Abstract
Psychological control refers to parental behaviors that intrude on the psychological and emotional development of the child.
In 2010, Soenens et al. proposed a distinction between two domain-specific expressions of psychological control, that is,
Dependency-oriented Psychological Control (DPC) and Achievement-oriented Psychological Control (APC). The aim of this study
was to evaluate the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the French form of the Dependency-oriented and
Achievement-oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS; Soenens et al. in J Pers 78(1):217–256, 2010) in a sample of late adolescents (N = 291, mean age = 21.65). Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized two-factor solution of the DAPCS for paternal
as well as for maternal ratings. Moreover, high indices of internal consistency indicated that both subscales produced reliable
scores. Further, convergent validity was confirmed by theoretically consistent associations between the DAPCS’ subscales and
well-established assessments of general parenting style dimensions. Finally, results evidenced gender specific patterns supporting
the relevance of domain differentiation in the assessment of psychological control. Overall, the results of this study indicated
that the French form of the DAPCS might be a useful instrument to assess two domain-specific types of parental psychological
control among French-speaking adolescents.
In 2010, Soenens et al. proposed a distinction between two domain-specific expressions of psychological control, that is,
Dependency-oriented Psychological Control (DPC) and Achievement-oriented Psychological Control (APC). The aim of this study
was to evaluate the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the French form of the Dependency-oriented and
Achievement-oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS; Soenens et al. in J Pers 78(1):217–256, 2010) in a sample of late adolescents (N = 291, mean age = 21.65). Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized two-factor solution of the DAPCS for paternal
as well as for maternal ratings. Moreover, high indices of internal consistency indicated that both subscales produced reliable
scores. Further, convergent validity was confirmed by theoretically consistent associations between the DAPCS’ subscales and
well-established assessments of general parenting style dimensions. Finally, results evidenced gender specific patterns supporting
the relevance of domain differentiation in the assessment of psychological control. Overall, the results of this study indicated
that the French form of the DAPCS might be a useful instrument to assess two domain-specific types of parental psychological
control among French-speaking adolescents.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-8
- DOI 10.1007/s10826-011-9525-5
- Authors
- Gregory Mantzouranis, LabDCI, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Site de Dorigny Anthropole, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Grégoire Zimmermann, LabDCI, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Site de Dorigny Anthropole, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Elodie Biermann Mahaim, LabDCI, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Site de Dorigny Anthropole, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Nicolas Favez, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Journal Journal of Child and Family Studies
- Online ISSN 1573-2843
- Print ISSN 1062-1024