The Influence of Parenting Dimensions on Adolescent Prosocial Behavior: Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction

Abstract

The present study investigated the predictive role of positive and negative parenting dimensions on adolescents' prosocial behavior while also examining the mediating role of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction (BPNS), with its three included dimensions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Adolescents were sampled using well-established and reliable self-report measures. Correlational analyses revealed significant and positive relationships between adolescents' prosocial behavior and their attribution of positive parenting, via the father (as reported by all three sources), as well as the mother and child; whereas negative parenting was negatively associated with their prosocial tendencies. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses again revealed that BPNS was an important mediator in understanding the relational dynamics of parenting dimensions. Based on tenets of Self-Determination Theory, BPNS not only contributed to this relationship, but each dimension - autonomy, competence, and relatedness - performed unique and important functions in linking parenting dimensions to adolescents' socio-emotional development. The findings provide support and empirically-backed reasons for parents' use of parenting styles that are nurturing and support adolescents' basic psychological needs, as important to developing socially adaptive behavior. Collectively the study adds to the literature by including different perspectives of more than one parent, and detailing the pathways mediated by psychological needs. Limitations (i.e., cross-sectional study, exclusively using self-report measures) are described, along with possibilities of future research in longitudinal studies and cross-cultural studies, and developing parenting interventions that are need-supportive.