Parental communicative input as a protective factor in Bangladeshi families living in poverty: A multi-dimensional perspective.

Studies from high-income populations have shown that stimulating, supportive communicative input from parents promote children's cognitive and language development. However, fewer studies have identified specific features of input supporting the healthy development of children growing up in low- or middle-income countries. The current study proposes and tests a multi-dimensional framework for understanding whether and how caregiver communicative input mediates the associations between socio-economic conditions and early development. We also examine how caregiver conceptual scaffolding and autonomy support uniquely and synergistically explain variation in child outcomes. Participants were 71 Bangladeshi families with five-year-olds who were exposed to a range of biological and psychosocial hazards from birth. Caregiver-child interactions during snack sharing and semi-structured play were coded for caregiver conceptual scaffolding, autonomy support, and child engagement. Findings indicate that the two dimensions of input were correlated, suggesting that caregivers who provided richer conceptual scaffolds were simultaneously more supportive of children's autonomy. Notably, conceptual scaffolding and autonomy support each mediated associations between maternal education and child verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) scores. Further, caregivers who supported greater autonomy in their children had children who participated in conversations more actively, and these children in turn had higher performance IQ scores. When considered simultaneously, conceptual scaffolding was associated with verbal IQ over and above autonomy support, whereas autonomy support related to child engagement, controlling for conceptual scaffolding. These findings shed new light on how environmental factors may support early development, contributing to the design of family-centered, culturally authentic interventions. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/9v_8sIv7ako RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Studies from high-income countries have identified factors mitigating the impacts of socio-economic risks on development. Such research is scarce in low- and middle-income countries. The present study conceptualized and evaluated caregiver communicative input in Bangladeshi families along two interrelated yet distinct dimensions: conceptual scaffolding and autonomy support. Conceptual scaffolding and autonomy support individually mediated associations between maternal education and child verbal IQ, shedding light on protective factors in families living in poverty. Parents providing richer conceptual scaffolds were simultaneously more supportive of children's autonomy. However, the two dimensions each related to cognition and language through unique pathways.

Associations between parents' autonomy supportive management language and children's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics talk during and after tinkering at home.

We conducted a time series analysis of parents' autonomy supportive and directive language and parents' and children's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) talk during and after a problem-solving activity (i.e., tinkering). Parent and child dyads (N = 61 children; Mage = 8.10 years; 31 boys; 54% White) were observed at home via Zoom. After tinkering, a researcher elicited children's reflections, and approximately 2 weeks later dyads reminisced together about the experience. During tinkering, the more autonomy supportive STEM talk parents used in 1 min, the more children talked about STEM in the next minute. During reminiscing, parents' autonomy support was also associated with children's STEM talk. Results suggest the importance of considering how both the content and style of parents' talk can support children's STEM engagement.

The prospective associations between autonomy support, basic psychological needs, motivation and well-being among people with a mild to borderline intellectual disability: a two-wave study.

BACKGROUND: This study, grounded in self-determination theory, examined how satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence in people with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID) changed over a 4.5-year period. Additionally, it explored the association between life events across various domains (i.e. health, support and living situation, crime, relationships and freedom and finance) and these changes and explored the prospective associations between these needs, perceptions of support from direct support staff and the well-being and ill-being of people with MBID. METHODS: Based on a sample of 117 adults with MBID, multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine correlations between constructs at both time points and the impact of autonomy support on need satisfaction and motivation, taking into account life events. RESULTS: The analyses showed that, at both time points, most constructs were statistically significantly correlated and remained so despite a time lag of 4.5 years. Autonomy support emerged as a significant positive predictor, of medium size, for satisfying autonomy and relatedness needs. Its association with competence need satisfaction was not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. For type of motivation, autonomy support statistically predicted increased autonomous motivation, irrespective of life events. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underline the potential of autonomy supportive direct support in the lives of individuals with MBID. Some unexpected null findings underscore the need for further study into the interplay between autonomy support, life events and the well-being of people with MBID.

Revisiting the childcare-attachment question: under what conditions is childcare participation associated with mother-child attachment security?

Decades have passed since the controversy regarding the putative risks of childcare for mother-child attachment broke out. Yet, some uncertainty remains, as relevant studies have produced inconsistent evidence. Some have proposed that those conflicting findings may be due to the fact that the effects of childcare are conditioned on parenting. Accordingly, this study examined whether relations between childcare participation and mother-child attachment vary according to maternal sensitivity and autonomy support. In this sample of 236 mother-child dyads, there was no indication of main effects of childcare participation on attachment. There were, however, some interactive effects, such that the children who showed the least secure attachment behaviors were those who did not attend childcare and had either less sensitive or less autonomy-supportive mothers. The findings suggest that the effects of childcare on mother-child attachment are best understood in light of the parenting children receive at home.

Increasing nurses' occupational well-being: the role of career shocks, job crafting and supervisor autonomy support.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to explore the influence of career shocks on nurses' occupational well-being through job crafting and the moderating role of supervisor autonomy support. METHOD: The present study used a cross-sectional design. And the study included 714 frontline nurses in China, and we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test our hypotheses. RESULTS: Job crafting mediated both the relationship between positive career shocks and occupational well-being and the relationship between negative career shocks and occupational well-being. Supervisor autonomy support moderated the indirect relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Positive and negative career shocks could increase and impair nurses' occupational well-being through job crafting, respectively. We contribute to helping nurses make sense of career shocks and preparing for career shocks, and hospital administrators and nurses' direct supervisors can help nurse better cope with career shocks in attending job crafting activities and providing more autonomy supports.

Two Randomized Controlled Trials to Help Teachers Develop Physical Education Students' Course-Specific Grit-Perseverance and Mental Toughness.

Adopting both a self-determination theory perspective and a proactive, asset-oriented approach to coping with stressors, we propose a hypothesized model to explain physical education students' year-long development of course-specific grit-perseverance (Study 1) and mental toughness (Study 2). In both studies, we used a randomized controlled trial research design with longitudinally assessed dependent measures (four waves) to test a hypothesized model in which teacher participation in an autonomy-supportive teaching workshop (experimental condition) would increase students' T2 perceived autonomy-supportive teaching and T2 perceived autonomy-supportive classmates, both of which would increase T3 need satisfaction, which would then explain longitudinal gains in students' T4 grit-perseverance (Study 1) and mental toughness (Study 2). In both Study 1 (57 teachers, 3,147 students) and Study 2 (38 teachers, 2,057 students), a multilevel structural equation modeling analysis showed that the hypothesized model fit the data very well. We conclude that the developmental roots of grit-perseverance and mental toughness can emerge proactively out of the asset-oriented experiences of interpersonal support and psychological need satisfaction that are central to self-determination theory.

The Longitudinal Associations Between Parental Autonomy Support, Autonomy and Peer Resistance.

Adolescents' autonomy is considered to be shaped within family and peer contexts. However, the specific dynamics of the within-person associations between parental autonomy support, adolescents' general autonomy, and peer resistance over time remain unclear. To address this, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were employed in a sample of 290 Dutch youth in early adolescence (Mage = 11.58, SD = 0.44 at T1; 49.3% boys) and 220 Dutch youth in middle to late adolescence (Mage = 17.79, SD = 1.47 at T1; 25.0% boys), who were followed over two years across four time points. Results showed that changes in adolescents' general autonomy were concurrently associated with changes in their parental autonomy support and peer resistance at the within-person level. However, these associations were not observed longitudinally over a six-month period. These findings suggest that increases in supportive parenting and peer resistance co-occur with increases in adolescents' autonomy within individuals.

Perceived Peer Integration, Parental Control, and Autonomy Support: Differential Effects on Test Anxiety during the Transition to Secondary School for Girls and Boys.

Although previous research has investigated the impact of parents and peers on test anxiety in secondary or tertiary education, little is known about younger students, especially during the transition to secondary school. Additionally, it is unclear whether these social factors affect girls' and boys' test anxiety differently. Therefore, the current study examined the role of perceived peer integration into the new class context, perceived parental control, and autonomy support on girls' and boys' test anxiety (worry and emotionality) during the transition to secondary school. Data from 1770 students (Mage = 10.47, SD = 0.56; 51% females) were analyzed before (4th grade) and after the transition (5th grade) using a multigroup (girls vs. boys) structural equation model. Both facets of test anxiety decreased from 4th to 5th grade. Perceived peer integration into the new class was only relevant for girls' test anxiety, while parental control predicted post-transition test anxiety for boys. The results suggest that the perceived social environment is an important factor in helping students cope with the demands of the transition to secondary school.

The Developmental Trajectory of Chinese Adolescents' Self-Compassion and its Relationship with Parenting Styles: a Longitudinal Study.

Abundant evidence highlights the psychological and interpersonal benefits of self-compassion during adolescence, yet the developmental trajectory and influencing factors during this period remain relatively unexplored. This study investigated the developmental trajectory of self-compassion and illustrated the longitudinal relationship between parenting styles and self-compassion using latent growth curve models (LGCM), cross-lagged panel models (CLPM) and random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) in a sample of Chinese youth (N = 871; Mage = 15.21, SD = 0.73; 45.4% girls) across two years. Results demonstrated an increase developmental trend of self-compassion over two years. The parallel process LGCMs suggested that changes in parental autonomy support was positively related to the changes in self-compassion, whereas the relationship between parental psychological control and self-compassion was significant only at initial levels. CLPM consistently supported a bidirectional relationship between parental autonomy support and self-compassion in Chinese youth at between-person level. Although within-person changes in the study variables were not significant in a bidirectional manner based on the results of RI-CLPMs, changes in parental autonomy support/parental psychological control and self-compassion were concurrently associated. These results suggested that besides stable connections between parenting styles and adolescents' self-compassion, changes in parenting styles and self-compassion are developmentally linked as well. Overall, this study underscores the potentially beneficial impact of parental autonomy support on adolescent self-compassion and reveals nuanced effects of parental psychological control within the Chinese cultural context.

The relationship between perceived teacher autonomy support, perceived competence in learning, and academic performance among nursing students.

Perceived teacher autonomy support in nurse education remains understudied in the literature. This study examined the relationship between students' perceived teacher autonomy support, perceived competence in learning, and academic performance. A cross-sectional correlation descriptive design was used for 225 participants, undergraduate nursing students studying in Saudi Arabia. Perceived teacher autonomy support, perceived competence in learning, and academic performance were measured using the Learning Climate Questionnaire, Perceived Competence Scale for Learning, and student grade point average, respectively. The results revealed a high level of perceived teacher autonomy support and perceived competence in learning among the nursing students, with students in the internship year (final year) reporting higher perceived teacher autonomy support than students in other years. There was a strong positive correlation between perceived teacher autonomy support and perceived competence in learning. Further, students' perceived teacher autonomy support predicted their academic performance, indicating that those with high perceived teacher autonomy support were more likely to have a higher grade point average. Nurse educators must prioritize student autonomy support for better learning and performance, especially upon enrollment in a nursing program.

Enlisting toddler cooperation through structure and autonomy support: The amplifying role of suboptimal relationship mutuality.

Regular repair of normative mother-toddler conflict is required for relational health; yet, we still need improved delineation of regulation strategies that can promote child cooperation. Contemporary conceptualizations of positive parenting propose that structure and autonomy support each facilitate children's optimal engagement; however, toddler studies rarely address their joint impact and conditional moderation. This observational study examined both dimensions in predicting cooperation among 106 U.S. 30-month-olds and their primarily European-American mothers during a demanding request situation. We also assessed mutuality, an indicator of mother-child relationship quality, from two situations with minimized power differentials to explore whether it moderated associations. Regression analyses confirmed the unique and additive impact of both maternal behavioral dimensions in predicting toddler cooperation and also an interaction effect such that the positive association between maternal autonomy support and toddlers' level of cooperation was accentuated depending on the dyads' mutuality. Results suggest that maternal structure and autonomy support may serve as effective approaches for enlisting or maintaining child cooperation during hierarchical negotiations, and that suboptimal relationship mutuality magnifies toddlers' responses to maternal levels of autonomy support. Findings are likely relevant to parenting programs that advance mother-child relational health during the transition from infancy to early childhood.

Para el bienestar de la relación se requiere una regular reparación del conflicto normativo entre madre­niño pequeñito; aun así, necesitamos mejorados delineamientos de las estrategias de regulación que puedan promover la cooperación del niño. Las conceptualizaciones contemporáneas de una crianza positiva proponen que tanto el apoyo de la estructura como de la autonomía facilitan por su parte la participación óptima de los niños; sin embargo, los estudios sobre niños pequeñitos raramente abordan su impacto conjunto y la moderación condicional. Este estudio observacional examinó ambas dimensiones en cuanto a predecir la cooperación entre 106 niños de 30 meses de edad, de Estados Unidos, y sus primariamente euroamericanas mamás durante una pedida situación exigente. También evaluamos la mutualidad, un indicador de la calidad de la relación madre­niño, a partir de dos situaciones con diferenciales de poder minimizados para explorar si la ésta moderaba las asociaciones. Los análisis de regresión confirmaron el singular y agregado impacto de ambas dimensiones del comportamiento materno para predecir la cooperación del niño pequeñito y también un efecto de interacción de manera que la asociación positiva entre el apoyo de autonomía materna y el nivel de cooperación de los niños pequeñitos se acentuó dependiendo de la mutualidad de las díadas. Los resultados sugieren que el apoyo de estructura y autonomía materno pudiera servir como acercamiento efectivo para conseguir y mantener la cooperación del niño durante negociaciones jerárquicas y que la mutualidad subóptima de la relación ensancha las respuestas de los niños pequeñitos a los niveles maternos de apoyo de autonomía. Las recomendaciones son probablemente relevantes para programas de crianza que llevan adelante el bienestar de la relación madre­niño durante la transición de la infancia a la niñez. Consistent with self­determination theory, maternal structuring and autonomy­supportive strategies made unique contributions to positively predicting toddler cooperation suggesting they may serve as effective and joint approaches for enlisting or maintaining cooperation during difficult request situations. As caregiver structuring is likely needed for many toddlers to accomplish multifaceted tasks, its positive association with cooperation was not altered by dyadic mutuality, an indicator of mother­child relationship history. Suboptimal relationship mutuality magnified the positive association between autonomy support and cooperation suggesting that mothers from dyads with low mutuality should be aware that their toddlers' cooperation may be especially sensitive to varying levels of autonomy support.

Parent-perceived autonomy-supportive experiences and basic psychological needs of people with complex support needs: Development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of two questionnaires.

Background: Understanding and supporting basic psychological needs of persons with complex support needs is important but difficult because of communicative challenges . We developed and tested questionnaires to obtain parents' perspectives on autonomy support and basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Method: Two parent-informant questionnaires were developed, administered, and subjected to psychometric property analyses. Participants were 63 Dutch parents of persons diagnosed with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Results: Principal component analyses revealed a one-factor structure for the Parental Perceptions on Autonomy-Supportive Experiences questionnaire, while the Parental Perceptions on Basic Psychological Need Signals questionnaire yielded two-factors interpreted as Noticing Signals of Autonomy and Noticing Signals of Competence/Relatedness. Evidence for construct validity was found for both instruments. Conclusions: Preliminary evaluation of the new questionnaires is encouraging, but further validation with a larger sample size is warranted.

The pedagogical foundations of student voice practices: The role of relationships, differentiation, and choice in supporting student voice practices in high school classrooms.

Although teachers and administrators increasingly support the idea of student voice, questions remain about what "student voice" looks like in practice. This mixed methods study in two urban U.S. high schools explores what student voice practices in the classroom entail and how these practices relate to other pedagogical strategies. Findings reveal that student-teacher relationships, differentiated instruction, and choice serve as core building blocks for the use of student voice practices in the classroom. Findings also underscore the rarity of the student voice practices of seeking student feedback and input and engaging in collaborative decision-making with students.

Effects of an autonomy-supportive intervention programme (ASIP) on self-care, quality of life, and mental health in heart failure patients: a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Patients with heart failure (HF) possess low self-care activation and motivation, leading to a deprived quality of life and adverse mental health conditions. To this end, self-determination theory emphasizes that autonomy-supportive interventions (ASI) can stimulate intrinsic motivation and improve behaviors and quality of life. Nevertheless, studies that focused on ASI for HF are inadequate. This study aims to evaluate the effects of an HF-ASIP on self-care, quality of life and mental health in HF patients. METHODS: In a two-arm randomized controlled trial, the participants are randomly allocated to the intervention (n = 41) or control (n = 41) groups. The intervention group received routine care and participated in an 8-week HF-ASIP, including individual education and consultation sessions. In contrast, the control group received only routine care. The primary outcome includes self-care management, while the secondary outcomes include self-care maintenance, quality of life, mental health, and motivation. After measuring the outcomes at baseline (T0), 4-week (T1), 8-week (T2), and 12-week (T3) follow-up, the intervention effects are assessed using the generalized equation models. RESULTS: The outcomes indicated that self-care management (T2: P = 0.001; T3: P = 0.016), self-care maintenance (T2: P = 0.003; T3: P = 0.001), depression (T2: P = 0.007; T3: P = 0.012), anxiety (T2: P = 0.001; T3: P = 0.012), MLHFQ total score (T1: P = 0.004; T2: P < 0.001; T3: P = 0.001), autonomous motivation (T2: P = .0.006; T3: P = 0.002) showed statistically difference between the groups. CONCLUSION: In summary, the 8-week HF-ASIP significantly improved the attributes of self-care, quality of life, mental health, and motivation in HF patients, suggesting the potential for practical intervention effect. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR2100053970.

Conceptualizing maternal and paternal autonomy support and control among adolescents in Hong Kong.

This study examined how parental autonomy support and control are conceptualized by adolescents in Hong Kong (Grades 7-11) using the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale. Competitive models were evaluated using confirmatory factor analyses. Although the 6-factor model demonstrated the best fit, further analyses indicated that a second-order structure was more appropriate. Provision of choice, acknowledgment of child's feelings, rationale for rules, and demands subsumed under autonomy support. Guilt-inducing criticisms and the use of threats subsumed under control. Performance pressure emerged as a first-order construct on its own. Measurement invariance was evident across adolescent gender and age. All subscales had adequate to strong reliability. Discriminate validity was evident. Findings offer insights into the conceptualization of autonomy support and control in Hong Kong.

The longitudinal development of students' well-being in adolescence: The role of perceived teacher autonomy support.

Although a decline in adolescents' well-being has repeatedly been reported, longitudinal evidence for this development is rare and time-varying factors like teacher autonomy support that could be associated with this trend have sparsely been investigated. Therefore, the present study examined how the temporal development of perceived autonomy support from their German language arts teachers is related to changes in four different facets of students' well-being. Longitudinal data from 3446 adolescents from Germany (NSchools  = 178) on five measurement points (Grades 5-9) were analyzed using latent growth curve models. Satisfaction with school, enjoyment of school, and self-rated health decreased over time, while social integration remained stable. Perceived teacher autonomy support also declined between Grades 5 and 9. Furthermore, baseline levels of perceived teacher autonomy support and facets of well-being were positively related. Finally and most importantly, our results indicated that changes in perceived teacher autonomy support were positively associated with the development of satisfaction with school, enjoyment of school, and self-rated health, but not social integration. The findings suggest that perceived teacher autonomy support plays an important role in the development of students' well-being in adolescence.

Within-family linkages between parental monitoring and adolescents externalizing problems with autonomy support as a moderator.

Parents' monitoring efforts are thought to be effective in reducing children's future externalizing problems. Empirical evidence for this claim, however, is limited, as only few studies have unraveled the temporal ordering of these constructs. The present six-wave longitudinal study contributed to the existing literature by examining within-family linkages between monitoring efforts (behavioral control and solicitation) and adolescents' externalizing behaviors while controlling for between-family differences. In addition, it was assessed whether these associations differed when using child versus parent reports, differed for less versus more autonomy-supportive parents, and differed for fathers' versus mothers' monitoring efforts. Longitudinal data (six annual waves) of 497 adolescents (56.9% boys, Mage at T1 = 13.03, SD = 0.46), their mothers (N = 495, Mage at T1 = 44.41, SD = 4.45), and their fathers (N = 446, Mage at T1 = 46.74, SD = 5.10) of the Dutch study Research on Adolescent Development and Relationships (RADAR) were used. Results showed no evidence for the claim that parents' monitoring efforts predict future externalizing problems. In contrast, we found some evidence for the idea that parents' monitoring efforts change in reaction to changes in externalizing problems; when adolescents reported higher levels of externalizing problems than usual in 1 year, this predicted less behavioral control from mothers in the next year. Linkages between monitoring efforts and externalizing problems did not differ between less or more autonomy-supportive parents. Overall, our findings suggest that monitoring efforts are not effective, but also not damaging, in relation to adolescents' externalizing problems.

The longitudinal associations between perceived maternal parenting practices, mother-adolescent relationship quality, and friendship quality.

INTRODUCTION: As adolescents begin to expand their social networks beyond their family, they turn increasingly to their peers for support. Parenting practices present in the parent-child dyad are likely to extend to peer dyads. However, when considering the process involved in the transmission from parenting practices to friendships, the mediating role of parent-child relationships remains unclear. The current study explored the mediating effect of mother-adolescent relationship quality in the association between perceived maternal parenting practices (i.e., autonomy support and psychological control) and friendship quality using a three-wave longitudinal design, and also examined whether adolescents' gender moderates these associations. METHODS: A sample of 344 Chinese adolescents (12.01 to 15-year-old at Wave 1, M = 13.08, SD = 0.39; 153 boys and 191 girls) filled out questionnaires on perceived maternal parenting practices, mother-adolescent relationship quality, and friendship quality, separately in three waves. RESULTS: Perceived maternal autonomy support was associated with positive friendship quality through positive mother-adolescent relationship quality. However, perceived maternal psychological control was not associated with negative friendship quality. Moreover, marginal gender differences were only found in the associations between autonomy support and positive mother-adolescent relationship quality. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate the spillover effects existed only between autonomy support and positive friendship quality, and highlight the importance of positive mother-adolescent relationship quality when promoting positive friendship quality.

Instructor Social Support in the Group Physical Activity Context: Older Participants' Perspectives.

Instructors in organized physical activity classes can be a source of social support through their relationships with participants, influence on participants' interactions with each other, and design of activities. Grounded in interpretive description, the objective of this study was to examine older adults' experiences of and their perspectives on group physical activity instructors' supportive behaviors. Observations of 16 group physical activity classes (N = 295) and focus groups or interviews with N = 38 class participants aged ≥ 55 (n = 29 women) were conducted at four municipal recreation facilities in a Canadian city. Five themes shed light on how instructors provided social support: (a) supporting autonomous engagement, (b) developing caring connections, (c) fostering trust through expert instruction, (d) managing conflict directly and effectively, and (e) creating a climate where people want to go. Instructor training should consider older adults' social support needs and help instructors embody behaviors that support continued physical activity participation, thereby contributing to healthy aging.

Autonomy-Supportive Teaching Enhances Prosocial and Reduces Antisocial Behavior via Classroom Climate and Psychological Needs: A Multilevel Randomized Control Intervention.

Autonomy-supportive teaching increases prosocial and decreases antisocial behavior. Previous research showed that these effects occur because autonomy-supportive teaching improves students' need states (a student-level process). However, the present study investigated whether these effects also occur because autonomy-supportive teaching improves the classroom climate (a classroom-level process). Teachers from 80 physical education classrooms were randomly assigned to participate (or not) in an autonomy-supportive teaching intervention, while their 2,227 secondary-grade students reported their need satisfaction and frustration, supportive and hierarchical classroom climates, and prosocial and antisocial behaviors at the beginning, middle, and end of an academic year. A doubly latent, multilevel structural equation model showed that teacher participation in the intervention (experimental condition) increased class-wide need satisfaction, a supportive climate, and prosocial behavior and decreased class-wide need frustration, a hierarchical climate, and antisocial behavior. Together, greater collective need satisfaction and a more supportive climate combined to explain increased prosocial behavior, while lesser need frustration and a less hierarchical climate combined to explain decreased antisocial behavior. These classroom climate effects have been overlooked, yet they are essential to explain why autonomy-supportive teaching improves students' social functioning.