Given that most developmental tasks in adolescence (e.g., identity formation) essentially deal with
autonomy, it is important for parents to support their adolescent’s autonomy and to avoid
engaging in autonomy-suppressing parenting. Most studies on autonomy-relevant parenting have
focused on stable differences between parents, thereby adopting a trait perspective on parenting.
A few studies indicated that parents’ autonomy-relevant parenting fluctuates from day to day and
on a situational basis. This work suggests that a more dynamic, state-perspective towards
parenting is needed. Because studies up till now adopted either a trait-like or a state-like approach
to autonomy-relevant parenting, the interplay between trait and state levels of such parenting has
not been investigated yet. In this project I seek to gain a better understanding of this interplay,
thereby addressing two important sets of questions. First, I investigate the conditions under which
trait levels of parenting manifest in corresponding state levels of parenting, thereby examining the
role of parental stress in this association. Second, I investigate whether adolescents growing up in
generally more autonomy-supportive families benefit more from a new situational or daily
autonomy-supportive interaction, presumably because they are more sensitized to its benefits.
These questions will be investigated using a diary-based, experimental and intervention-based
design.