In this newly published study, principally led by our research partners from Ghent University, the focus was turned to adolescents. In the face of overprotective parenting, how do adolescents cope? Do they endure it or resist it, and how might their coping strategies in turn shape their development?
The results suggest that, of the strategies, the adolescents who adopt the compulsive compliance strategy in response to overprotective parenting (i.e., passively submitting)—“the endurers”—have the poorest outcomes. The “endurers” report more frustration of their basic psychological needs (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), which can funnel into aggression and increased distress. We also find that adolescents can alter to some extent the effects of overprotective parenting on developmental problems, depending on the way to cope with such parenting. Overall, the results underscore adolescents’ active role in overprotective parenting.