1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The present investigation sought to examine the link between motivation for parenting and parents’ behavior and adjustment, as well as the experiences of their children.» (p. 1933)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Our guiding hypothesis was that autonomous parenting motivation would be associated with adaptive outcomes for both mothers’ and children whereas controlled parenting motivation would not.» (p. 1934)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’étude est basée sur trois échantillons différents: 1) 153 femmes nouvellement mères de la région de Montréal; 2) 151 mères de la région de Montréal qui ont un enfant âgé entre 8 et 16 ans; 3) 260 parents d’adolescents fréquentant l’école secondaire en France, aux États-Unis et au Canada (Québec).

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«In a sample of first-time mothers, it was shown that autonomous motivation was significantly positively associated with authoritative parenting but unrelated to permissive parenting. In a sample of mothers of middle school children, autonomous motivation was significantly associated with mother’s reports of behaving toward their children in an autonomy supportive manner. […] Overall the results support our hypothesis that parents who are more autonomously motivated in their parenting roles are also those who report positive outcomes. Study 1 showed that autonomous motivation was associated with higher self-ratings of parental competence and satisfaction, as well as reports of more positive mood and higher life satisfaction. Controlled motivation was negatively related to concurrent reports of satisfaction and competence. However, study 3 showed that among first-time mothers it was controlled motivation, not autonomous motivation, which was significantly predictive of decreases in mothers’ feelings of role satisfaction as their children progressed from infants to toddlers. Controlled motivation was also predictive of these children displaying significantly higher levels of behavioural problems over time whereas autonomous motivation was associated with fewer problems over time. Together, these results provide initial support for the hypothesis that motivation for parenting will be associated with higher levels of adjustment in both parents and children.» (p. 1940)