Family acceptance and family control as predictors of adjustment in young adolescents: linear, curvilinear, or interactive effects?

This study assessed the relation between adjustment and perceptions of both family acceptance and family control in 2 samples of young adolescents, ns = 851 (mean age = 12.36 years) and 269 (mean age = 10.89 years), respectively. In Sample 1, dimensions of adjustment included self-reports of psychosocial competence and problems with self-regulation. In Sample 2, adjustment was indexed by peer ratings of likability. In both samples, family acceptance and family control were positively related to adjustment. However, in Sample 1, family control was also curvilinearly related to adjustment but in a different pattern for the 2 adjustment scores. Specifically, the positive relation between family control and psychosocial competence was stronger at progressively higher levels of family control, whereas low--but not moderate or high-levels of control were related to many self-regulation problems. In light of evidence that acceptance and control are complexly related to adjustment, we recommend that researchers routinely examine curvilinear effects in this area of study.