues that high behavioral control may not necessarily be desirable because it can be detrimental to an adolescent’s autonomy, competence, and relatedness, compromising their wellbeing. Contrary to barber’s argument that higher behavioral control is better

Question 8

What is self-determination theory?

Answer 8

posits that individuals have 3 basic psychological needs - competence, relatedness, autonomy. Parental control restricting these needs could undermine adolescents’ emotional and social development.

Question 9

What is reactance theory?

Answer 9

Argues that people experience psychological reactance (strong negative emotional reactions) when their free choice over their behavior is threatened by external forces.

Question 10

Psychological reactance depends on 3 things, what are they?

Answer 10

1) Degree to which free choice is restricted/threatened
2) Legitimacy of control
3) Importance of the behavior being restricted

Question 11

What kind of parental control will create the most negative interpretations in adolescents?

Answer 11

1) high level of control
2) control perceived as ilegitimate
3) control is over a valued behavior (eg. friendship choice)

Question 12

In this study, what were the 2 domains of control being investigated?

Answer 12

1) personal (eg. friendship choice)

2) prudential (eg. alcohol use)

Question 13

What is the difference between personal domain and prudential domain?

Answer 13

Personal domain

• have consequences only for the self
• adolescents believe such issues are under their jurisdiction

Prudential domain

• have consequences for the self and others
• adolescents view it as legitimately under parents control

Question 14

What is considered most negative interpretations, and what is considered most positive interpretations?

Answer 14

negative: least competent, matter least, most intrusive
positive: most competent, matter most, least intrusive

Question 15

The dependent variables (competence, mattering, and intrusiveness) were _______ with each other.

Answer 15

intercorrelated

Question 16

What were the type x level contrasts? (3)

Answer 16

1) high behavioral control vs high psychological control
2) high control (average) vs moderate behavioral control
3) moderate psychological control vs moderate behavioral control