The influence of parenting goals on adolescent psychosocial adjustment.

Abstract

The principal hypothesis governing the research was that variations in parenting goals would give rise to how parents responsed to their children, both cognitively and behaviourally (e.g., in terms of parenting behaviour, attributions for behaviour and emotional responses). These factors would then influence the nature of family functioning and ultimately young people’s level of psychosocial functioning. A series of three studies was therefore conducted to explore the influence that mothers’ beliefs and values, operationalised in terms of parenting goals, have on family functioning and adolescent wellbeing as mediated or moderated by how parents interacted with their adolescents and interpreted their behaviour.