Anxiety and parenting behaviors during emerging adulthood: a longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is characterized by changes in close relationships, education, and work. Regarding parent-child relationships, research shows the importance of positive family relationships during emerging adulthood and the role they play in preventing emerging adults’ psychological distress. However, there is a lack of studies focuses on family context using longitudinal analysis. This study examined the stability in emerging adults’ perceptions of parenting behaviors and whether these relationships were associated with emerging adults’ anxiety. A longitudinal study was carried out in Spain: wave 1 (Mean: 20.31; SD: 2.04), wave 2 (Mean: 23.66; SD: 2.08). A total of 400 emerging adults from the Transition to Adulthood in Spain research project completed a survey assessing their perceptions of the quality of their family relationships (parental social support, parental involvement, parental warmth, parental autonomy support and behavioral and psychological control) and their level of anxiety. Results showed that family social support, parental warmth, psychological and behavioral control decrease meanwhile parental involvement and parental autonomy support don’t change over time. Both psychological and behavioral control in W1 were positively associated with emerging adults’ anxiety in W2. The relationship between the rest of parenting behaviors in W1 and emerging adults' anxiety in W2 was negative. These findings suggest the need of developing intervention programs that help parents to adapt their parental behaviors to their children’s needs during this stage. Moreover, this work suggests that longitudinal studies on family functioning are needed to gain a more complete understanding of the impact of the quality of family relationships on emerging adults’ distress.