Change Over Time in Parental Psychological Control in Nine Countries

ABSTRACT

Parental psychological control is consistently linked to negative adolescent adjustment across cultures. Yet psychological control also varies normatively alongside developmental transitions in adolescence. This study examines trajectories of mother‐ and father‐reported psychological control from early to middle adolescence across 12 cultural contexts and tests whether levels and rates of change relate to adolescent pubertal status and cultural emphases on family obligations. Participants were mothers and fathers of 1338 adolescents from the Parenting Across Cultures project: Shanghai, China ( n  = 123); Medellín, Colombia ( n  = 108); Naples, Italy ( n  = 102); Rome, Italy ( n  = 111); Zarqa, Jordan ( n  = 114); Kisumu, Kenya ( n  = 100); Manila, Philippines ( n  = 120); Trollhättan/Vänersborg, Sweden ( n  = 129); Chiang Mai, Thailand ( n  = 120); and Durham, North Carolina, United States ( n  = 102 African American, n  = 99 Latin American, n  = 110 European American). Data from five waves (ages 12–16) were analyzed. In most sites, both mothers and fathers reported linear declines in psychological control across adolescence; however, in some sites, trajectories remained stable. Pubertal status at age 12 predicted only the level of father‐reported psychological control in two sites. By contrast, fathers’ valuing of family obligation predicted slopes across all sites: When family obligation was highly valued, the rate of decrease in psychological control was lower. Findings indicate both variation and common patterns in changes in parental psychological control across early to mid‐adolescence in diverse cultural contexts.