NCJ Number
216239
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2006 Pages: 761-775
Editor(s)
Ann Hagell Dr.
Date Published
October 2006
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Using self-determination theory, two studies investigated the relations among perceived need support from parents, their adolescents’ autonomous self-regulation for academics, and the adolescents’ well being.
Abstract
The perceived need support from parents was found to have a strong relation to their adolescents’ autonomous self-regulation and psychological health. The results underscore the impact of socializers’, especially parents’ providing social environments that allow adolescents to satisfy their psychological needs for autonomy and relatedness. When parents fail to provide for their children’s needs, adolescents’ self-regulation is likely to be more controlled, and their well-being is likely to suffer. Therefore, the important role of parents as providers of need support and facilitators of their adolescents’ autonomous self-regulation and psychological health seems quite apparent. These results were attained from research focused on high school students’ motivation for wanting to attend college. In the first study, high school juniors and seniors in an American middle-class suburb were examined. The second study focused on Belgian adolescents who were at a level comparable to being a high school senior in the United States and who indicated their intent to pursue further education. In both these studies, the relations of perceived need support from parents to the students’ well-being were explored. Tables, figures, and references