NCJ Number
191085
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 30 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2001 Pages: 577-595
Date Published
October 2001
Length
19 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of adolescent autonomy.
Abstract
A conceptual analysis of different theoretical perspectives has resulted in an integrative model of attitudinal, emotional, and functional autonomy. Attitudinal autonomy refers to the cognitive process of choosing and defining a goal. Emotional autonomy refers to the affective process of feeling confident about one’s own choices and goals. Functional autonomy refers to the regulatory process of developing a strategy to achieve these goals. The model was tested by developing a questionnaire for 400 adolescents between 12- and 18-years-old. Five aspects were examined: a confirmatory test of the three dimensions of autonomy, the relationship between the dimensions of autonomy, the relationship between autonomy and other indices of independence, age-related trends in the development of autonomy, and sex differences in the development of autonomy. Results showed that adolescent autonomy could be conceptualized as a construct with three dimensions. The moderate correlations among the three concepts pointed out that the three concepts were separate entities but did refer to a general concept of autonomy. The relationship between autonomy and other indices of independence also indicated that the three dimensions referred to three distinctive domains of behavior. Attitudinal and emotional autonomy appeared to show a small but significant increase with age. There was no age-related increase in functional autonomy. Boys appeared to have a more positive perception of their attitudinal and functional autonomy than did girls. 3 notes, 5 tables, 45 references