Difficulties with autonomy development in children with SB may persist into emerging adulthood and influence the likelihood that young adults attend college, experience romantic relationships, and develop stable social networks ( Zukerman et al., 2011). Children with chronic health conditions are often granted more decision-making control (e.g., over medical regimens) starting in middle childhood ( Holmbeck et al., 1998), yet research has revealed that children with SB tend to lag behind their typically developing (TD) peers by ∼2 years with respect to several indices of autonomy development (e.g., behavioral, decision-making, and emotional autonomy Davis, Shurtleff, Walker, Seidel, & Duguay, 2006 Devine, Wasserman, Gerschensen, Holmbeck, & Essner, 2011 Friedman et al., 2009). Parenting behaviors that promote or undermine a child’s autonomy development begin before adolescence and may have important implications for the development of more mature forms of autonomy and subsequent adjustment at later developmental stages. The development of autonomy is a dynamic and interactive familial process in which the child achieves independence while maintaining connectedness with parents ( Friedman, Holmbeck, DeLucia, Jandasek, & Zebracki, 2009). Yet, few studies have examined parenting behaviors as prospective predictors of autonomy-related emerging adulthood adjustment across social, educational, emotional, and health-related domains. Further, parenting behaviors that support or inhibit the development of autonomy may be especially important for youth with SB, whose families are often highly involved in their medical care. Emerging adults with SB demonstrate difficulties with social (e.g., peer/romantic relationships), educational (e.g., college attendance), emotional (e.g., internalizing/externalizing symptoms), and health-related adjustment (e.g., substance use Bellin et al., 2010, 2011 Murray et al., 2014 Roux, Sawin, Bellin, Buran, & Brei, 2007 Zukerman et al., 2011). For youth with spina bifida (SB), a congenital birth defect, the achievement of milestones during emerging adulthood may be particularly difficult because of the challenges inherent in intense medical care management (e.g., intermittent catheterization, bowel programs, medications, and nutritional programs), impaired cognitive ability, and lower social skills ( Zukerman, Devine, & Holmbeck, 2011). Conclusions Parenting behaviors related to autonomy have long-term consequences for adjustment in emerging adults with and without SB.Īutonomy, emerging adulthood, observational methods, parenting, spina bifidaĮmerging adulthood (ages 18–25 years) is a distinct developmental period characterized by widespread change, such as exploration of career interests, changes in world views, intensification of romantic partnering, and increased autonomy ( Arnett, 2000). Interestingly, high parent undermining of relatedness predicted better educational and social adjustment in the SB sample. Results Autonomy-promoting (behavioral control, autonomy-relatedness) and -inhibiting (psychological control) observed preadolescent parenting behaviors prospectively predicted emerging adulthood adjustment, particularly within educational, social, and emotional domains.
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Measures of emerging adulthood adjustment were collected 10 years later (ages 18/19 years n = 50 and n = 60 for SB and comparison groups, respectively).
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Observed interaction data were coded with macro- and micro-coding schemes. Methods Demographic and videotaped interaction data were collected from families with 8/9-year-old children with SB ( n = 68) and a matched group of typically developing youth ( n = 68). Objective To examine observed autonomy-promoting and -inhibiting parenting behaviors during preadolescence as predictors of adjustment outcomes in emerging adults with and without spina bifida (SB).