Adolescence is a period of vital self-development. During this time, adolescents begin to understand themselves and the world around them. However, not all aspects of their self-development have been given the same research attention. Specifically, adolescents’ sense of entitlement—the belief that one is entitled to certain privileges over others—has been largely neglected. Our work centers on adolescents’ subjective feelings of entitlement, drawing inspiration by previous ethnographic studies examining children’s entitled behaviors across various environments. We aim to understand the nature of adolescents’ sense of entitlement and, for the first time, the potential developmental origins. In understanding the origins of entitlement, we pose a novel theoretical framework. In the present study, we examine how parenting practices and parental values (e.g., how much parents value assertiveness vs. compassion) may play a role in cultivating adolescents’ sense of entitlement. We recruited a sample of approximately 450 families for this preregistered intensive longitudinal study. We measured parenting practices, parental values and beliefs, and adolescents’ various self-views, including entitlement. We have completed the data collection and are preparing to begin the analyses. The findings of this study will provide novel insights into the nature and origins of adolescents’ sense of entitlement, a topic that has been neglected in both psychological and sociological literature. If supported, these findings will highlight a need for additional longitudinal studies exploring further parental influences on the development of adolescents’ sense of entitlement.

Mother-adolescent discrepancies in reports on family functioning may reflect maladaptive family dynamics and be associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms. Theoretical models suggest that discrepancies may increase the risk for internalizing symptoms (parent-driven effects), result from these symptoms (symptom-driven effects), or that there may be bidirectional associations over time. To clarify the direction of these effects, both the levels of agreement between the informants and mother-adolescent discrepancies should be examined within the same model. Additionally, potential differential associations may exist depending on the type of internalizing symptoms (loneliness vs. depressive symptoms) and specific parenting behavior (positive vs. negative). This 3-year longitudinal study examined potential bidirectional associations between these internalizing symptoms and both levels of and mother-adolescent discrepancies in reports of maternal warmth and hostility. Participants were 622 early adolescents (55% girls, M_ageT1 = 10.77 years, SD_ageT1 = 0.48) and 489 mothers (M_ageT1 = 40.96, SD_ageT1 = 3.55). Adolescents reported internalizing symptoms annually, while both informants provided yearly maternal parenting reports. Latent Congruence Models suggested that higher levels of perceived maternal hostility was a shared risk factor for both internalizing symptoms (βs= .08 – .10, ps =.014 – .021) and that both internalizing symptoms were associated with larger mother-adolescent discrepancies in reports of maternal hostility (βs= -.11 – -.19, ps =.001 – .017) over time. Additionally, depressive symptoms were linked to lower levels of perceived maternal warmth (βs = -.10, ps = .016) and larger mother-adolescent discrepancies in maternal warmth (βs= .13 – .14, ps = .002) over time, while loneliness showed no longitudinal associations with the level or discrepancy factors for maternal warmth (ps ≥.528). Findings suggest consistent patterns for both internalizing symptoms with maternal hostility (parent-driven effects for levels, symptom-driven effects for discrepancies) but unique symptom-driven effects of depressive symptoms on both levels of and discrepancies in maternal warmth.

Introduction. Subjective well-being (SWB) refers to an individual’s overall sense of “happiness”, encompassing both affective (positive and negative feelings) and cognitive (life satisfaction) dimensions. Self-determination theory ties youth’s SWB to a sense of relatedness or interpersonal connection, including those with parents. Although extensive studies have explored the associations between relationship quality or relationship quality indicators (e.g., warmth, conflict, etc.) and SWB, the results regarding the strength of the association are inconsistent. As a part of a preregistered meta-analysis entitled Interpersonal Relationship Quality and Subjective Well-being of Children and Adolescents: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis, this meta-analysis examines how the parent-child relationship quality is associated with youth’s SWB, by synthesizing the existing evidence. Subsequently, we will assess whether the association is moderated by the following variables: child age, child gender, national income, culture orientation, country’s social norm, risk sample, year of publication, the dimension of relationship quality, type of study design, assessment methods, and the informant.

Methods. The research design is pre-registered (PROSPERO 2024 CRD42024611042). Systematic literature searches were conducted in Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus, resulting in 3,892 articles. The title and abstract screening is underway. The essential information will be coded based on a well-defined scheme. A three-level approach will be adopted, and the package metafor in R will be employed to complete the statistical analysis.

Conclusion. This meta-analysis will comprehensively synthesize the associations between the parent-child relationship quality and youth’s SWB, and reveal the associations’ strength. The coding is underway, and completion is anticipated by spring. The primary results will be presented at the conference. The findings are expected to contribute valuable insights into how parent-child relationship quality fosters immediate and long-term youth SWB.

Parenting, including having knowledge and control of adolescent whereabouts and activities, is one of the key promotive factors for adolescent positive development (Kapetanovic & Skoog, 2021). While many parents successfully balance their parenting according to their adolescents’ developmental needs, some become overinvolved to the point of intrusion, potentially undermining their child’s growing sense of autonomy and competence. Parental overinvolvement refers to an excessive and age-inappropriate level of control, interference, or guidance in a child’s daily activities (Padilla-Walker et al., 2012). Numerous studies show that such parental behavior may contribute to poorer mental health and adjustment in adolescents (e.g., Rote et al., 2020). However, to what extent such a control is linked to more positive aspects of child development, e.g., wellbeing is to date unclear.

Using a four-wave longitudinal sample of early to late adolescents from Sweden (51% girls; 24% foreign origin; Mage = 12.89), measures of parental overcontrol (Kerr & Stattin, 2000) and Wellbeing (Currie et al., 2014), and a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Modeling design, we examine (a) the extent to which adolescents’ perceptions of parental overcontrol are linked to their well-being at both within- and between-family levels, and (b) whether these associations differ based on adolescent gender and ethnic background. Although there are negative effects on the between-family level, the preliminary results suggest that the links between parental overcontrol and child wellbeing are generally not significant on within-family level. The findings will be discussed in relation to parenting theories and the broader field of positive youth development.