Youths see all parental control negatively when there's a lot of it
Science Centric
November 13, 2009
A new study has found that young people feel differently about two types of parental control, generally viewing a type of control that's thought to be better for their development more positively. However, when parents are very controlling, young people no longer make this distinction and view both types of parental control negatively.
The study, conducted in the United States by researchers at Oerebro University in Sweden, appears in the November/December 2009 issue of the journal Child Development. Unlike a lot of prior research on parenting that's focused on control, this study looked at how adolescents view and react to parental control.
Scholars tell us that parental control falls into two categories: behavioural control (when parents help their children regulate themselves and feel competent by providing supervision, setting limits, and establishing rules) and psychological control (when parents are manipulative in their behaviour, often resulting in feelings of guilt, rejection, or not being loved). It's thought that behavioural control is better for youngsters' development.
But the study, which asked 67 American children (7th and 8th graders, as well as 10th and 11th graders) to respond to hypothetical scenarios involving both kinds of control, found that the youths put a negative spin on both types of control when the parents in the scenarios exercised a lot of control. Specifically, when parents showed moderate levels of control, they saw psychological control more negatively than behavioural control, but when parents were very controlling, they viewed both types of control negatively.
Specifically, the youths interpreted high levels of control as intrusive and as indicating that they mattered less as individuals. Intrusiveness is a hallmark of psychological control, according to the researchers, and both high levels of psychological control and feeling that you don't matter have been linked to poorer adjustment.
'Under some conditions, such as when personal choice is restricted, adolescents view behavioural control as negatively as psychological control,' according to the researchers. 'Such negative interpretations may mean that adolescents would respond as poorly to highly restrictive behavioural control as they do to psychological control.'
Related article:
Excess Parental Control May Backfire - PsychCentral
Science Centric
November 13, 2009
A new study has found that young people feel differently about two types of parental control, generally viewing a type of control that's thought to be better for their development more positively. However, when parents are very controlling, young people no longer make this distinction and view both types of parental control negatively.
The study, conducted in the United States by researchers at Oerebro University in Sweden, appears in the November/December 2009 issue of the journal Child Development. Unlike a lot of prior research on parenting that's focused on control, this study looked at how adolescents view and react to parental control.
Scholars tell us that parental control falls into two categories: behavioural control (when parents help their children regulate themselves and feel competent by providing supervision, setting limits, and establishing rules) and psychological control (when parents are manipulative in their behaviour, often resulting in feelings of guilt, rejection, or not being loved). It's thought that behavioural control is better for youngsters' development.
But the study, which asked 67 American children (7th and 8th graders, as well as 10th and 11th graders) to respond to hypothetical scenarios involving both kinds of control, found that the youths put a negative spin on both types of control when the parents in the scenarios exercised a lot of control. Specifically, when parents showed moderate levels of control, they saw psychological control more negatively than behavioural control, but when parents were very controlling, they viewed both types of control negatively.
Specifically, the youths interpreted high levels of control as intrusive and as indicating that they mattered less as individuals. Intrusiveness is a hallmark of psychological control, according to the researchers, and both high levels of psychological control and feeling that you don't matter have been linked to poorer adjustment.
'Under some conditions, such as when personal choice is restricted, adolescents view behavioural control as negatively as psychological control,' according to the researchers. 'Such negative interpretations may mean that adolescents would respond as poorly to highly restrictive behavioural control as they do to psychological control.'
Related article:
Excess Parental Control May Backfire - PsychCentral
