Perceptions of Mexican American Adolescents and Parents Regarding Parental Autonomy Promoting: Divergent Views and Adolescents' Adjustment

Our study examined discrepancies in Mexican American adolescent-parent perceptions regarding parental autonomy promoting and their associations with adolescents' adjustment. A total of 138 Mexican American sixth graders reported their global self-worth and depressive symptoms. Adolescents and parents also reported their perceptions of parental autonomy promoting. Dis-crepancies in perceptions of adolescents and their fathers, in particular fathers' rose-colored perceptions of their autonomy promoting, which were not shared by their adolescent, were associated with more depressive symptoms of male and female adolescents and with lower self-worth of female adolescents. The study findings show the importance of assessing perceptions of family members at the dyadic level. Furthermore, the study extends previous studies on autonomy promoting and discrepancies in perceptions to the context of Mexican American families.