Who Shapes Whom in the Family: Reciprocal Links Between Autonomy Support in the Family and Parents’ and Adolescents’ Coping Behaviors

Coping research has neglected the study of the reciprocal links between parents’ and adolescents’ coping behaviors and the
potential influence of parental support for the development of adolescent autonomy. This study, therefore, analyzed the coping
behaviors of fathers, mothers, and children (53% females) in 196 families who participated in a four-year longitudinal study
that started when the child was an early adolescent. The results of cross-lagged panel design models examining direct links
between parents’ and their children’s coping styles suggested that parents and children do not affect each others’ abilities
to cope with family stress over time. However, indirect relationships between parents’ and children’s coping styles via autonomy
support in the family were found. Both the parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of autonomy support in the family were important
in shaping their respective coping styles. The child’s individual characteristics (e.g., gender and physical maturity) had
a greater influence on the fine-tuning of mothers’ coping behaviors than on the fathers’. The findings underscore the significance
of autonomy-enhancing parent–child interactions for the development of adolescent coping.