1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The present study investigated how perceived competence and autonomy interact with dependency and self-criticism to predict mothers’ interactions with their adolescent sons. » (p. 369)

Questions/Hypothèses :
- « It was expected that dependency in mothers would be associated with a tendency to encourage autonomy in sons only when they were believed to be highly competent. » (p. 369)
- « Because of the harsh parenting experiences and hostile interpersonal styles associated with self-criticism, it was expected to be associated with harsh and punitive behavior toward sons. » (p. 370)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« The subjects were 78 mothers of 12- to 15-year-old boys, who were recruited from newspaper ads. [...] The participants in the study were all residents of Montreal. The sons’ ages ranged from 12 to 15 years old [...]. All but 2 of the mothers were White native English speakers, and the 2 nonanglophones were competent and experienced in English. All but 5 of the mothers were married and living with the fathers of the sons taking part in the study. » (p. 370)

Instruments :
- Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt et al., 1976);
- Profile of Mood States (POMS; Lorr and McNair, 1980).

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« A previous study found that dependency was associated with mothers’ reacting punitively to independent behavior of their adolescent daughters and that self-criticism was associated with punitive and controlling responses to adolescent daughters. To extend these findings to mother-son relationships, the present study examined relations between personality and parenting behavior in 78 mothers of adolescent boys. Mothers completed measures of dependency and self-criticism and of baseline affect, and then were given experimentally manipulated results of the sons’ ’initial assessment of problem-solving ability’ (competence) and choice of discussion partner. Affect was assessed again. Mothers ’coached’ sons on computer problem-solving puzzles. Dependency was associated with mothers’ giving fewer explicit commands and less negative feedback to (1) sons who were described as high in competence and who chose someone else as discussion partner and (2) sons who were described as average in competence and who chose the mother as discussion partner. It was concluded that mothers high in dependency relate to competent sons in ways that encourage independence, but relate to their less competent sons in ways that may foster dependency, by thrawing attempts at autonomy. » (p. 365)