The Correlation And Experimental Study On The Effects Of Maternal Overparenting On Adolescents’ Internalizing Problems

Adolescence is a period of great physical and psychological changes of individuals,and it is also a period of high incidence of internalizing problems.Among the many factors that affect the internalizing problems of adolescents,the family environment factor is particularly important.A large number of previous studies have shown that parenting styles play an important role in the formation of adolescent internalizing problems,but few studies have examined the emerging parenting style of overparenting.Considering the prevalence of overparenting in the local Chinese culture,it is important to understand overparenting and its mechanisms.This study is divided into two parts.In the first study,a questionnaire was used to investigate the maternal overparenting,basic psychological needs and meaning in life among students of senior high schools in Jiangxi Province.It is found that maternal overparenting can directly and positively predict the internalizing problems of teenagers,and can also indirectly and negatively predict the internalizing problems of teenagers through the autonomy needs and meaning in life in turn.On the basis of the first study,the second study investigated whether there were differences in the performance of adolescents’ meaning in life in the scenes with different levels of autonomy needs through experimental methods.At the same time,it further examined the influence of the interaction between the level of maternal overparenting and autonomy needs on adolescents’ meaning in life and internalizing problems.The results showed that:(1)the meaning in life in the autonomous group was significantly higher than that in the controlled group,and the internalizing problems in the controlled group was significantly higher than that in the autonomous group;(2)when the needs of autonomy were satisfied,the differences in the meaning in life or internalizing problems between adolescents with the low level of maternal overparenting and the high level of maternal overparenting were still significant but weakened.The results of this study will help researchers to study the relation between maternal overparenting and internalizing problems,and help intervene the internalizing problems of teenagers,so as to pay more attention to the satisfaction of teenagers’ basic psychological needs and the acquisition and maintenance of the meaning.in life.Conclusions:(1)Maternal overparenting positively predicts the internalizing problems of adolescents,and basic psychological needs and meaning in life play a chain mediating role between maternal overparenting and the internalizing problems of adolescents.(2)The manipulated autonomy needs can enhance teenagers’ meaning in life and alleviate their internalizing problems.