A moment of autonomy support brightens adolescents' mood: Autonomy support, psychological control and adolescent affect in everyday life

The Role of Parental Reflective Functioning in Associations between Daily Autonomy-Relevant Parenting, Parenting Stress, and Early and Middle Adolescents' Day-to-Day Difficulties

Autonomy-supportive parenting benefits adolescents' psychosocial adjustment, but daily fluctuations in adolescent difficulties and parenting stress can reduce autonomy support and lead to more controlling practices. However, currently it is not yet well understood why some parents seem better able to deal with the daily upheavals characteristic of adolescence, while other parents may resort to controlling practices. To address this gap, the present studies examined the moderating role of parental reflective functioning (i.e., parents' capacity to understand their adolescent's behavior in terms of mental states) in the daily relationships between adolescent difficulties, parental stress, and autonomy-supportive or controlling parenting. Two 7-day diary studies were conducted, of which Study 1 involved 220 parents of early adolescents (Mage = 13.05 years, SD = 0.87, range 10-15, 66% female) and Study 2 involved 161 parents of middle adolescents (Mage = 15.56 years, SD = 1.14, range = 13-18, 61.5% female). Multilevel analyses indicated that daily perceived externalizing difficulties and parental stress were associated with less autonomy-supportive and more controlling parenting. Furthermore, prementalizing (i.e., attributing malevolent intentions to adolescents) predicted less autonomy support and more controlling parenting. Greater interest and curiosity about adolescents' mental states buffered the associations between middle adolescents' (internalizing and externalizing) difficulties and parent-reported controlling parenting. These findings highlight the role of both parent and adolescent characteristics in day-to-day parenting fluctuations and underscore the importance of parental reflective functioning in understanding variations in autonomy-supportive and controlling practices.

Readdressing the Ongoing Challenge of Missing Data in Youth Ecological Momentary Assessment Studies: Meta-Analysis Update

BACKGROUND

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is pivotal in longitudinal health research in youth, but potential bias associated with nonparticipation, omitted reports, or dropout threatens its clinical validity. Previous meta-analytic evidence is inconsistent regarding specific determinants of missing data.

OBJECTIVE

This meta-analysis aimed to update and expand upon previous research by examining key participation metrics-acceptance, compliance, and retention-in youth EMA studies. In addition, it sought to identify potential moderators among sample and design characteristics, with the goal of better understanding and mitigating the impact of missing data.

METHODS

We used a bibliographic database search to identify EMA studies involving children and adolescents published from 2001 to November 2023. Eligible studies used mobile-delivered EMA protocols in samples with an average age up to 18 years. We conducted separate meta-analyses for acceptance, compliance, and retention rates, and performed meta-regressions to address sample and design characteristics. Furthermore, we extracted and pooled sample-level effect sizes related to correlates of response compliance. Risk of publication bias was assessed using funnel plots, regression tests, and sensitivity analyses targeting inflated compliance rates.

RESULTS

We identified 285 samples, including 17,441 participants aged 5 to 17.96 years (mean age 14.22, SD 2.24 years; mean percentage of female participants 55.7%). Pooled estimates were 67.27% (k=88, 95% CI 62.39-71.96) for acceptance, 71.97% (k=216, 95% CI 69.83-74.11) for compliance, and 96.57% (k=169, 95% CI 95.42-97.56) for retention. Despite overall poor moderation of participation metrics, acceptance rates decreased as the number of EMA items increased (log-transformed b=-0.115, SE 0.036; 95% CI -0.185 to -0.045; P=.001; R2=19.98), compliance rates declined by 0.8% per year of publication (SE 0.25, 95% CI -1.3 to -0.3; P=.002; R2=4.17), and retention rates dropped with increasing study duration (log-transformed b=-0.061, SE 0.015; 95% CI -0.091 to 0.032; P<.001; R2=10.06). The benefits of monetary incentives on response compliance diminished as the proportion of female participants increased (b=-0.002, SE 0.001; 95% CI -0.003 to -0.001; P=.003; R2=9.47). Within-sample analyses showed a small but significant effect indicating higher compliance in girls compared to boys (k=25; g=0.18; 95% CI 0.06-0.31; P=.003), but no significant age-related effects were found (k=14; z score=0.05; 95% CI -0.01 to 0.16).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite a 5-fold increase in included effect sizes compared to the initial review, the variability in rates of missing data that one can expect based on specific sample and design characteristics remains substantial. The inconsistency in identifying robust moderators highlights the need for greater attention to missing data and its impact on study results. To eradicate any health-related bias in EMA studies, researchers should collectively increase transparent reporting practices, intensify primary methodological research, and involve participants' perspectives on missing data.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42022376948; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42022376948.

Balancing boundaries: Observed parental autonomy support and psychological control in the context of parent-adolescent interactions and adolescent depression

Autonomy support (AS) and psychological control (PC) are important parenting behaviors in adolescence, with low AS and high PC relating to adolescent depression. Studies on observed levels of AS and PC in a clinical sample are lacking. The current study aimed to (1) develop a reliable coding system for parental AS and PC in parent-adolescent interactions and gain insights into its ecological validity in a healthy control (HC) sample, and (2) disentangle observed and adolescent-perceived parenting behaviors in relation to adolescent depression. HC adolescents (N = 80, Mage = 15.90, 63.7% girls, 91.3% White) and their parents (N = 148, Mage = 49.00, 53.4% female, 97.3% White) and adolescents with depression (current MDD/dysthymia; N = 35, Mage = 15.60, 77.1% girls, 65.7% White) and their parents (N = 62, Mage = 50.13, 56.5% female, 79.0% White) participated in three videotaped dyadic interaction tasks (problem solving, event planning, and reminiscence). Adolescents reported on their parents' behavior and their own positive and negative affect after each task, while observed AS and PC were coded from the videos. Multilevel analyses showed that observed AS and PC, coded with our reliable system, related to adolescent-perceived parenting (in daily life), confirming ecological validity. Adolescents with depression (vs. HC) had more negative perceptions of parenting, whereas observed AS and PC did not differ, indicating a negativity bias of adolescents with depression. Lastly, observed PC related to a lower affective state in adolescents with depression, but not HC. Parents could be psycho-educated on the impact of this behavior in a clinical setting.

From Burden to Enjoyment: A User-Centered Approach to Engage Adolescents in Intensive Longitudinal Research

INTRODUCTION

Adolescent psychology is embracing intensive longitudinal methods, such as diaries and experience sampling techniques, to investigate real-life experiences. However, participants might perceive the repetitive self-reporting in these data collection techniques as burdensome and demotivating, resulting in decreased compliance rates. In this tutorial paper, we present a user-centered approach aimed at making participation in experience sampling and daily diary studies a meaningful and fun experience for adolescents.

METHODS

In three major research projects that took place between 2019 and 2023, more than 4,000 Dutch adolescents participated (12-25 years old). To improve the participants' user journey, adolescents were invited to codesign our studies and share their expertise in interviews (n = 459), focus groups (n = 101), design decisions (i.e., A/B tests, n = 107), pilots (n = 163), exit interviews (n = 167), and by answering user experience questionnaires (n = 2,109).

RESULTS

Across projects, we discovered five different main intrinsic and extrinsic motives to participate in intensive longitudinal studies: (1) rewards, (2) fun and interest, (3) helping science or the greater good, (4) helping the scientist or another person, and (5) gaining self-insight. We provide concrete examples of how we tailored our study designs to address these specific motives to optimize youth engagement.

CONCLUSIONS

The engagement of adolescents in intensive longitudinal studies can be enhanced by making it a meaningful and enjoyable experience, aligned with their own motives.

Home-based video assessment of children's autism-related behaviours: Psychometric analysis and linkages with parental responsiveness and context

OBJECTIVES

Assessment of autism-related behaviours (ARBs) in children has generally been limited to direct observations in clinical settings or informant-based reports. The widespread availability of video-streaming devices has made home observations of children's ARBs feasible. This approach could enable assessment of the generalization and durability of interventions and may be able to overcome methodological limitations of predominant current assessment approaches (response biases, limited sensitivity to treatment).

DESIGN AND METHODS

Forty-four autistic children and their families participated in a repeated-measures study with a correlational design. Approximately 10 hr of unprompted behaviour at home were videorecorded over the course of a week (2 hr per day) for each participant. Gold standard measures of ARBs were also administered (ADOS-2 and ADI-R). Two home-based observational measures of ARBs utilizing streaming video were developed and evaluated: the ARCHER and the CHEERS. Trained independent evaluators made ratings on the ARCHER, CHEERS and an observational measure of parental responsiveness.

RESULTS

Correlations with the ADOS-2 and ADI-R were .47 and .34 for ARCHER scores and .51 and .48 for CHEERS scores, respectively. In linear mixed models, more responsive parenting was associated with fewer ARBs on a daily basis. Children spent their afternoons engaged in many typical activities including electronics, homework and games with family members, and ARBs were more prominent in some of these contexts (e.g., electronics) than others (e.g., family games).

CONCLUSIONS

Home-based observational assessment of ARBs may be useful for clinical and descriptive research.